fe7f Cornell University Library DK 211.B79 Russian empire: 3 1924 028 467 813 DATE DUE ■ J."**** ^mmmmmm **W^; CAYLORD PPINTEO IN U S A. Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 92402846781 3 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE ITS RESOURCES, GOVERNMENT AND POLICY. BY A "LOOKEK OIT" FEOM AMEKICA. CINCINNATI: M K E, "W I L S T A C H , KEYS & GO. NEW YORK : MILLER, ORTON & MULLIGAN. BOSTON : WHITTEMORE, NILES & HALL. I'lIILA.: J. B. LIPPINCOTI & CO. 1856. J} Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1855, by MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO. In the Clerk's office of the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. ^^^^^^fi^'^ Presidert White ••1 V Svprcol', pctl and Priuled by WILLIAM OTEREND & CO., CINCINNATI. PREFACE, The " Eastern Question " and the war tave presented Europe to American eyes in a new, and, to most, an unexpected aspect. The actual condition of the European Powers, their comparative strength, their relations to each other, their present policy, and ultimate aims, may now he hotter under- stood by this nation, than ever before. It is possible that the great events, of which we are distant though interested spectators, may, in their progress, work importimt changes in the opinions and feelings of the Ameri- can people, concerning the parties engaged in this bloody struggle. Indeed, if we compare the present state of the public mind with what it was at the beginning of the conflict, we cannot fail to remark a deci^led alteration. A sympathy with Eussia is fast springing up in the American heart — we scarce know why — and every day lessens the number among us, who would rejoice at the fall of Sebastopol. A distrust of the motives of England and France is spreading itself through the country. There is a growing apprehension that they are actuated by a national ambition, rather than any regard for human liberty ; and that they are anxious, not only to check Eussia, in the East, but to repress, also, the gTowfch of the American States, beyond the limits which they choose to asisign. (iii) ) representations wliioh have reached us through channels kely to distort or discolor the truth. It will not harm us ) look upon the great Northern Power tVom an Amoiican osition ; and this hook has boon undertaken in the hope that ) may induce at least some of my countrymen, to examine, ith fresh interest, the position and resources, the spirit and olioy, of that European Tower which, thus far, has been a Dnstant friend of America. CONTENTS CHAP TEE I. There should be an American Opinion of Russia founded, not upon European Prejudices, but on Facts. CHAPTEE II. The Essential Elements of National Policy. CHAPTEE III. The Geographical Character of Russia. CHAPTEE IV. The Relative Position of Russia. CHAPTEE V. The Territory of Russia may be easily Controlled by one Central Govern- ment. CHAPTEE VI. Russia has few Vulnerable Points, and these have been rendered Impreg- nable to any ordinary Attack — Her Military are mostly beyond the reach of an Enemy. CHAPTEE VII. Russia is Controlled by one Dominant Race, the Source of a National Life. CHAPTEE VIII. Character of the Russians as Soldiers — Can Russia become a great Mili- tary Power? VI CONTENTS. CHAPTEK IX. The Kussiaoa Army and iSavy. CHAPTEE X. Tie National Sentiment of Russia as affecting National Policy and Destiny CHAPTEE XI. The Educational Institutions of Russia. CHAPTEE XII. The Characteristics and Capabilities of the Russian Mind. CHAPTEE XIII. The Actual Progress of the Russian Empire. CHAPTEE XIV. Russia is aiming at a Civilization distinct from the Forms of Western Europe. CHAPTEE XV. The National Idea of Russia. CHAPTEE XVI. The Policy of Russia that of Self-Developments CHAPTEE XVII. Russia and the Commerce of the East. CHAPTEE XVIII. The Commercial Phase of the Eastern War. CHAPTER XIX. The Religious Aspect of the Eastern War. CHAPTEE XX. The Papacy in its connection with the Eastern Question. CONTENTS. VU OHAPTEE, XXI. The Relation of tke Eastern Question to American Missions. CHAPTEK XXII. The Russian Church. CHAPTER XXIII. The Religious Influence of Russia upon the East. CHAPTEE XXIV. The Condition of the Turkish Empire and the East, if subjected to France and England. CHAPTEE XXV. The Historical Mission of Russia, and the Influence which she would exert upon the East. CHAPTER XXVI. The Despotism of Russia. CHAPTEE XXVII. The Western Aspect of the Eastern Question. CHAPTER XXVIII. Why do not Americans sympathize with the Allies ? CHAPTEE XXIX. Russia and America — Their future Relations to each other and the World. OHAPTEE XXX. The success of the Allies would destroy all present hope for the " Nation- alities." CHAPTEE XXXI. Sehastopol and the Future. THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE: ITS RESOURCES GOVERNMENT AND POLICY. CHAPTER I. There should be an American opinion of Russia, founded not upon European prejudices, hut upon facts. A1THOTJ6H Eussia has become the most powerful nation of Europe, she remains in great degree unknown. Her advance upon Europe and the East has been as steady, as resistless, as mysterious as the descent of a glacier from the Alps. All the force of earth can neither turn the glacier backward, nor divert it from its course, nor even arrest its progress ; nor can science fully explain the force that pushes forward the enormous mass. There remains, however, the fact, that year by year it encroaches more and more upon the valley below. Each summer melts off a little of its solid front, but still the icy boundary of to- day is beyond the line on which it rested a year ago. So with Eussia. Her colossal proportions are expanding still, her frontier line is moving on, plowing its way like the edge of the glacier, through all obstacles, and though (9) 10 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. we hear continually of losses she incurs, and of defeats which she suffers, we find that notwithstanding all, she has heen moving on, and has established herseK in new pos- sessions, at the very moment when the rest of Europe was rejoicing over her supposed discomfiture. Statesmen, polit- ical economists, even historians, give no adequate explana- tion of this overshadowing phenomenon, no satisfactory account of the interior life which is thus forcing the nations aside to make room for the growth of Eussia. Europe sneers at the horde of northern barbarians, but then she saw the best appointed army and the ablest commander of modern times utterly crushed by them, and hurled in broken fragments over their frontier, and this too, when up to the startling result, it was declared that Eussia was beaten in every battle, that her Capital was taken, and the empire was ruined. At the commencement of the present war, we were informed that Eussia was exhausted by her disasters in the Caucasus, that a small tribe there was suffi- cient to hold her power at bay, that she had no money where- with to prosecute a war, that her army was formidable only on paper, scattered through her vast territory in disconnected detachments, incapable of combined action, and many believed and asserted that Turkey alone was an overmatch for her foe ; and yet a formidable English fleet has spent two summers in the Baltic without daring to look upon Cronstadt, and the most formidable armament that the world perhaps ever saw, has spent its force and exhausted its skill for two years in vain, upon a- single Eussian out- post. The Eussians, we hear, have been constantly defeated with great loss. The Allies are said to be far superior to them in all things, and yet Sebastopol still withstands the combined power of France and England ; and not only so, but is far stronger than at the commencement of the siege ; and it would appear that the Allied forces and not the THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 11 fortress, are invested. England and Prance have not met as yet the unwieldy, stupid, almost helpless giant which they have loved to describe and call it Russia, but the living power of a great nation, whose power has been wielded with a skill and energy at least equal to their own. Eussia has made no great and sudden conquests in Europe ; she has poured no living deluge abroad for the desolation of the world — a tide whose ebb follows quickly after the swell of the flood ; but she is the more formidable for that very reason. SJie grows. Her progress follows the law of a life, and its development is after the model of a national idea. Herein lies her strength ; and the power of j;Jiis life, yet young and vigorous, will carry her far into the future. Until recently, the Empire of the Czars has awakened very little attention or sympathy in the American mind. Its remote position, and the channels through which we have obtained our scanty information, have prevented us from forming any correct and well-defined idea of its pros- pects, resources and policy. Most Americans have been led to think of Eussia as a land of almost perpetual snow and frost, of interminable forests, or uninhabitable plains, and few perhaps have asked themselves, how in such frozen wastes and forest solitudes, seventy millions of people have not only contrived to exist, but have grown up into the most formidable nation of Europe. Again, thousands regard her as an assemblage of boisterous hordes, having no com- mon national life or bond, held together by the power of a military despotism, and ruled over by a half-savage tyrant. Few have been led to inquire, how upon such a supposition, we are to account for her rapid and steady advance to the foremost position of the eastern world. It would not be easy for a semi-barbarous people, with merely a military tyrant at their head., to reach so eminent a station by the 12 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. very side of the civilization of western Europe, and in com- petition witli such Powers as England, France, and Austria. The national policy of Eussia has been represented to Europe and America under the single idea of a perpetual longing to rush on Turkey, and seize upon Constantinople. Nearly all else has heen vailed from view. The true character of this policy and its real objects have been but partially understood. Eussia has, moreover, been viewed with dislike or indifference by Americans, because of the form of her government, and her supposed hatred of a liberal and republican policy. She has been regarded as the determined foe of the rights of man; as neither desiring for herself, nor willing to admit in others, any other form of civilization than such as may be produced by an absolute military despotism. It has been supposed that Eussia and America are the true opposites and even antag- onists of each other, the one representing a half-civilized, Oriental despotism, the other, rational Eepublicanism. The thought has scarce entered the American mind that a mutual regard might spring up between the two Powers, and that they may yet become the friendly representatives of the two leading ideas of the world. It is quite evident that the popular opinion of the great Northern Power, does not correspond either with her past history or with her present position. Her power and resources have been underrated even in Europe. France and England have miscalculated the strength of their antagonist. Europe has misjudged her, becanse the sources of her vitality are but imperfectly known. Yet it is man- ifest that she has interior springs, whose copious flow sup- plies a broad and steady stream of national life. Eussia presents every external sign of a living organism — not merely an aggregation of tribes, of fragments bound into a mass by present circumstances, which in any important THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 13 change may fall asunder. The resistance whicli, in 1812, she offered to western Europe, was that of an organized Dody, animated hy a national life. There was a national heart heating with hot enthusiasm in the midst of her snows ; there was a national feeling smarting under a national wound ; there was unyielding resolution — ready to sacrifice all things for the preservation of their country, determined to make of that country a desert, if the invader could not he otherwise expelled ; and it was the result of a living force that at last swept her foes awa/. It was not a suhdued or dispirited people, not a people fired with no love of country, that pressed upon and bore down the retreating forces of Bonaparte. Since that period there has heen a steady enlargement and increase of vigor, as by growth from a strong central life ; and whatever may be the result at Sebastopol, the Allies have evidently met there a living power, guided by science and practical skill. CHAPTER II. The Essential Elements of National Power. In this age of tne world, when civilization, instead of being confined to a single luminous point, is diffused over so large a portion of the world's surface, and a universal empire is no longer possible, there are certain conditions without which no great nation can come into existence — certain elements of strength necessary to procure for a people the first rank among the Powers of earth. The first of these conditions is an extensive territory. In the midst of the powerful kingdoms of modern times, no petty state, with limited domain, could exercise any important sway. Greece, placed on her ancient territorial footing, and possessed again of her former resources, would now be but a " little one " among the nations. Egypt could not now sway the world's sceptre from the valley of the Mle, nor could old Chaldea be in this age the "Lady of Kingdoms." Even if Eome should arise once more, possessed of all her Italian and Eastern power, leaving Eussia, France, England, and the German states, as they now are, she would no longer be the mistress of the world. To hold rank amono- the present " great Powers" of Europe, a territory is required, capable of sustaining a population of at least thirty mil- lions with the ordinary cultivation and modes of life, and therefore, the " four great Powers " must remain at the (14) THE KTJSSSIAN EMPIEB. 15 head of affairs. But it is easy to see tiat if any one of these should possess a territory capable of supporting a population equal to that of France, England, and Austria combined, without being more densely peopled than they now are, then, other things being equal, such a Power would hold all Eui-ope at her control, because all know that the other remaining nations could not be consolidated into a permanent union, though they may become allies in an hour of danger. In estimating, therefore, the future position of the pre- sent Powers of earth, extent of territory and capacity for population must be the basis of the calculation ; for a state of thirty millions, of to-day, may, in a few years, stand in the presence of another with one hundred millions of peo- ple. But there must be not only extent of 'territory, but it must be so situated as to be easily and safely controlled by oile central government. It is evident that India, Canada, and Australia add little to the effective strength of England. In proportion as they wax strong and prosperous, will their sympathy with the home government be weakened ; and, therefore, England, even with her great possessions, may be regarded as having reached the zenith of her power — because she can not construct, from her separated depend- encies, one consolidated dominion. When it is said, however, that she has reached her culminating point, the meaning is not that she is now destined to an absolute decline; it is not necessary, even, to suppose that she will make no pro- gress hereafter, but if another Power shall soon appear in Europe, with one hundred millions of people, with a common nationality, occupying one connected territory, and directed by one sufficiently strong central government ; if, indeed, such an one has already taken its position on the theater of Europe, then, not only England, but France and Austria, may be regarded as having passed the height of their 16 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. influence, thougli their absolute power may yet continue to increase. Against such a Power, the balance could not long be preserved by any combination of Western Europe. Moreover, to secure national greatness, based upon national independence, the territory 'of a people should stretch through so many degrees of latitude, and should embrax^ such a variety of position and climate as to produce within itself the main productions of the globe. In this respect, neither England, France, nor Austria, are so situated as to remain the very foremost nations of the world, though Erance and England, but especially the latter, have thus far been able to supply the deficiency by a command of the open commerce of the globe. But it is easy to perceive, that, in case of long continued war, or if other states should adopt a restricted commercial policy, every nation incapable of extensive home production, would suffer se- verely, and, perhaps, be permanently crippled. A nation then, to become not only great, but independent and secure, must possess the means of a self-sustaining life, and this can only be when its territory stretches through several degrees of latitude. Again, this territory must possess the means, nattiral or artificial, of free and extensive internal communication. Large lakes or a chain of inland seas, and navigable rivers, will probably always afford the most important and cheap- est channels for commercial exchanges, and a country thus furnished by the Creator will possess great advantages over one not thus favored ; for although modern science has put it in the power of any people to supply an adequate means of cheap and rapid transit, yet navigable rivers, and internal lakes and seas, are an additional advantage, conferring a superiority upon the nation possessing them. Any country may be traversed by rail roads, but when, in addition to these, God has scooped out the rivers and beds of navigable THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 17 waters, there is a dontle system and a double advantage. Inasmuch therefore, as God has designed the earth as the theater of national life, we are led to believe that those great divisions of its surface which are provided with adequate systems of lakes and navigable rivers, bringing all parts into connection with each other, were thus con- structed in order to become tlie seats of national power ; and even though such a territory may be now unoccupied, or but thinly inhabited, we are assured that the design of God will be accomplished. The future of America may, for this reason, be correctly inferred from the struc- ture of its territory, although large portions of it are lying waste, without an inhabitant ; and if we would form an opinion of the prospects of Eussia, we must study her systems of rivers and her general means of carry- ing on an interior trade, by which her remote provinces may be united by common interests, and bound to a common head. Moreover, since modern skill and science have converted the seas into the great thoroughfares of the world, no nation with an interior position can hereafter hold the first rank among the powers of earth. The great nation of the future must have free access to the ocean — must not only hold free communication with the sea from all points, but must possess sufficient and convenient harbors as commercial marts, and depots of maritime power. The admirable position of England, in the midst of the seas, has given free scope to the genius of her people, and enabled her to exert a controlling influence upon the affairs of nations ; but should a nation arise in Europe, with a population many times greater than her own — equal in intelligence and skill — with a proportionate control of the ocean — in that case, England, though still prosperous and advancing, would hold but a secondary position ; and this 18 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. would be equally true bott of Austria and France. Wbether there is a probability of the rise of sucb an empire, wiU be one of tbe questions to be discussed in these pages. Again, a nation will be great and powerful, other things being equal, in proportion as its growth is the progress of a single race, instead of a mere aggregation of dissimilar communities, brought by conquest under the dominion of a single head. The one is a dead mass, tending ever to dissolution ; the other is an animate body, unfolding a life, and tending toward maturity. Every mighty nation of earth has become great through the central life-power of one dominant race ; and the growth of power has been steady so long as there was sufficient vitality in this center to mold and assimilate all foreign material. Another important question, then, connected with the prospects of the Eussian Empire is, whether its population consists mainly of one race, which may supply a national life, and afford a true basis of national unity. If such a race exists, speaking a common language, bound together by the ties of common ancestry, national memories, interests, and hopes, creating a family pride and love of country ; then it becomes important also to know whether this race pos- sesses a clearly marked individuality, and if so, whether in these characteristics we are able to discover the elements of growth and greatness. Still another element of national power exists, where a nation is knit together by the ties of a common religion, and when a deep religious sentiment pervades the public mind. There may be a profession of a common faith, in which the national heart feels little or no interest, where even the doctrines of Christianity are coldly admitted, more from the influence of tradition or early education, than from a conviction wrought into the heart ; such a belief can not be regarded as an element of strength, for the national THE ETJSSIAN EMPIRE. 19 soul can not be roused for its defense — it can kindle no entHusiasni. But when a great people are controlled by a religious system in wbicb they have an undoubting faith, and ■which has power to excite and maintain a spirit of worship in the popular mind, such a people can be roused to the loftiest efforts of which man is capable, either for aggressive war for the spread of a national faith, or in defense of their altars and their homes. In studying the characteristics of Eussia, we should therefore not forget to inquire concerning her religious faith, and the warmth and strength of the religious sentiment among the millions of the empire, and whether there is a deep, national feeling of belief and worship that can be roused in a common cause. Finally, all the elements of national power may lie through long periods without being combined for any lofty purpose, or a nation, even from the first, may seem to have some presentiment of its destiny, and works on through centuries perhaps, toward a distant end, dimly perceived even by itself, until some mighty mind arises that comprehends the capacities of his country, and institutes at once the proper methods of awakening the national energies, and directs them to a definite end. If then, upon investigation, we deserve some or all of these elements of power in Eussia, it will then be most interesting to consider whether they are still lying like rude materials yet unshapen by the hand of the artist, or whether we find in Nicholas that greatness which has placed him at the head of an era in his country's history, a genius which has enabled him to mark out for his nation a nobler career, to conceive a great scheme bear- ing a true relation to the capabilities of his empire, and then direct toward this high end the whole power of his people. We shall do injustice to the late Czar, unless we study his charactier in his position as a Eussian sovereign, and 20 THE SUSSIAN EMPIKE. nnless we take into view at the same time, the actual con- dition of Europe, as weU as the aspect which it would assume iu his eye when viewed from the throne of an empire, and through the medium of a religious faith which evidently exercised over him a powerful sway. He was not a sceptic, but a firm believer in the rite of the Oriental church, a worshiper at her altars, and not a heartless for- malist. These and other facts explanatory of his course, must be taken into consideration in forming our judgment of the man. We must not expect to find him more thaa a man, or even a perfect man, but in our estimate it is proper to compare him not only with the perfect rule and example supplied by the word of God, but with his cotemporaries, whether his associates or his rivals. We are at liberty to study his national policy, his acts as a sovereign, and the character of his diplomacy, by the side of the course pursued by the other great powers of Europe. If Xicholas alone was ambitious of extending his dominion, while England has remained in all her course quiet in her island-home, making no aggressions, and grasping at no conquests, and no remote acquisitions, and France meanwhile has honestly occupied herself merely with her own afi^airs, anxious only to develop her own individual life, making no effort to sub- ject all Europe forcibly to her control, and Austria and Prussia have pursued a like peaceful and inoffensive career, if all these powers have ever been frank, open, and magnanimous in their diplomacy, seeking for no undue advantages, and abiding ever faithfully by their contracts, then, doubtless, the emperor of Eussia would appear at great disadvantage in comparison with them — but if we find the court of Eussia steadily pursuing its own desioTis, only by the use of such means as were assiduously employed by other powers, if Nicholas planned for the advancement of Eussia, while western Europe was plotting to obstruct THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 21 her progress, then, though we condemn him for his actual faults, we must not regard him as a sinner, ahove all the royal transgressors who were at least as unscrupulous as himself, and whose designs seemed to center in the one purpose of repressing the growth of Eussia. With these thoughts hefore us, let us proceed to the study of the great Northern Empire, and the policy and character of Nicholas. This character and policy will he exhibited by presenting Eussia as she is ; for the Eussia of to-day has been modelled according to the conception of the late emperor, a conception to whose grand proportions the empire will continue to shape itself in its future expansion. Nicholas formed the great idea of a Sclavonic civilization, with a territory for its theater stretching from ocean to ocean, with the Greek faith and worship for its religious basis, with a vast commercial and manufacturing system for its support, and expanding not so much by conquest as by growth from a central life. CHAPTER III. Geographical Cliaracter of Eussia. In accordance with the suggestions made in the preceding chapter, let us now inquire whether Eussia possesses a ter- ritory capahle of sustaining a population that will give her a controlling influence ia the affairs of Europe. It has been usual to speak of this empire under two great divi- sions, the one in Europe and the other in Asia, but we shall obtain a clearer idea of its vast dimensions by regarding it as one great whole. In fact, there is no great natural boundary to separate eastern from western Eussia, the Ural mountains being little more than a long tract of elevated land, the loftiest portions rising only to the height of four thousand feet, the ascent and descent being so gradual where the great roads pass, as to be almost imperceptible. We may then, without violence to any geographical feature, consider the Eussian territory as one unbroken whole. Viewed thus, it stretches from the Baltic sea on the west, across the entire breadth of Europe and Asia to the sea of Okhotsk and to Behring's Straits, looking southward upon the entire northern frontier of Europe, Turkey, Tartary, and the Chinese empire. This territory contains no less than 6,750,000 square miles, or more than one-sixth part of all the land on our planet. It has been the custom of most to comprise the whole description of this immense (22) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 23 possession within fhe sweeping remark, that most of it is an inhospitable region of deserts and snows, incapable of sustaining human life, and altogether without any important resources which can contribute to the growth of a nation. The almost unequalled progress of the empire within the last century is quite sufficient to expose the absurdity of such views, and yet in the very latest American work upon Eussia, is found the following: After speaking of the great extent of the Eussian dominions, and stating that her territory is equal to two Europes, or the whole of North America, the author adds, " But by far the greatest pro- portion of this prodigious superfices is almost uninhabited, and seems to be destined to perpetual sterility ; a conse- quence partly of the extreme rigor of the climate, in the provinces contiguous to the Arctic ocean, and partly of almost all the great rivers by which they are traversed having their embouchure on that ocean, and being therefore inaccessible for either the whole, or the greater part of the year." What could the uninformed reader infer from this descrip- tion but that "hj far the greatest proportion" of all Eussia lies along the shores of the Frozen Ocean, and is therefore condemned to a "perpetual sterility?" But how does this idea accord with the fact that Eussia, being somewhat less in extent than the North American continent, has already a population nearly double that of North America, and is surpassed by the United States alone, in the rapidity of her progress. Again, the same author remarks, " The most distinguish- ing feature of Eussia is her vast forests. Schnitzler, who estimates the surface of European Eussia at about four hundred millions of deciatims (2 7-10 acres) supposes that one hundred and fifty-six millions are occupied by forests, They are so very prevalent in the governments of Novgorod 24 THE EUSSSIAN EMPIRE. and Tver, between Petersburg and Moscow, that it has been said a squirrel might travel from the one city to the other without ever touching the ground. In the government of Perm, on both sides of the Ural mountains, containing eigh- teen millions of deciatims, no fewer than seventeen millions are covered by forests ! The forests of Asiatic Eussia are also of vast size." These may be facts, but facts thus pre- sented without explanation, and in connection with the statements which have been mentioned concerning the sterile character of " by far the greatest proportion" of Eus- sia, serve only to lead the mind of the inquirer astray. No long period has passed since the most "distinguishing feature" of North America, particularly of the United States, was the almost unbroken forest, and it was scarcely impossible one hundred years ago for a squirrel to have passed from the Atlantic to the Mississippi through one continuous wood, and yet on the very site of the old forest, now stand our populous States, which indeed could not have sprung up with such marvelous growth had the forests been absent. These very forests constitute a most import- ant portion of the wealth of Eussia, they form a solid basis for her future progress, and an element of growth with which she could by no means safely dispense — as will be shown hereafter. A fair comparison of the capabilities of the Eussian Empire, so far as population is concerned, might be pre- sented, could we make even an approximate estimate of the extent of territory within her limits, equal in productive- ness to other portions of Europe, and then calculate what the number of her people would be if these lands were as densely settled as Europe now is. Sir Archibald Alison has attempted such a calculation, in which, as a basis, he rejects two-thirds of Asiatic Eussia as sterile and unproductive. Having done this, he then proceeds to show that if Eussia THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE. 25 in Europe were peopled as Germany now is, it would contain 150,000,000 souls ; if as dense as Great Britain, the num- ber would be 311,000,000. He then adds, if that portion of Asiatic Eussia which is capable of cultivation were peopled even as Scotland is, it would sustain 200,000,000 inhabitants ; if as densely as the British Islands together, more than 500,000,000 people. If, then, the agricultural portion of Bussia were populated only as Germany and Scotland now are, her numbers would he 350,000,000 ; if as densely as Great Britain, the population would be more than 800,000,000. This seems at first glance mere empty speculation. But let us consider that this would be the number of the multitudes of Eussia, when she has only as many inhabitants to the square mile as Great Britain now has, and reckoning only the productive portion of her territory. The point to be observed here is, that with an equal number of inhabitants on the square mile, the pop- ulation of Great Britain would be some 28,000,000, and that of Eussia 800,000,000, and this without taking into account the sterile lands of the latter country. This, there- fore, affords a fair comparison of the capacities of the two kingdoms, looking at this single point alone. Nor can it be said that it is impossible that the agricultural portions of Eussia will ever support as many inhabitants on the square mile as are found in Great Britain now, for out of about 57,000,000 acres in the British Islands, 22,000,000 are waste lands. Besides, even the present ratio of increase in Eussia, will give her in the year 1900, 130,000,000 people; in 1950, the number will be 260,000,000; and, one hundred and fifty years hence, with simply her present rate of progress, her population will be 520,000,000, and we have seen that her territory is abundantly sufficient to support even this enormous multitude — that even then she will not be overstocked with people, for the estimate is based 3 26 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. upon her agricultural and productive lands alone, and facts would seem to indicate that this portion of her country is much larger, in proportion to the whole, than has been hitherto supposed. Indeed, in almost all our publications upon this subject, from the elementary books and geogra- phies of our schools, to the scientific lecture, we find only those sweeping generalities which are usually employed in the absence of definite ideas and accurate information. It will be conceded by all that the territorial possessions of Russia are sufficiently extensive to form the basis of an empire more powerful than any now on the globe — superior, even to any nation of the past. But then we are at once reminded that most of this vast dominion lying under the frozen sky of the north, is unfit for the habitation of man, and is doomed to eternal rigor and sterility. K this is indeed so, then western Europe has little to apprehend from the future growth of this northern Power, and the world at large little to hope from the civilization of the Sclavonic races. But it is better to study this subject in the light of admitted facts than to be guided by theories hastily con- structed, and which, like false quotations from some ancient author, pass current for generations, sometimes without examination, and, consequently, without dispute. A few well established facts relating to position, climate, and pro- ductions, wiU enable us to form an accurate opinion upon the single point of the capacity of the Eussian territory to sustain a dense population. By far the largest proportion of the Russian Empire, whether in Europe or Asia lies within the temperate zone, and this alone would furnish strong presumptive evidence, if not positive proof, that a small portion only, of its lands, are necessarily uninhabitable or barren, on account of the severity of the climate. Between the parallels of latitude that inclose entire Europe, Russia has a territory equal in THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. 27 extent to all the other European States, and from its south- ern limit, between the Black Sea and the Caspian, it stretches northward through about eighteen degrees of latitude, before it reaches the northern extremity of Great Britain, a distance equal to that from New Orleans to the center of Lal^ Superior — or, in general terms, equal to the breadth of our country, from the Gulf of Mexico to British America. This fact alone is quite sufficient to show that, so far as territory and climate are concerned, she possesses the ele- ments of national greatness almost immeasurably beyond any other single Power of Europe — ^holding a territory nearly equal to them all, which lies in the same latitude as their own, beside her more northern districts, and her immense possessions in Asia. The character of that portion of Eussia in Europe which lies north of the latitude of Great Britain, and alsp that of her Asiatic dominions, may be understood by Americans, if compared with our own country. In this comparison, it must not be forgotten that the climate of Europe is milder than in the corresponding latitudes in America. The opening of the spring, the time of the autumnal frosts, and the beginning of winter, will furnish proper points for such a comparison. It would probably be very near the truth, if the average time for the opening of the navigation of the Hudson is fixed at or near the first of April. The ice in the Penobscot, as was stated, began to move this season (1855) on the 14th of April. At St. Paul, Minnesota, the navigation of the Mississippi opens from the 1st to the midille of April, and up to this time, also, the ice usually remains in the harbors of our western lakes. The period for the closing of these rivers and lakes, in the autumn, is fi'om the middle of November to the first of December — the Hudson alone excepted, which often remains open until the last days of December. 28 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Throughout the northern States, the time for planting Indian com is between the 1st and the twelfth of May, and it reaches maturity, with a profitable yield, in regions so far north that the planting is delayed until June, while there, also, rye, oats, flax, barley, potatoes and other roots, as well as a great variety of fruits, grow "in perfection. Now, when it is considered that the most flourishing portion of our country is that where the commencement of spring ranges from the middle of April to the middle of May, and where the autumnal frosts begin about the 1st of October, it is surely a somewhat hasty conclusion that a country of Europe, possessing a similar climate, must be regarded as doomed to perpetual sterility, as a mere frozen waste. The ice on the Neva, at St. Petersburgh, is usually broken up about the 18th of April, while it again becomes stationary about the 1st of December. Vegetation commences by the 1st of May, and proceeds with a rapidity that outstrips the growth of more southern climes, and fully compensates for the later opening of spring. By an examination of the reports of various travelers, but especially the descriptions of the accurate and scientific German tourist, Erman, we learn that if we travel eastward from St. Petersburgh, through Eussia in Europe, and Siberia, to the Pacific Ocean, we shall find that through all these immense regions, to within a short distance of the arctic circle, the climate cor- responds in general with that of the northern portions of the United States, and the British American provinces ; that the commencement of winter and the beginning of spring, and the range of the thermometer, are nearly the same on both the eastern and western continents. It would, there- fore, be wrong to conclude that any portion of Eussia, either in Europe or Asia, south of sixty-two degrees north latitude, may not support a dense population, when we have before our eyes New England, northern New York, Wisconsin, THE ETJSSIAN BMPIKE. 29 Minnesota, and Canada, with a climate essentially the same, yet evidently possessing all the elements of rapid growth and national greatness. In regard to the productiveness of the soil of Eussia, our conclusions rest partly upon con- ceded facts, and partly upon inferences. Little need be said concerning the whole vast territory which lies opposite to the main portions of western Europe, embracing eighteen degrees of latitude, for although much has been said of the inhospitable and even uninhabitable steppes of the southern portion of this region, Americans have learned that a prairie land is capable of supporting an exceedingly dense population, and the "detestable black c^Msi " men- tioned by travelers in the Eussian prairies, indicates, in a manner not to be mistaken, the fertile character of the soil. This region, then, lying side by side with western Europe, and almost equal in extent to that part of the United States which lies between the Atlantic and the Eocky Mountains, may, perhaps, be considered as equal in productiveness to the remainder of Europe. We have then to consider, in addition, the more northern portions of Eussia, both in Europe and Asia. Here the winters are severe, and the summers are short; and although the capabilities of the soil have scarcely been tested at all, it is probable that cul- tivation must cease at a point about one hundred miles south of the arctic circle. This opinion is founded chiefly upon the observations of Erman, who found that the grains of Europe had been brought to perfection within about this distance of the frigid zone, and even in places where the ground is perpetually frozen, a few feet below the surface. These northern regions, moreover, abound in immense for- ests, particularly of pine, and the soil, which is capable of supporting the growth of large forest trees, will, by suitable culture, produce food for man. These forests form no inconsiderable portion of the wealth of Eussia, and will 30 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. materially contribute to her future growth ; and the truth of this will readily appear when we remember that the Knows of the winter, and the countless streams in the summer, furnish precisely the means of transport for lumber, which has been found so efficacious in America. Some idea may be formed of the value of the forests of Eussia, from the following statements which are found in Alison's History of Europe : " The cold and shiyering plains which stretch toward Archangel and the shores of the White Sea, are covered with immense forests of oak and fir, furnishing at once inexhaustible materials for ship- building, and supplies of fuel, which for many generations will supersede the necessity of searching in the bowels of the earth for the purposes of warmth or manufacture, for the inhabitants of the empire." He then quotes the fol- lowing from " Trans, de I'Aeademie Imperiale de St. Peters- hurgh; Malte Brun and Bremner's Eussia" : " The extent of the forests in the northern provinces of Eussia is almost inconceivable. From actual measurement, it appears that in the three governments of Vologda, Arch- angel, and Olonitz alone, there are 216,000,000 acres of pine and fir, being about three times the whole surface of the British Islands, which contains 77,000,000. In one government alone there are 47,000,000 acres of forest. It appears from M. Herman's calculations, that there are in thirty-one governments in the north of Eussia, 8,195,- 295 firs well adapted to large masts, each being above thirty inches in diameter — a number more than sufficient for a long supply of all the fleets in the world, beside 86,- 869,000 fit for building houses. In twenty-two govern- ments only, there are 374,804 large oaks, each more than twenty-six inches in diameter, and 229,670,000 of a smaller size." A country thus supplied with such magnificent forests of timber, for ship-building, the construction of THE ETJSSIAN EMPIRE. 31 dwellings, and all the purposes of the arts, and so abun- dantly furnished with the means of transport by her net- work of rivers, may not be carelessly described as a mere frozen, barren waste ; for these forests when they disappear, as the population increases, and civilization advances, will be succeeded by grain fields, and orchards, and prosperous communities, in the same manner in which we have seen the change wrought on American soil. It is doubtless true, that there is much waste land even within the limits of what has been designated as the agricultural district of the Eussian Empire, and the northern portions of her territory, even within the temperate zone, can not be considered pro- ductive, when compared with the Danubian provinces, or with the valley of the Mississippi ; but then it should be remembered what large tracts of land are found unfit for cultivation in every country. How large a portion of the- whole surface, for instance, in New England, is occupied by mountains and rugged hills that the plow can not visit ; yet these very mountains, covered with forests, sparkling with streams, and filled with mineral wealth, afford the means of supporting an exceedingly dense population. The capabilities of Eussia have evidently been too hastily judged; her rapid growth, unequalled except by our own, would indicate that no unusual proportion of her ter- ritory is waste and sterile, and there are many proofs that the Eussians are subduing a continent, expanding them- selves on every side, and redeeming the wilderness, after the manner of the A.mericans here. CHAPTEK lY. The Eelatiye Position of Russia. Whatever may be the extent of a nation's territory, or the productiveness of its soil, it can have no extended growth, or prominent greatness based on its own independ- ent resources, if it is either hemmed in by other powerful nations, or excluded from adequate communication with the ocean. A nation thus situated, can become great only by conquest or peaceful acquisition, thus securing to itself advantages which did not belong to its original domain. Russia has thus extended herself with astonishing rapidity ; but this enlargement of her dominion has been not so much by overrunning contiguous countries, as by the expansion of an internal life, which has sought space wherein to grow ; and it is her present position, and what seems to be her immediate and inevitable future, that is presented for con- sideration here. Perhaps Americans may perceive in the picture enough of resemblance to our own position, to awaken in them a new interest in regard to this Huropean America, and to inquire whether two great nations now facing each other on the opposite shores of the Pacific, are not hereafter to be brought into more intimate association. Like America, Eussia reaches from ocean to ocean, stretcn- ing across the whole breadth of Europe and Asia, and rest- ing one wing on the Pacific and the other upon the Atlantic. (32) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 33 She is thus placed, at either extremity of her empire, in communication with the commerce of the world. Through the Baltic she connects herself with Europe, and with the trade of the eastern coast of America, and eastward, on the Pacific, there is opened to her the commerce of China, the East Indian Archipelago, and the Pacific slope of the American continent. From these two extremities, the trade of the world may be drawn inward toward the heart of the Empire. One acquisition has lately been made by Russia in the East, which will change the whole aspect of her eastern commerce, and will prove of the very highest importance in connection with the progress of our own popu lation on the Pacific coast. This point will be made clear by the following quotation from Alison, and by the inspec- tion of a good map. " The River Amoor, which flows from the mountains of Mongolia into the ocean of Japan, by a course twelve hundred miles in length, of which nine hun- dred are navigable, in a deep channel, shut in on either side by precipitous rocks, or shaded by noble forests, is the real outlet of eastern Siberia ; and though the Chinese are still masters of this splendid stream, it is as indispensible to Asiatic, as the Volga is to European Russia, and ere long, it must fall under the dominion of the Czar, and constitute the principal outlet of his immense Oriental provinces." Mr. Alison has underrated the size of the Amoor. It is twenty-two hundred miles in length, and navigable through a large portion of its whole extent. The upper portion of this stream lies within the Emperor's dominions, in the province of Irkoutsk, and with the Chinese in possession of its mouth, eastern Siberia is in a condition somewhat similar to that of the upper Mississippi valley before the Louisiana purchase. Russia has lately obtained the control of the valley of the Amoor to its mouth, and it will at once become the channel of an extensive 34 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. commerce, not with the East alone, but with the Pacific slope of America. Siberia is traversed from north to south by large, navigable rivers, which empty, however, into the Arctic ocean ; but so soon as the trade of these streams is carried on by steam vessels, changes will take place, such as have occurred on our western rivers, and these channels, united, as ultimately they will be, by railways pointing eastward and toward the valley of the Amoor, will pour into the sea of Japan, the mineral and other productions of southern and central Siberia, and the northern prov- inces of China, and bear back from other lands the means of comfort and civilization to the heart of Northern Asia. On the shores of California and Oregon, and at the mouth of the Amoor, and in the harbors of the Sea of Japan, Eussians and Americans will meet for the exchanges of a mutual commerce, remote from the rest of Europe. "We shall scarcely overestimate the importance of the trade which at no remote period, will flow to and from southern Siberia, and the adjacent provinces lately added to the Eussian territory, if we may credit a distinguished English writer, who declares that the " immense plains which stretch to the eastward along the banks of the Amoor, are capable of containing all the nations of Christ- endom in comfort and affluence." Again, by her possessions upon the Black Sea, she is placed in direct communication with the commerce of the Mediterranean, and through the Mediterranean she has a third channel connecting her with the general trade of the world. In this calculation, no notice is taken of her long line of sea coast on the Arctic Ocean. In those frozen regions it possesses less commer- cial importance. A country so vast as Eussiq, could scarcely touch the sea more advantageously than she does, resting in the east on the Pacific, lying in the west along the Atlantic, for the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland are to THE-KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 35 her as to the Atlantic sea-coast, while along the southern frontier of her European territory stretches the Black Sea. It is apparent that nothing more is wanting but the pos- session of Constantinople and the control of the Dardanelles, to complete a territorial outline of the most imposing char- acter that earth has ever seen in the possession of a single Power, and to which earth can afford no parallel, except in North America. He who studies aright the position, resources, and progress of Eussia, wOl see at once, that the possession of Constantinople is merely a question of time. The idea that the Powers of Western Europe are able to check permanently the advance of Eussia, will not long be seriously entertained. The life of the Northern Empire lies beyond their reach, and she needs but to permit them to exhaust themselves upon her frontier positions, and quietly wait until they are forced backward by the resist- less power of her growth. She is under no present neces- sity of possessing Constantinople: she requires only the power to control its owners, and shape for them a policy in accordance with her own, and the most splendid dreams of Muscovite greatness may then be realized, even while the Golden Horn remains in the possession of the Sultan. It may not be uninteresting to the American reader to pause a moment here, in order to bestow a passing glance upon the general resemblance between the geographical position of Eussia and North America, as well as a relation- ship of position — indicating, as it would seem, a closer connection between the two nations in their future career. The comparison is instituted between Eussia and North America because nothing in the future is more certain than that the North American continent, with its adjacent seas and islands, will be controlled by a single government. If the American Union continues, such a result will be reached by the inevitable law of national development. Eussia and 36 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. North America, then, are nearly equal in the extent of their possessions, and each is capahle of supporting a popu- lation of a thousand millions, without overhurthening its territory, or exhausting its resources. They both stretch from ocean to ocean, each resting one broad wing upon the Atlantic and the other upon the Pacific ; and together, the arms of their wide dominion reach round the globe. They face each other from the opposite shores of the Atlantic, for, as has been said, the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland form for Eussia an Atlantic sea<;oast. Again, the two nations lie fronting each other on the shores of the North Pacific — suggesting a future influence over the East Indian Archipelago, scarcely anticipated now: a control of the commerce of the East, which our government is preparing for by her negotiations with Japan, and of which Russia is not unmindful, as was evident from the watchful presence of her fleet, while our squadron was at Jeddo, and by her advancing to the valley of the Amoor. The eastern pro- vinces of Eussia on the Pacific, and the western territories of the United States on the same ocean, can furnish unlimited resources, either for a navy or a commercial marine, and therefore the trade of that " Exhaustless East" may yet flow along two new channels, running in opposite directions — one eastward, through the heart of North America, and the other westward, through the dominions of Russia. Such a change in the world's commerce is surely not altogether improbable ; indeed the course of events already indicates such a result, and it requires no argument to demonstrate that, if it occurs, the Powers of Western Europe will sink at once to a secondary position, and yield up forever the control of the world. Such a view suggests the intimate relations which may hereafter be established between the United States and Russia ; and the growing sympathy between the two nations may, perhaps, be THE KUSSIAK EMPIRE. 37 regarded as a foreshadowing of the future. Again, these two countries resemble each other in their capacity for self- development and independent support. They both enjoy every variety of soil, climate, and production that can be found north of the southern limit of the temperate zone, and, therefore, though they were shut out from all the world beside, each could still maintain a vigorous natural growth from their own domestic resources. Indeed, if it were possible for the powers of Europe completely to block- ade every sea port of Eussia and America, for the next fifty years, they would find, in the end, that, so far from crushing the power of either nation, they had only, in each, nursed to maturity a compact and homogeneous power, self-balanced on its own resources, self-sustained by its own internal life, irresistible through its national unity and individuality of character. Each of these countries is capable of becoming a world within itself, independent of, and even excluded from, the rest of earth. Vast as is the foreign commerce of the United States, it is yet small when compared with our domestic trade, and the complete annihilation of our trade with foreign nations would not touch the sources of our national life, nor even permanently retard our progress. Kussia and America are the only two Powers of earth that might become great nations if shut out from the rest of the world, and therefore the efforts of all otier nations can not long or materially obstruct the growth of either. Both are impregnable on their own soil, and both may securely develop their exhaustless internal resources, without the possibility of being prevented by any. The two countries also present some points of general resemblance in the natural facilities which both possess for internal communi- cation, as well as for the constructions of artificial channels for travel and for trade. Eussia can boast of no such magnificent chain of internal seas as those of North 38 THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. America, but she has the Caspian, eight hundred miles long, on the east — the Black Sea along the central por- tion of her southern frontier in Europe — and the Baltic and the GuK of Finland, affording her a long line of what may be called inland sea coast, in the northwest, while her whole territory is covered, almost equally with the American continent, by a netrwork of navigable rivers. In addition to these natural avenues of commerce, the nature of the country presents almost unrivaled facilities for the construction of artificial connections, whether canals or roads. Eussia may be regarded as one vast plain, reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and intersected by few mountain ranges, so that no obstacle is presented to the establishment of railways in any required direction, while the material for such structures exists in the utmost abundance. Both in the United States and Eussia, there- fore, are found unlimited resources for a home growth, the cultivation of an individual and independent national life. In the external features and relative geographical position, then, of these two great nations, we perceive enough of general resemblance to suggest the inquiry whether they are not to be in some manner more closely associated than they have hitherto been — whether, in the new aspect of the world's affairs, now opening around us, they are not to act in concert, and possibly in united self-defense, against the Powers of Western Europe. Especially may we sup- pose that this might occur if England and France should assume, as they now seem disposed to do, the office of regulators of the concerns of nations in both hemispheres, which, being interpreted, means simply that they propose to combine to repress the progress of any Power which, even in its legitimate growth, may overshadow their own. Eussia and America have been prepared, as it were, in the wilder- ness, away from the great theater of European affairs. A THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 39 little time since, they were scarcely thought of, much less consulted, in the movements of nations ; they have risen together to the position of great Powers on earth, and henceforth they can scarcely remain indifferent to each other's condition and policy. Unaccountable as it may appear, considering the different character of their political institutions, it is doubtless true that Eussia regards Amer- ica with more friendly feelings than she does any nation of Europe, and indications are not wanting that repxiblican America will, ere long, strongly reciprocate this friendship of an absolute monarchy. It is believed to be quite impos- sible to estimate correctly, from any descriptions which have been given, the actual extent of internal navigation sup- plied by the rivers and lakes of Eussia. The country has, as yet, tj a great extent, been but imperfectly explored, unless by the government itself. Foreigners are acquainted only with the larger streams of the empire, and thousands of miles of river navigation may probably exist, altogether unknown to any who have visited Eussia. The main streams which flow into the Baltic, those which empty into the Black Sea, and the Caspian, and the great rivers of Siberia, have been described, in general terms, and we are informed that they are navigable to certain points. These descriptions have been given mostly by those who know little of river navigation as practised in America. Those who are accus- tomed to see American steamboats on our western rivers, carrying on a profitable traffic, with a depth of water from fifteen inches to eighteen inches only, will readily under- stand, from a map, that the Eussian territory will yet be traversed, in all directions, by steamboats of light draught, such as now enliven the rivers of the west, and that such capacities for domestic traffic, and for reaching the seaboard, are ample for the development of the country's resources. 40 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. A single statement, furnished by Ennan, throws much light upon this interesting subject. This author, in describing the mines of the Ural moun- tains, and the amount of iron annually produced, states the line of river navigation, from the mining region to St. Petersburg, to be 3,350 miles. He also mentions that from the upper Volga, from 4,000 to 6,000 barges descend annu- ally to St. Petersburg, by a canal connecting with the Neva ; and when we consider that iron from the Ural, destined to European Eussia, requires about 1,000 boats annually, car- rying each nearly one hundred tons at the commencement of the voyage, the cargo being increased at a certain point below, we may form an idea of the amount of the present internal commerce of Eussia. Nor must we forget that this trade is yet almost entirely carried on in such rude boats as a few years since floated on the Mississippi and Ohio, and it is not therefore too much to anticipate that in the future progress of Eussia, and in a period not remote, such a change may be wrought by the introduction of steam vessels upon her rivers, as we have already seen from this cause in the Mississippi valley. She has begun, and com- pleted to Moscow, one of her great trunk lines of railway intended to concentrate upon her capital, and it is in progress, and nearly finished to Odessa. Let but this be carried from Moscow, eastward to the valley of the Amoor, an enterprise only equal to our own Paciiic Eailway, and then a trunk line wiU connect Moscow with the East Indian seas, and from Moscow one branch will pass westward to St. Petersburg, and the other southward toward Constanti- nople, striking the Black Sea at Odessa. These lines would cross the whole system of the navigable rivers of the empire, and would be to Eussian commerce, both foreign and domestic, what the Pacific road and its branches will THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 41 be to the United States, passing the Ural and its boundless mineral wealth midway, as the American road will the Eocky mountains. No one doubts that the American rail- way will be completed at no distant period, and who that considers the past progress and present power of Eussia, shall say that she will not also construct a Pacific Eailway, aided by American skill and experience. This, for Eussia, would only be to construct the modern iron road, with steam carriages, along the old highway of her Eastern commerce, and certainly it would be an instruct- ive sight to the boastful powers of Western Europe if the two nations who have been the chief object of their ridicule, one as barbarian, and the other as composed of backwoodsmen, should ere long present them with one continuous line of railway and ocean steam navigation, reaching round the globe and turning the commerce of the East through the heart of America and Eussia. Such a result is by no means impossible. CHAPTER V. The Territory of Russia may be easily controlled by one Central Government. It has already been remarked ttat no extent of territo- rial possession, however fertile its soil, or however dense its population, will afford a foundation for true national great- ness, miless it is a contiguous territory, or can in some manner be bound into one whole, so that the remotest extremity will feel the influence of a central life. With such methods of communication only as the ancients possessed, no widely-extended government could long maintain itself united and secure ; and with these examples of failure and dissolution before them, the wisest of the early American statesmen felt little inclination to enlarge our national domain ; and only a few years since, the idea of retaining a united dominion over our present territory would have been rejected by many, perhaps by most, as absurd. But the steam vessel, the railway, and the telegraph, practically condense a continent into the space of a province, and all are now convinced that the magnitude of our country will never destroy the efficiency or unity of the government. That alone would not now prevent one central power from con- trolling the two Americas. In examining, therefore, the elements of power possessed by Eussia, it is necessary to consider more particularly than we have hitherto done, the (42) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 43 nature of these facilities for intercourse between different parts of ter empire, which she now enjoys, or maj' probably create hereafter," in the regular and natural development of her resources. We shall then understand whether she is likely to remain a firmly-compacted whole, animate with a single life, or whether she must be regarded as a mass of heterogeneous materials loosely cohering even now, and soon to be separated entirely. A glance has been bestowed upon this point, in the brief comparison instituted between the United States and Eussia, but the means of internal com- munication enjoyed by the latter demand a more particular description. This may properly commence with the rivers of the country. These may be separated into five groups, according to the seas into which their waters flow, viz : the Pacific, the Arctic Ocean, the Caspian, the Black Sea, and the Baltic. Beginning in the east with the river basins which stretch from the southern base of the Altai mountains, southeastward toward the Pacific, there is an extensive region of whose rivers little is known, except the Amoor, and even in regard to that, our information is scanty and unsatisfactory, it having been until quite lately, within the guarded Chinese dominions. It must henceforth be regarded as a Eussian river, the natural and necessary outlet of the whole eastern portion of the empire. It is described as a " splendid stream," having a course of twenty-two hundred miles, for a large portion of which it is said to be navigable. Such a river must, of course, drain a territory proportionate to its own magnitude, and the glowing though indefinite accounts of the wide and fertile plains that lie along its banks, together with its actual magnitude and the distance for which it is navigable, remind one of the Mississippi and its valley, below St. Louis. Such a stream must also be sus- tained by many important affluents of which nothing defi- nite is known to Europeans. Its whole course is through 44 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. an attractive and productive region, and it requires but a slight effort of the imagination to present a picture of this great valley as it will be, when fleets of steamers shall cover the Amoor and its tributaries, not only bearing the produc- tions of the adjacent countries, but interchanging the com- modities of Europe, Asia, and America. This stream rises in the province of Irkoutsk in southern Siberia, and flowing in a southeasterly direction into the Sea of Japan, seems to have been formed with especial reference to the trade of Asiatic Eussia, reaching from the Chinese seas to the head-streams of one of the largest rivers in Siberia that empties into the Arctic Ocean, and is thus prepared to receive the trade of the valley of the Lena — which reaches to the frozen shores of the Polar Sea. This extreme eastern portion then of Eussia, is a vast and fertile river basin, stretching from the Sea of Japan north- westeiiy to south-eastern Siberia, traversed by a stream navi- gable for more than a thousand miles, according to estimates of river navigation made before American steamboats on our western rivers had shown how small a stream is capable of floating a profitable commerce. On the head-waters of the Amoor, that vast plain is reached which inclines slightly to the Arctic Sea, and across which flow some of the longest rivers of Asia. The traveler from the Paciflc, following up the valley of the Amoor, would strike first in the prov- ince of Irkoutsk, the upper waters of the Lena, then pass- ing far westward, he would reach the valley of the Yenisei, and finally, at the eastern base of the Ural mountains, he would find a third broad river basin, that of the Obi. Each of these mighty streams is said to have a course of more than two thousand miles. Along these vast valleys, for about one-half their extent, the cereals of Europe come to maturity; and he who knows what success has crowned agricultural labor in Minnesota, and even much further THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 45 north, where the range of the thermometer is much the same as in southern Siheria, will not hastily conclude that the latter must he regarded only as a frozen, desert waste. The actual extent of arahlo land can not he estimated, with our present means of information ; hut the value of uncultivated lands in high northern latitudes, is almost universally underrated. Immense tracts of natural pas- ture spread over these great plains ; heavy forests skirt the streams, even within the Arctic circle, furnishing exhaustless supplies of valuahle timher, while the fisheries of the rivers, and the furs of the northern districts are of themselves the sources of a very important trade. On the western frontier of Siheria, and along the western edge of the valley of the Obi, rise the Ural mountains, embosom- ing a mineral wealth without a parallel on the globe, except in the great mountain ranges of America. These rivers and their tributaries, are navigable for most of their course for about six months in the year, and considering the resources and extent of the country, it is easy to perceive what it may become, with a railway crossing these valleys, from the head of steamboat navigation on the Amoor, to the mineral regions in the Ural, from whence there is already a river navigation fitted for small steam vessels, to the Caspian, the Black Sea, and the Baltic. Before any one turns away from such statements, as idle and empty speculation, let him calmly consider the progress of the United States within the last twenty years, and the certainty that the whole breadth of our continent will very soon be spanned by a railway having one terminus on the Atlantic and the other on the Pacific, and then remember that in rapidity of growth and improvement, Eussia stands next to America. Siberia then, traversed from north to south by rivers, whose magnitude compares with those of North America, requires but a line of communication crossing 46 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. them from east to west, such as a railway would supply, to develop her great resources, and put her in connec- tion hoth with Asia and Europe. Her third system of rivers emhraces those which fall into the Caspian Sea. Of these, the Volga alone requires to he mentioned. This is the largest river of Europe, being two thousand miles in length, one and a quarter miles broad at its mouth, and navigable almost to its very source, or perhaps even, for steamboats like those of our western rivers, through its entire course, as it rises from a lake. It may be compared to the Mississippi, reckoning from the Falls of St. Anthony to the G-ulf of Mexico. It receives numerous important affluents from the east and north-east, which connect the main stream by navigable waters, not only with important agricultural districts, but with the mining regions of the Ural. In the lower part of its course, it approaches within about thirty miles of the Don, at a point where the nature of the country offers no impediment to the construction of a ship canal, which has been often projected, and even com- menced, but not completed. By this comparatively small work, the whole valley of the Volga and the western slope of the Ural, would be connected directly with the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. One of the tributaries of the Volga, coming from the northeast, has a course of one thousand miles, about equal to the Ohio from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi, and another, the Oka, on a branch of which is Moscow, is seven hundred miles long, and navigable almost to its source. The Volga is united by a canal with the Duna, which empties into the Gulf of Eiga, and thus uninterrupted navigation is estab- lished between the Caspian Sea and the Baltic. Another canal connects a tributary of the Oka with the Don, and this opens an indirect communication between the Black Sea and the Caspian. Still another canal unites the Volga with THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 47 tte Dwina, whicli flows into the White Sea, and thus another navigable line is formed from the southern ex- tremity of the empire, through its very heart, to Archangel and the Frozen Ocean. Yet another work opens a connec- tion between the Volga and the Lake Onega, and St. Petersburgh, and this city is also united with Moscow, both by canal and railway. There are thus three main lines of water communication across the entire breadth of European Eussia. One from the mineral region of the Ural to St. Petersburgh and the Baltic; one from the Caspian, north- ward, to the Arctic Ocean, and one from the Caspian, and also from the Ural, through the Duna, to the Baltic ; and even yet another, by the way of the Oka and Moscow, to St. Petersburgh, by the canal. This is quite independent of that great number of smaller streams and shorter connec- tions known only to the inhabitants of a country. Together, they present a perfect network of veins and arteries, along which the tides of internal commerce flow. Next, are the rivers which flow into the Black Sea. Among these are : the Dnieper, which is twelve hundred miles long, a broad and deep stream, navigable for a large portion of its course ; the Bog, or Bong, which is more than four hundred miles long, and navigable; the Don, which is also a navigable stream, is about five hundred miles in length. The lower portion of this stream will be the channel of an immense trade so soon as the canal is finished between it and the Volga, a distance of about thirty miles; and, finally, the Kouban, a shallow stream, coming from the Caucasus, and navigable only for boats of a light draught. Its length is about four hundred miles. In addition to the rivers already mentioned, the Danube, having sixty navigable tributaries, falls into the Black Sea. Eussia has obtained the control of tlie mouths of this import- ant European stream, and her fortress of Ismail commands 48 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the commerce wMch passes by the northern or Kilia branch. If, as is said, the bar across the mouth of the Sulinah, or middle branch, is yearly increasing, the whole trade of the Danube may be thrown into the northern channel, and must pass under the guns of a Eussian forti- fication. Eussia owns the north shore of the Danube as far as Galatz, near which town it receives the Pruth, which, in a course of more than five hundred miles, flows along the province of Bessarabia. The fifth system of Eussian rivers is connected with the Baltic. Its streams are smaller than those already described, but their commercial importance is, nevertheless, great. The Neva, on which St. Eetersburgh is built, has its source in the Lake Ladoga, which is one hundred and thirty miles long, while it averages seventy- five miles in breadth. The shores of the Lagoda, and the commerce of the streams which empty into this lake, some of which bring the productions of the Ural, make the Neva the channel of a very extensive trade. The Duna dis- charges itself into the Gulf of Eiga, and, being connected by a canal with the Volga, as has already been stated, it floats an extensive commerce. The Vistula is the chief river of Poland, and at Warsaw it is about seven hundred feet broad. This completes a general, but by no means a full, survey of the facilities afforded by the Eussian rivers for internal trade and travel. The government has already begun the establishment of lines of river steamers of the American build, and they are now running almost to the very base of the Ural mountains. No long time will elapse before these almost countless streams will present the aspect of our American rivers, and business and towns will spring up along their banks, as they have already done, by the use of similar means, in the Mississippi Valley. The flat boat and the horse barges will disappear from Eussian THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 49 waters, as the broad-horns have from the Ohio and the Mississippi, and steam, both on the water and on the land, will convey the traffic of the empire. As already stated, the country of the Czar can boast of no such connected chain of great lakes as are found in America. Still, it is a land of lakes, and gulfs, and inland seas, which afford great facility for its commerce. On the west and northwest, almost countless gulfs and bays shoot inland from the Atlantic, giving long lines of interior sea- coast, and communicating with her navigable rivers. Lake Baikal, in southern Siberia, is about the size of Lake Erie, and its valuable fisheries form the basis of an important commerce. The Caspian Sea is but an immense salt-lake, about eight hundred miles long ; and the Black Sea, and the Baltic, may also be regarded as merely interior seas, of which Eussia will ultimately retain the chief control, in spite of the combined efibrts of western Europe. The Lakes Ladoga and Onega are by no means inconsiderable bodies of water, the first having an area of more than six thousand square miles, and the latter being one hundred and thirty miles long and fifty miles in breadth. Smaller lakes, many of them large enough to become channels of trade, are scattered through both European and Asiatic Eussia. The largest of these are united either naturally or by canals, with the navigable rivers, and thus, when the progress of the country has covered these countless channels with steamboats, and when that system of railways, already begun on an enlightened scale, shall be completed, Eussia will possess more abundant means for intercourse and exchange, for the diffusion of one national life, and the preservation of national unity, than any other country on earth enjoys, unless it be our own. With a Pacific railway crossing Siberia, in addition to her natural advantages, and her system of roads in Europe already projected and partly 50 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. finished, she may extend her limits almost indefinitely, and yet not peril the unity of her government on account of her magnitude. Her position will he widely different from that of England, with possessions in the four quarters of the globe, that admit of no union ; she will be one compact and living national body, growing and sustained by the power of one central life. CHAPTER VI. Russia has few vulnerable points, and these have been rendered impregnable to any ordinary attack — Her military resources mostly beyond the reach of an enemy. Before entering upon this subject, it is well to remind the American reader, of the utter worthlessness of many of the most popular accounts which have been given of the resources of Eussia, and the character of her military defenses. The statements which travelers have made concerning the Empire of the Czars, are only to be matched in absurdity or wanton misrepresentation, by those which have emanated from similar quarters concerning the United States. Either a vitiated public sentiment, or a settled design to injure, has given rise to a systematic course of ridicule and misrepresentation, forming a distorted literary medium, through which both countries have been seen only in car- icature. Through this, western Europe has sneered at America and the Yankees ; and through this also, Ameri- cans have been greatly deluded in regard to Kussia. The very last work on Eussia published in this country, just now wet from a New York press, and purporting to be from the pen of an Englishwoman, breathes the very spirit of ill-will and detraction which has characterized most of the descriptions of the United States which have issued from the English press. Oliphant, whose opinions are quoted as reliable authority in this country, and whose (51) 62 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. statements have just been transferred to an elaborate American work, and sent forth to mould public opinion con- cerning Eussia, with the remark that they are valuable because the result of recent observation, writes thus con- cerning Sebastopol, from personal survey, no longer ago than 1853, but a few months before the landing of the Allied army : " Nothing can be more formidable than the appearance of Sebastopol from the seaward. Upon a future occasion we visited it in a steamer, and found that at one point, we were commanded by twelve hundred pieces of artillery; fortunately for a hostile fleet, we afterward heard, that they could not be discharged without bringing down the rotten batteries upon which they were placed, and which are so badly constructed, that they look as if they had been done by contract. Four of these forts consist of three tiers of batteries. We were of course unable to do more than take a very general survey of these celebrated fortifications, and therefore can not vouch for the truth of the assertion, that the rooms in which the guns are worked, are so narrow and ill-ventilated, that the artillerymen would be inevitably stifled in the attempt to discharge their guns and their duty ; but of one fact there was no doubt, that however well fortified may be the approaches to Sebastopol by sea, there is nothing whatever to prevent any number of troops landing, a few miles to the south of the town, in one of the six convenient bays with which the coast, as far as Cape Kherson, is indented, and marching down the main street, (provided they were strong enough to defeat any military force that might be opposed to them in the open field,) sack the town and burn the fleet." Such absurdities as these, are gravely sent forth from the English press, as the foundation of reliable opinions concerning Bussia. Oliphant's work has gone through THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 53 several London editions, has been republished in America, and its opinions are extracted and scattered abroad in American books. The siege of this fortification thus far, is a sufficient commentary upon the value of the book, and when the strength of a place, that for months has success- fully resisted the most formidable attack which has been made in modern times, is thus flippantly misrepresented, and when we remember that such impressions concerning Eussia are, or have been, almost universal, and have been derived from similar sources, it ought at least to induce the American people to examine with more care the testimony upon which they are asked to make up an opinion of the resources, character, and policy of the most formidable power in Europe. The Allied forces have tested the char- acter of the fortifications at Sebastopol, and the same science and skill have been employed upon the other defenses of the Empire. Especially should we expect that those in the west, by which the approaches to St. Petersburgh are protected, and which guard her great naval depots, are at least equal to those in the remote province of the Crimea. It is sufficient proof of their supposed strength, that the Baltic fleet has not yet ventured within reach of their guns, and that English papers now declare that the sole intention of that fleet is the blockade of the Eussian ports. This may undoubtedly be done, unless Eussia chooses to risk her navy ; but how, by such a blockade, her prosperity is to be seriously afl'ected, or her progress permanently arrested, does not clearly appear. No country of Europe is less dependent than she is, upon the foreign trade which the Allies can control. The principal outlet for the Eussian Empire, on the west, is the Gulf of Finland, and here also are three of her great naval stations. As this is the only point where she can be approached from the Atlantic by a hostile fleet, it is 54 THE BUSSIAN EMPIRE. ■well to observe how her fleets, navy yards, military stores and capital are protected. At the entrance of the Gulf of Finland, are two of the naval stations where she equips, and where also she guards her ships. The most important is Sweahorg, in the Bay of Helsingfors. This immense fortification is constructed upon several small islands, or rather rocks of granite, out of which the works have to a great extent, been blasted and hewn, after the manner of Gibraltar, to which it is scarcely inferior in strength, and is denominated the Gibraltar of the North. Eight hun- dred pieces of artillery frown from its impregnable walls, and command the entrance to a magnificent harbor, which, to use the words of a late traveler, is " filled with ships of the line and frigates," and in which they may safely ride, free from the visits of a foe, unless the rock sides of Swea- borg can be scaled in the teeth of eight hundred cannon, and in spite of fifteen thousand men, who man them. Here too, the walls of the formidable batteries, being of solid granite, will not be likely to tumble down when the guns are fired, as was expected at Sebastopol. The fortress may be truly called impregnable.*' Within the harbor, are not only the Eussian fleets, but here, also, is one of the most extensive naval arsenals on the globe, and the chief recruiting station for the Emperor's navy. The province in which Sweahorg stands, supplies the finest seamen of the North — those who are inured to hardship, and who gain experience and skill in the fisheries and trade of the Bal- tic — and here, too, are exhaustless supplies of the finest timber for the construction or repair of ships, as well as of pitch, tar, rosin, and other naval stores. Finland is inter- sected by numerous bays and lakes, communicating with "Since this was written, Sweaborg has been bombarded but not cap- tured, nor was the Russian fleet injured. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 55 each otter in a manner which aflfords great facilities for the transport of these heavy materials; while, even in this high latitude, its agricultural capacities procured for it the name of the granary of Sweden, to which government it formerly belonged. Here, safe from all hostile visits, and surrounded hy materials for unlimited construction, Eussia may increase her navy, and accumulate her stores, restricted only by her necessities, or the condition of her treasury. It is impossible, moreover, to cut her off from her supplies, for they all reach this point by interior communications, which a foreign force can not touch. On the opposite shore of the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, is Kevel, another station for the Eussian navy. Like Sweaborg, it is defended by extensive fortifications, whose strength Sir Charles Napier did not think proper to test with a fleet, which many supposed would be able to annihilate the Eussian power in the Baltic. Its roadstead is among sheltering islands, and the town itself enjoys a considerable trade. In the Aland Archipelago, a cluster of islands at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia, is another naval station. Several of these islands are strongly fortified, but the principal establishment is at Aland, which has a harbor capable of sheltering the whole fleet of Eussia, and a citadel, where sixty thousand troops may be quar- tered. Here is kept up a numerous flotilla, which forms a good nursery for Eussian seamen. The vicinity of these islands to the coast of Sweden, some of them scarce thirty miles distant, forms perhaps their most important feature in a military point of view, for from them, at any time, a descent may easily be made upon the Swedish coast. Cronstadt is however the most important Eussian fortress in the Baltic, both as a naval station, and as guarding the approach to St. Petersburgh. It is situated at the head of the Gulf of Finland, and only about sixteen miles from 66 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. the Capital. The fortifications are constructed principally upon an island, on one side of which is a narrow channel, completely commanded not only hy the long lines of guns upon the main island, but also by batteries placed upon various smaller islands and reefs, to say nothing of the powerful fleet always stationed in the harbors. Of these harbors there are three, or rather the harbor may be said to be separated into three divisions. The outer one is proba- bly the most important naval station of the Empire. From thirty to forty ships of the line may float here, in addition to smaller vessels. The second division contains ship-yards, docks, arsenals, warehouses, and all the stores and machin- ery necessary not only for shipbuilding, but for the equip- ment and repair of the main division of the Eussian navy. The third harbor is devoted to trade, and can easily shelter a thousand merchantmen. The channel leading from the Gulf to the Neva is said to be so narrow, that a single vessel only can pass at once, and this passage must be efiected between lines of cannon that could annihilate in a few minutes any ship that floats. Beside this, ships draw- ing more than nine feet of water can not ascend beyond Cronstadt, so that St. Petersburgh is absolutely secure from the visit of a hostile vessel, and the impregnable Cronstadt must be annihilated before an enemy could occupy the head of the Gulf. The population of Cronstadt, including the garrison and the marine, is said to be about forty thou- sand. The following very graphic description of Cronstadt, by an officer attached to the Baltic fleet, and written on the spot, and from personal survey of the works, wiU give the reader a correct idea of this celebrated fortress, and of the resources, science, and skill, of the Power by whom these defenses have been constructed : " The island of Cronstadt lies in a bight betwixt the two THE RUSSIAN EMPIBE. 57 gliores of tlie gulf, and is nowtere distant more than about six miles from the mainland on either side ; and even this, as a navigable distance, is so much straited by spits, shal- lows, and mud-banks, that the actual passages are reduced to very confined limits. This is the case especially with the main channel, which runs betwixt the island and the south shore, and is so narrow and shallow that its naviga- tion alone, except under experienced and skiUful guidance, is a difficulty. It widens and deepens a little, however, toward the southeast end, into a tolerably convenient and spacious anchorage, and turning thence toward the south, ends in an inner harbor, well locked, and sheltered by a bend in the land, and partly protected by the Oranienbaum spit, which juts out toward it from the south shore, and which, being covered by only a few feet of water, offers an effectual barrier to the approach of ships, and is impracti- cable for the advance of troops. Two passages lead from this, round the southeast side ; but these are so intricate, so environed by shallows and patches, that they are navigable only by vessels of a small class, and afibrd no regular communication with the north channel, which is broader and deeper in the center than the other, though it also becomes very shallow at some distance from the shore. The island itself is about six miles long, and a mile and a half wide at the southeast, its broadest part. This part repre- sents the root, and hangs on, like a square piece, to the Tongue, which shoots out, narrow and narrower, toward the tip, until it ends in a few broken rocks, over which the waves ripple. Slightly raised above the level of the sea, a little barren tract of rock and sand, it would scarcely afford sustenance for a family, or feed a flock of sheep , yet now, cut into docks, covered with barracks and storehouses, and surrounded by forts, it is a prize which mighty nations strive to win and to keep. 58 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. " Let US next see how art lias so much enhanced the value of the spot we have been surveying. A first object in the design, which sought to convert it into a naval arsenal, was, of course, to find a suitable site for the docks, magazines and defenses, which must grow around the har- bor and anchorage. The square end of the island was naturally adapted for this purpose. It had a sufficient and compact space for the building ; it was surrounded by the sea on all sides, save where it was joined by a narrow neck of land to the promontory beyond, and would thus be pro- tected by a complete line of circumvallation ; and it offered, beside, a facility for the digging of immense basins on its south side, which might compensate for the smallness of the inner harbor, or Little Eoad, as it is called. There are three of these — the man-of-war, the middle, and the mer- chant harbor — all entered by regular locks from the Little Eoad. In the two former a great part of the Eussian ships lie during the winter months, while their crews are trans- ferred to the barracks on shore. " The next step was to defend these harbors, and, as a consequence, the old-fashioned straggling fortress of Cron- stadt arose. Then came Fort Peter ; but, as time went on, it was deemed necessary that the Great Eoad, and even the entrance, should have their defenses. But the passage into the harbors was about mid-channel, and could not therefore be effectually commanded by forts on either shore. This was, however, no obstacle, no difficulty to a system which had raised a city on a marsh ; and straightway there sprang up a succession of gigantic island fortresses, commanding every approach, and threatening at many points a concen- tration of fire which must inevitably annihilate any attack- ing force. " We must review these forts in the reverse order from their construction, and begin from the outside, as though THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 59 we were advancing to the attack. Let us suppose, then, that we are making for their entrance. The first object which presents itself is the Tulbuken, a tall, solid, beacon- tower, standing on a rock, connected probably by a reef with the Island shore. We steam onward, and on the right hand, or south side. Fort Eisbank rises before us, the latest in construction, but not the least formidable of these extra- ordinary erections. Like all the others, it is built on a foundation formed by piles driven into the mud. It has two tiers of casemates, and on its top are guns mounted en bariette. The front facing the entrance obliquely, presents a curve springing from the center, with a short curtain on either side, which at the angles rounds off into towers. The number of guns in this port is variously stated, but we could count fifty six embrasures in this front beside the guns en iarbette, and those which may be mounted on the rearface. In describing these fortifications, it is diflncult to use the proper terms of art, as their peculiar construction and peculiar purposes required many and wide deviations from general principles. We must therefore try to be intelligible rather than scientific. A little farther on, on the left hand, or north side, Fort Alexander greets us, a huge round work, showing a semicircular front, bristling with four rows of guns, one row being en barbette. This fort is said to contain one hundred and thirty-two guns ; they are of very large caliber, and their fire would eifectu- ally sweep the entrance of the channel, flanking and cross- ing that of Eisbank. Passing Alexander, we are fairly in the Great Eoad, and come within range of Fort Peter, a low fortification, on the same side as Alexander, but nearer to the island. Two low curtains, a large tower in the center, and smaller towers at either end, comprise the front of this work. It is not equal to the two others, either in dimen- sions or number of guns, but is still very formidable from 60 THE RUSSSIAN EMPIKB. its enfilading position. On the opposite side, just in front of the point of tte Oranienbaum spit, and flanking the mouth of the inner harbor, Cronslott, or Cron Castle, threatens us. This, the eldest of the series, the first demon- stration of the scheme of defense, which has since been extended and multiplied so vastly, is inferior to its suc- cessors in design and elaborate workmanship. Though rather a crude effort, it answered its first purpose, as a single fortress, well enough, and even now would play no mean part in the flanking and concentrating combination, which forms the main principle in the defense. Last, hut not least, either in size, or importance. Fort Menschikoff rises, vast and glaring, towering above all the others, with its four tiers and its masssive walls. This was evidently meant to be the crowning stroke of the inner, as Kisbank was of the outer defenses. Unlike its brethren, it stands on terra firma, and is built near the mole-head, at the south angle of the square end of the island. It is apparently a square, solid mass of masonry, constructed without any very elaborate or scientific plan, but presenting a front of case- mated batteries, which would flank Cronslott, and rake the approaches to the inner harbor with a ti'emendous fire. We might think that the acme of defense had been attained by such an aggregation of fortresses ; so thought not the Eussians, for they have moored some of the line-of-battle ships of their fleet between Menschikoflt' and Cronslott, thus efiectually barring the entrance to the inner harbors, and forming an overwhelming increase to the force already con- centrated for their protection. Beyond this barrier line, and behind Menschikoff", are the basins before spoken of; and behind them again are the great magazine, the dock- yard, and canal. More to the north are laid out the barracks and other public buildings. Such, and so defended, is the southern channel of Cronstadt. Such is the place THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 61 whicli tare-brained theorists expected our fleet to attack and take. English hearts are stout — -English ships are strong — English seamen are skillful ; but the man who would lead them against such fearful odds, would lead them to certain destruction, and leave the country to mourn over a catastrophe greater and sadder than has yet clouded her annals. " Let us turn to the north side, and see what are there the characteristics of defense and the opportunities of attack. Passing round the Tulbuken, we trace a low glittering line of rocks, just rising above the waters ; then a broader belt of red sand, slightly sprinkled with trees ; then come houses, trees, and some glimpses of vegetation, until the eye rests at last on a large, well-designed earthwork, not yet finished, around and about the mounds of which workmen are still busy with pickax, spade, and barrow. Tracking onward, we follow the long, low beach, along which are rows of houses, masses of buildings, churches with their gilded cupolas and spires, and all the varied objects which consti- tute the features of a town panorama ; while behind and above all appear the tops of forts and masts of ships. Look- ing very closely and attentively, we can detect at intervals small batteries mounting a few guns, and carrying on a weak and broken line of defense, which terminates at the northeast extremity in a larger and more pretentious work. " Nothing very formidable here as yet — nothing very obstructive, save the fact that large ships can not approach within a less distance than three miles ; but gun-boats and small vessels might easily advance within fair range of town and arsenals. Yes, this had been foreseen and provided against by a novel and ingenious expedient. From the earthwork in the center of the island a barrier had been run out obliquely to a distance of three thousand yards, and 62 THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. then carried in a slightly deflecting line to the shore of the mainland, extending to a length of six or seven miles, and inclosing the passages opening from the north to the east and south sides of the island. The barrier consists of columns of piles placed at a distance of eighteen feet, and rising within two feet of the surface of the water These columns are formed of several piles driven into the mud in a circle, the center being filled with rubble. This would sufficiently secure the shore from sudden assaults, or the town from the danger and annoyance of a distant fire ; but the passages — the weak and vital points of the northern defense — could not be trusted to an obstacle so partial in its obstruction, and which a daring effort might destroy. Accordingly, hulks, lightened for the purpose, were moored behind the barrier — in some parts within point-blank range — effect- ually covering it through its whole extent, from the angle of the town to the main land. In rear of this, again, a fleet of gun-boats, under steam and sail, moved about, ready to dash through the intervals, and meet any assailant. Thus was a triple barrier raised — the first part merely obstructive, the second defensive, the third motive, and capable of being made aggressive." The English papers make many boastful and sneering remarks upon the cowardice of the Eussians in holding their fleets in safety behind the granite walls of their fortifica- tions, but it is somewhat questionable whether Kussia will be the greatest loser even by the blockade of her ports. Her fleets, protected in her harbors, are at least safe, and much less expensive than when in commission and in active service, and she can well afford to wait quietly in her places of security, and let her enemies amuse themselves with a summer cruise in the Baltic, which, to say the least, is a somewhat expensive pleasure trip, and of which they may eventually tire, while her own resources are THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 63 unexhausted, her fleet uninjured, and the vast interior com- merce and business of the empire is going on just as uncon- cernedly as if the English fleet were at anchor in the Thames. A few facts will throw much light upon this subject. Of the fifteen hundred vessels which annually arrive at Cron- stadt, many, says an American traveler, come in ballast, but aU depart laden with the various products of the empire. Those, then, who will have their Eussian supplies cut off by a blockade will suffer even more than Eussia, for her exports, finding an outlet through the neutral ports of Prus- sia, have not yet been diminished. Again, the proportion between the foreign and domestic commerce, and the con- sumption of foreign and domestic articles, may be inferred from the sales at the great annual fair of Nischnei-Novo- gorod, a spot from whence is distributed a large portion of the goods consumed in central Eussia. The foreign goods, imported from Europe and America, sold here in 1842, amounted to three millions of dollars. These come, it may be presumed, by way of the Baltic, Cronstadt, St. Peters- burgh and Eiga. This trade a blockade would obstruct, unless carried on by neutrals. But at the same fair, seven millions dollars worth of foreign goods were sold, brought through the interior, from Asia, and, of course, quite safe from all visitations from an English fleet, while the goods of Eussian manufacture or growth, sold at the same time, reached the immense sum of twenty-one millions dollars. These statements show how little the prosperity of Eussia is to be affected by a blockade of the Baltic ports, as well as the inaccessible position in which she has entrenched herself in the western portion of the empire, and where her munitions of war are securely defended. While the memory of Bonaparte's expedition to Moscow remains, it is not probable that any of the Powers of west- ern Europe will risk a land attack on Eussia, and it may 64 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. be regarded as a conceded fact that she will not be assailed at any point of her territory between the Baltic and the Black Sea ; and, therefore, in studying the elements of her power, the nature of the defenses which she has established should also bo understood. Up to the time of the present war, the possessions of Kussia in the Euxine had been secure from hostile visits through the closing of the Dar- danelles, by Turkey, against the armed vessels of all nations. England and France could not send their fleets into the Black Sea, nor could the Eussian Navy, stationed there, pass out into the Mediterranean. Still, Eussia con- structed a powerful Black Sea fleet, and established at Sebastopol a strongly fortified station for this division of her navy. Here all her operations had heretofore been secure, as if upon an inland lake, until, at the commence- ment of hostilities, the Turkish government opened the Dardanelles for the passage of the allied fleets, whether or not for her own destruction, remains yet to be seen — for perhaps France may think it convenient to remain at Con- stantinople. It might have been expected, that a careless or inefficient government, without resources or military skill, or science, such as Eussia has been represented to be, and relying upon the fact that the entrance to the Black Sea was closed by the fortresses of the Dardanelles, would have erected pre- cisely such defenses, as Oliphant would have the world believe those at Sebastopol were. In such a position, if anywhere, would be found the ill-constructed and neglected batteries, whose walls, ready to tumble with their own weight, could by no means stand the discharge of the guns. Here should have been found Eussian officers without science or intelligence — here, admirals, such as Oliphant men- tions, who lose their way between Odessa and Sebastopol, and flag-lieutenants, who propose to go ashore and inquire THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 65 the way — instead of all whict are fortifications before whose massive strength the combined fleets of France and England have only made themselves ridiculous, and where the utmost efforts of these Powers, with all the appliances of modern warfare, have been completely foiled. In an elaborate American work, just published, for the purpose of giving us a correct idea of Eussia, it is stated that " both the roadstead and harbor (at Sebastopol) are protected by three batteries of the most formidable descrip- tion,'' while on the land side, it is said, there are no defenses. Such are the descriptions most current in books, of the military affairs of the empire in the Black Sea. What the Allied forces have actually found there, is now a matter of history. It seems probable that Eussia will be found as impregnable at this point as she is in the west and north. On that very " land side," where the latest American book states that no defenses have been thought necessary, on that very " south side," where Oliphant declares that an enemy might land without opposition so far as the fortifica- tions are concerned, and march into and burn the city and fleet, the Allied forces did land, and, instead of marching into the city, after nine months of effort, those which remain alive are still without, and under the guns of the town ; and this after pouring upon it, from five hundred cannon and mortars, such a tempest of shot and shells as earth never saw before — and yet in vain. Thus far, the strength of the Allied army has been exhausted upon the weakest por- tions of the Eussian works. In fact, their progress for nine months has been arrested at the very point where we were informed no defenses had been erected, and an army could march directly into the main street. Here they have been checked, not merely by the main works, but by tem- porary earth-works, thrown up by the Eussians under the fire of the Allied forces, and their utmost success has been, as 6 66 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. yet, only the partial destruction of these advanced outworks. The main batteries yet frown upon them uninjured, and should all these be carried in the end, and an entrance forced into the town, then an army shattered by a pro- tracted siege, and what can only be a most bloody assault, would find itself commanded by from six hundred to eight hundred cannon of the most formidable character, from forts and batteries that overlook the town, and which, as yet, take little part in the conflict. Such is Sebastopol, in reality a fatal snare — an ambuscade into which England and France have been drawn, and from which they can escape only by a most desperate encounter, and a fearful expenditure both of blood and treasure. The resources of the Russian Empire, in the East, require no labored description. Siberia and the valley of the Amoor contain exhaustless supplies of timber and other naval stores. The Siberian rivers supply abundant facili- ties for transportation, and with the commerce of the East Indian seas open to her, and witli all materials at her dis- posal, in positions inaccessible to an enemy, what shall hinder her from establishing on the Pacific, naval stations, a mercantile and an armed marine, which shall rival those of the West ? Such a work would be naturally expected from what she has already performed elsewhere : it accords with the general spirit and policy of the government. The survey thus far made of the Northern Empire, cer- tainly presents it in a most imposing aspect, and exhibits the necessary foundations of a national power, which, other things being equal, would doubtless prove an overmatch for all the rest of Europe. Whether other fitting elements of strength and growth exist, will be the subject of future inquiry. It is seen that her territory is capable of sup- porting a population of hundreds of millions, without being more densely peopled than the rest of Europe. This THE RUSSIAN KM PIEE. 67 territory occupies a commanding position in the temperate zone, stretching between the Pacific and the Atlantic, open to the commerce of Asia and Europe, and forming indeed a great national highway between them, on one side of the globe, such as America presents on the other. These vast possessions are traversed from side to side by channels of inter-communication, remote from hostile attack, while her few exposed points, strong by nature, have been rendered seemingly impregnable by whatever military science can perform. Within these defenses, warlike preparations of every kind can be carried on, secure from interruption, while her treasures of military stores, and even her fleets, if she chooses, are placed beyond the reach of an enemy. In addition to all this, if the seas are closed against her by a superior maritime power, a large foreign commerce is still open to her from the East, through her own territory, and her domestic productions and home trade are so exten- sive, as to make her, so far as any nation can be, independ- ent of a foreign commerce. CHAPTER VII. Russia is controlled by one Dominant Race, the source of a national life. It is evident, that however extensive the territory of a nation may be, however productive its soil, or dense its pop- ulation, there will still be no solid foundation for great and permanent national power, if this population is composed of diverse races, bound together by the force of circum- stances only, or forced into contact, not union, by external lashings of any kind. The moment the compressing bond is loosened in such a case, the discordant materials separate, and the whole mass of an imposing dynasty will suddenly crumble into fragments, which are scattered apart, because they are not the production of a common central life. Such has been the fate of most empires that have grown out of a succession of rapid conquests. Success has attended them, until the mass of material added could no longer be assimilated, until the national structure became a mere aggregation, not one living body, and the constituent parts instead of being united by mutual sympathies, were hurled asunder by mutual repulsion. It has been fashionable to look upon Eussia as occupying this precise position, and to represent the Czar as ruling over a rude mass of heteroge- neous and discontented tribes, held in subjection merely by a cruel and relentless military despotism. These views have given rise to the expectation, that in (68) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 69 any sudden calamity, or in case of the death of Nicholas, Eiissia would he separated into warring factions, and the Colossus of the North would vanish like the specter of the Brocken. France and England have pleased themselves, and calmed in part their fears, hy picturing the inherent weakness of the Muscovite Empire. The general tone which has prevailed, may he seen by the following extracts from one of the ahlest English Quarterlies, the North Brit- ish, in November, 1854. The writer refers to a former article, in which was pointed out, as he says, " elements of weakness in the Bluscovite Empire which had never hitherto been duly estimated." He goes on to say, " We reminded our readers that the great conquests of Eussia had been effected by diplorflacy and not by actual fighting, and that these conquests were annexed merely — not assimilated. All things considered, it is by no means unlikely, that if the present war continues, she may turn out to have been a gigantic imposture — that when tried by the severities of a real struggle, she will prove weak, to a degree which will astonish those whom she has so long duped and dazzled ; weak from her unwieldy magnitude — weak from her bar- barous tariffs and restrictive policy — weak from the inhe- rent inadequacy of her one-eyed despotism — weak from the rottenness of her internal administration — weak from the suppressed hatreds she has accumulated round her — weak in everything save her consummate skill in simulat- ing strength." This was written in Febi'uary, 1854; in November, 1854, the same Review says: " These surmises, which at the time they were uttered were considered some- what wild and rash, have been not only justified, but sur- passed by the event. The feebleness everywhere displayed by Eussia, both in attack and defense, have been matter of ceaseless astonishment. '■' '- •■' As soon as it was known that the expedition to the Crimea was resolved upon, we 70 THE RUSSIAN BMPIBE. took for granted that the Crimea would be conquered, and that Sebastopol would ultimately fall into our hands ; but assuredly, no one anticipated, that after months of notice, our armies would have been suffered to land without the faintest attempt at opposition ; that our victory would have been so signal, so decisive, and so rapid; or that the greatest fortified harbor of Eussia — probably the strongest in the world — would be taken on such easy terms, and in so brief a period. Henceforth, the prestige of Eussian mili- tary power is gone ; Europe need dread her arms no more. The Czar, hitherto the great bugbear of Europe and of Asia, has been beaten on all hands." In a subsequent portion of the same article, the writer boasts and exults as follows, giving, as will be seen, also, a highly significant side-roar of the British lion at the Americans, wlio, after such English victories in the Black Sea, will, he thinks, be " a trifle less insolent and over- bearing," when they remember that the Baltic fleet can winter in the Gulf of Mexico : " But if Nicholas had been less rash or less stubborn, we should never have been stirred into activity suflicient to aflford the world the astounding spectacle it saw in April and May. In a few weeks' time we sent forth the two largest and best manned fleets that ever left our shores, and, beyond all parallel, the best equipped army that ever sailed from England on any expedition — both fleet and army provided with every new invention of science to which expe- rience or judgment had given their sanction. * * The Baltic fleet alone consisted of forty-two ships, twenty-two hundred guns, sixteen thousand horse-power, and twenty- two thousand sailors and marines. " In 18.32 and 1853, there were doubts whether we had either ships or men sufficient to defend our own shores against a sudden descent. In 1854, we sent to our Ally, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 71 totli land and naval auxiliary forces, which have check- mated, conquered, and despoiled his colossal antagonist. All this, too, was done rapidly, silently, and easily ; regi- ments were recruited, and ships were manned, without difficulty ; volunteers flocked hoth to the militia and the navy ; the moment there was a prospect of active service, men were forthcoming in ample numhers, and neither conscription nor impressment had to be resorted to. This magnificent spectacle will not be lost either on Europe or America, or on ourselves. Already a great change of tone on all hands is observable. Our foes have had a forewarn- ing^ with what sort of a people they will have to deal ; our transatlantic cousins will hecome a trifle less insolent and over- bearing when they find that the fleet which summers in the Baltic can, without cost or effort, winter in the Gulf of Mexico." In the summer, then, England proposes to amuse herself with demolishing Kussia, and in the winter she will be occupied with checking the insolence of her "transatlantic cousins." This, moreover, agrees with the declaration of Lord Clarendon, with the corresponding semi-ofiicial state- ment of the French government, of the far-reaching intentions of the English and French alliance, viz : that it had reference to the western as well as the eastern hemi- sphere. The Review thus sums up the results of the first campaign, up to November, 1854: " Kussia, the great bugbear of Europe, and the great foe of free development, shorn of her prestige, bafHed, beaten back, blockaded and despoiled — deprived, in a single year, of the conquests of half a century of intrigue and violence, not only thwarted and checked, but humbled and crippled ; retreating across the Pruth, in place of advancing beyond the Danube ; and paying for the massacre of Sinope, by the loss of Sebastopol and the Crimea. Such are the results of the first campaign." 72 THE RUSSIAN BMPIEE. Such is the language not of some vain, flippant traveler, but of one of the gravest and stateliest Eeviews of the British Empire, and when such a Quarterly as the North British will indulge itself in such transparent folly, we are led to believe that the British government really sent forth its fleets and armies in this same spirit, and with the same opinions of Eussia. What a scorching commentary upon such an article subsequent events have given ! This was the jubilant and arrogant spirit of November, ISSi, already turning from its supposed prostration of Eus- sia, to domineer over "transatlantic cousins," with its Baltic fleets in the G-ulf of Mexico; and yet, Americans are expected to have sympathy only with England and France in the prosecution of this war. Now (in May, 1855), how stands the account so complacently stated in November, '54. Where now is that army, " beyond all parallel the best equipped that ever sailed from England on any expe- dition ?" Even a generous enemy would mourn over its fate. It has been almost as completely annihilated upon Eussian soil as was that of Napoleon himself. It has dashed itself in pieces, and been scattered in fragments, under the walls of that fortress, which, in November, was described as already captured, and that almost without a blow — a fortress not only standing after the utmost efforts of the Allies, but stronger, far, now, than when first their armies landed, and to be captured, if at all, only at an expense of treasure and of blood as will make it the costliest achievement of modern times — a victory which wiH well nigh ruin the conquerors, if, indeed, they succeed. And 'Uhe two largest and best manned fleets that ever left our shores," what have they accomplished? The forty- two Baltic ships captured an inconsiderable town, and went home without even looking in upon a place of any moment in all the Eussian waters. The Black Sea fleet did some THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE 73 inconsiderable damage to Odessa, wliere there was little to oppose, and made, in concert with the navy of France, an attack upon Sebastopol, which was a complete and mortify- ina: failure. The boasted enthusiasm for enlistment at home, has so far subsided, that an attempt has been made to raise foreign legions, and even in our own cities ; and the "transatlantic cousins" are called upon for aid and sympathy, and the Lrnidon Times would be happy if Ameri- cans would show the Allies how to take Sebastopol. Eussia, instead of being "shorn of her prestige, baffled, beaten back, blockaded and despoiled," by the scientific and heroic defense of her fortress, beleaguered as never stronghold was before, has gained a reputation of which even its cap- ture now can not deprive her. Its successful defense, thus far, is for her a victory ; even though it falls, its capture will, under the circumstances, produce for England and France all the consequences of defeat, after the first shout of exultation is over. These things are not mentioned for the purpose of taunt- ing or reproaching England, but as historical facts whose significance ought to be calmly considered by Americans. They show, first of all, the spirit of England in regard to Eussia, and the worthlessness of most opinions and state- ments which have issued from the British press, concerning their northern neighbors, and it should not be forgotten that these views, most derogatory to Eussia, which are pass- ing current in our country, have been derived from the repre- sentations of England. These facts show, moreover, the nature of the stake which the United States have in that Eastern war, an interest quite different from what many seem to suppose. They demonstrate a cherished purpose of England and France to interfere, not with Eussia alone, but with the too rapid growth even of America, and should these two powers be permitted to turn from Eussia, flushed 74 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. with success, few things are more certain than that they will assume an attitude of menace and dictation toward the United States. This wintering of fleets in the Gulf of Mexico, is not to he regarded as a mere pleasantry. And this ought to convince Americans and the world, that this war has heen undertaken not to defend either the civil or religious liberties of the world, but to secure the supremacy of Eng- land and France, and that too, in " both hemispheres." If Eussia should be seriously crippled, the United States will not be safe from insult. The English Review pleases itself with a view of the internal weakness of Eussia and her imminent danger of being rent asunder by domestic strife. Oliphaut writing in 1853, dilates largely, and with evident" satisfaction, upon this same topic, and would have us believe that the whole power of the Czar is needed to protect his throne against the discontents and threatened uprisings of his own subjects : " But the Eussian Autocrat is also keenly alive to the critical jiosition of matters at home. Before he decides upon prolonging indefinitely a hazardous contest, he will consider the present aspect of the internal condition of the empire as attentively as its external relations. He can not forget that an extent of territory, comprising one-half of what is now called Eussia in Europe, has been annexed within the last sixty years — that, consequently, more than half of the European inhabitants of the empire, having been recently subjugated, are more or less disaffected ; that of these, sixteen millions, or about one-fourth of the entire popu- lation of Russia, do not profess the Qreek faith ; that his Mohammedan subjects alone amount to two millions and a half ; and that the protection of the Greek religion has been proclaimed as the ground upon which the present anti-Mohammedan crusade was commenced. THE KDSSIAN EMPIRE. 75 " Such is the present condition of those provinces which compose the European frontier of this vast empire. From the Baltic to the Black Sea — ^from the shores of the Danuhe to the banks of the Phasis^— extends an indissoluble bond of common sympathy — a deep-rooted hatred of Eussia, which nothing less than the dread of incurring the vengeance of a despotism almost omnipotent, could have restrained so long ; and when at last the auspicious time arrives for giving vent to this feeling, the flame will kindle wildly in the recently-acquired kingdom of Poland, for there the revolutionary spark has never been extinguished. It is true that in the southern provinces of the empire all hope of freedom has long disappeared, and terror and oppression have reigned so long, that the inhabitants of the thinly- populated steppe have lost much of the energy of their Mongolian ancestors ; hut while they may hesitate to start at once into open rebellion, they will not fail to use meas- ures of passive resistance, as a means of opposing the designs of Russia. Opportunities will not be wanting to insure some degree of success. When the presence of the allied fleets in the Black Sea denies to the Czar transport for his troops from the ports upon its margin, in any one direction, divisions of the Eussian army will often be compelled to march across the inhospitable steppes of the south; and here, dependent for food and transport upon whatever a barren and thinly-populated country can supply, it is probable that they will find their wants altogether disre- garded. The Tartars have only to remove their families and their cattle out of the line of march, to render the onward progress of the army a matter of the utmost diffi- culty, if not altogether impossible ; and thus they will be able to gratify at the same time their natural hatred to the Eussians, and their no less natural desire of retaining possession of their own flocks and herds. Even this dejected 76 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. race might be stimulated to more active measures, by the presence upon their coasts of an overwhelming fleet, hostile to Kussia. It is impossible to foretell what the result may be of so novel a contingency. It rests with his Imperial Majesty to decide whether it will ever arise ; but whatever weight he may attach to these considerations, and whatever may be the conclusion at which he may ultimately arrive, the facts, in so far as they illustrate the present internal condition of the empire, are important ; for if, on the one hand, they combine to form any of the grounds upon which Kussia may ever be induced to acquiesce in conditions proposed by the allied powers of Europe, a due appreciation of the difficulties by which he is surrounded, and which have compelled her to pursue a course so repugnant to Muscovite pride, must materially influence those upon whom the important task devolves of framing terms, the nature of which will depend in some measure upon the relative physical and moral condition of the hostile countries. But if, on the other hand, the attitude of Europe remains such that the Czar does not shrink from hazarding a war which must test the inmost resources of his empire, then it is well for the Powers who are engaged in the struggle to know what those resources are, lest, measuring them only by a standard provided by Eussia, and judging of their value by reports which emanate from a source totally unworthy of credit, they forget that, w^hen the different elements of which the nation is composed are incohesive as sand, the extent of a country which comprises scattered populations of various kindreds, difiering in faith, habits, and interests, is really its weakness." Such have been the unfounded anticipations of the Eng- lish and French, in regard to Eussia, and the first conse- quences of the war, such the inconsiderate judgments with which they have so fatally deceived the world, and now THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 77 there seems to be an obstinate determination to cover from sight the actual strength and skill of their foe, and the real difficulties they have encountered, by raising a deafening cry about the mis-management of the war. Once committed to the siege of Sebastopol, it does not yet appear that the fine troops which have been sacrificed, or the officers in com- mand, have left anything undone which human strength, or skill, or courage could achieve. The fatal error was that of despising their adversary, and underrating his means of defense. These quotations and statements may serve to show the spirit of those who have for the most part been our teachers in regard to the character and resources of Eussia ; they may aid in guarding ourselves against preju- dices derived from such sources, and prepare us at least to do justice to Eussia, by a calm, independent, and candid study of her actual condition and policy. From what has already been stated, it is evident that the Muscovite empire must be one of immense strength, if in connection with its other advantages, its destiny is in the hands of one dominant race, whose social affinities are strong enough to produce one compact national unity, and if this race possesses an individuality of character, which will not prevent it from being absorbed by any contiguous families, but which forbids even any essential modifica- tion. The case will be all the stronger if such a race is found to possess a vigor that displaces that with which it comes in contact. The power which such a social unity imparts to a nation, the tenacity of that national life of which it is the source, is well illustrated by the example of the Jews, who not only preserved through fifteen hundred years, a clearly-defined national individuality, but are still after ages of dispersion and oppression, distinguished by their national characteristics. The unexampled prosperity of America, and the compactness and efficiency of her national 78 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. power, are owing mainly to the fact 'that her population has sprung principally from a single root, which is covering the land with the vigorous shoots of one family tree, and the best guaranty for the future which our country now presents is, the newly-awakened determination to preserve our national characteristics, and perpetuate our individual national life. Still the proportion of the population of the United States which has descended from a single race, is much smaller than it is in Eussia. For althoi'gh the number of foreign-born may not exceed two and a half millions, there are many more than this who are not of Anglo- Saxon parentage. The total population of Russia is differently estimated, even by those who are considered to be the best authorities. Mh Hassel's tables give the number of inhabitants in 1823, as - - - - - 69,263,700 MalteBrun believes this to be some what exagge- rated, and estimates the number, in 1827, at 69,000,000 The London Quarterly, for April, 1854, states, upon what it declares to be good authority, the present population to be - - 70,000,000 Alison estimates it, in 1840, at - - - 60,000,000 and states the annual increase at near one million of souls, which would give now nearly 75,000,000 If we take Hassel's tables as the basis, and reckon according to the conceded rate of in- crease, the present population of the empire will appear to be about - . - 93,000,000 If we adopt Malte Brun's estimate, the present number would reach about ... 90,000,000 The calculation made by the English Eeviewer is, it appears, very considerably below the estimates which other good authorities have supplied, and in the present condition of things, and the known temper of English writers in THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 79 regard to Russia, we may safely assume the possibility at least of an under-estimate of the population of the empire. The mean of the four estimates given above is a little more than 80,000,000. But because the classification which is found in the tables of the Quarterly makes it convenient to follow them, they will be mainly adopted, though the evidence seems conclusive that the number of inhabitants is greater than the reviewer has stated, and the subject demands a further examination. According to this English authority, of the seventy mil- lions now in the Russian empire, fifty-eight millions belong to the Sarmatian race, of which fifty-six millions are of the Sclavonic branch, and forty-nine millions of these are Russians. Here, as is seen, are fifty-eight millions belonging to one race, fift3'-six millions that have sprung from one branch of that race, and, as we learn from authority quite as good as the English Review, fifty millions bound together by all the ties of one family connection. Nowhere else in Christendom can be found such a mighty, compact national unity as this. We may well illustrate it by supposing the population of the United States to be seventy millions, composed of native Americans, fifty millions; of Englishmen, eight millions, and of all other races, twelve millions. In such a case, it would at once be seen that the central dominant power would not only control, but absorb, the rest. The absurdity of all prophesies, of the separation of such a nation on account of difierence of race, would at once appear. But, in estimating this feature of the strength of Russia, another important circumstance should not be overlooked. The Russian race proper occupy, geographically, the heart of the country, while the tribes which belong to the other races are distributed along the frontier. They are, therefore. 80 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. both from position and from character, incapahle of a com- bination among themselves, and are, moreover, under the full influence of the assimilating power of the dominant race. By this influence, directed by the steady policy of Eussia, the Finnish tribes have been almost completely transformed. Eussia seeks everywhere, not merely to annex, but to engraft and assimilate. She strives to diffuse everywhere, the central Eussian life, and to mold all that she gains into one homogeneous national body. That policy which now brings out so wide and hearty an approval from the American nation, has been long and steadily pursued by Eussia, and with marked success. She has strengthened, by all methods within reach, a Eussian sentiment — an attachment to the soil and to the national religion, a national pride, a national ambition. The vigorous pulsa- tions of the national heart are felt at the remotest extremity, and the universal tendency is the substitution of the one Eussian life for the individual life of the sepa- rate tribes of the frontiers, and there is a gradual melting of these individualities into the one national life. The native Eussian holds the same relation to the other inhabitants of the empire, that the native Americans do to the other population of the United States. The active, ener- getic " pushing " man, every where in the country is the native Eussian. For him, others make room. The Eussian may be properly called the Yankee of the East. By no means exhibiting now the lofty qualities of the Anglo-Saxon mind, there is yet in him a true life, whose power and destiny can not, as yet, be accurately measured. One might unite an American idiom with a Eussian phrase, and say that the Eussian is "bound" to "find out something." The man whom the Americans call " shiftless," the Eus- sians describe as "one who can find nothing out." This may be regarded as indicating a national characteristic, an THE RUSSIAN BMPIEE. 81 unmistaka'ble sign whicli points to future destiny. Fifty millions of people who are intent upon " finding something out," are not likely to play a secondary part in the afiairs of Europe, while yet expanding with a vigorous life, and with an almost unlimited territory still unoccupied, abound- ing with the sources of national wealth and power. It ill becomes any of the Powers of western Europe, and least of all, England, to predict a dissolution of the Eussian empire because her population is composed of a variety of races, when a comparison is instituted between her situation and theirs; In Great Britain are only about nineteen mil- lions of Englishmen out of thirty millions of inhabitants, and in France are but thirty-two millions of Frenchmen out of about thirty-six millions of inhabitants. Austria, it is said, has, with her Germans, some seventeen millions of Sclavonians, while in Eussia are no less than fifty mil- lions that present an almost complete family identity, nearly forty millions of whom speak exactly the same language, from the highest in society to the lowest. Such a social unity is presented in no other spot among civilized nations, and it forms an element of power, whether for defense, or offensive war, which, with the aids of an appropriate civili- zation, would be perfectly irresistible. What the charac- teristics of Eussian civilization really are, and what promise it gives for the future, is a question which will be consid- ered hereafter. This immense mass is not only bound together by family ties, not only speaks one language, but the uniformity of a single national household prevails in the manners and cus- toms, including even dress, among nearly forty millions of the people, manifesting one great Eussian nationality. To these interlacing bonds must be added another, stronger than them all, that of a common religion, which has a deep hold upon the national mind, because with the Eussian 82 THE HTJSSIAN EMPIRE. people, the age of faith has not yet passed away. The skepticism of western Europe has, as yet, exerted little influence upon Russia. The doctrines of the Church are to the mass of the people solemn verities, and in the religious ceremonies, there is to them, as yet, a solemn meaning. Bigotry and superstition doubtless, to a great extent, prevail ; but as an element of power, as well as a basis of national life, a deep, sincere, though misguided religious sentiment, is far superior to the infidelity of France or Germany ; a skepticism indeed, which almost universally now, underlies the forms of the Eoman Catholic Church. As a bond of union, and as an exciting cause, whereby to arouse a national enthusiasm, and knit a people into one firmly compacted body, the religion of Eussia bears some resemblance to the Eoman Catholic Church in the days of its strength and vigor. Eussia is capable of being aroused and maddened for a religious war ; and the course of the government now, shows most clearly, that it fully under- stands, and is prepared to use this truly terrific power. Another tie which unites in one the great Eussian family, is an attachment to the soil, or rather, as the distinction is properly made by Haxthausen, an ardent patriotism ; and this idea perhaps has never been so well expressed else- where, as by him, in the following extract from his work: " Their country, the country of their ancestors, the Holy Eussia, the people fraternally united under the scepter of the Czar, the communion of faith, the ancient and sacred monuments of the realm, the tombs of their forefathers — all form a whole which excites and enraptures the mind of the Eussian. They consider their country as a sort of kins- manship, to which they address the terms of familiar endearment. God, the Czar, and the priest are all called Pather, the Church is their Blether, and the Empire is always called Holy Mother Eussia. The Capital of the THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 83 Empire is Holy Mother Moscow, and the Volga, Mother Volga. Even the high road from Moscow to Vladimir is called ' Our dear Mother the high road to Vladimir.' But above all, Moscow, the Holy Mother of the land, is the center of Eussian history and tradition, to which all the inhabitants of the Empire devote their love and veneration. Every Eussian entertains all his life long, the desire to visit one day the great City, to see the towers of its holy churches, and to pray on the tombs of the patron saints of Eussia. Mother Moscow has always suffered and given her blood for Eussia, as all the Eussian people* are ready to do for her." If Baron Haxthausen, whose book is admitted to be the best extant on Eussia, has not painted this picture in colors somewhat too warm, then the civilized world has cause to regard Eussia with the liveliest interest. Fifty millions of people animated by such a spirit, are capable either of blessing or cursing the world, to an extent to which history probably can furnish no parallel ; because this tremendous power, thus treasured as it is, in fifty millions 0^ hearts — a spiritual force — has at its disposal all means of destruction or defense that are known to modern war. Such a people may not possess the impulsiveness of the French soldier, which hurls him like a shot, on his foe ; they may not be equal in individual prowess to the English, but there is a self-sustaining power of endurance, that exhausts and wears out its enemy, that clings obstinately to its purposes, rising afresh from every defeat, prepared for, and undertaking, or resisting a new attack. This pat- riotism, that suffers all things sooner than permit an invader to rest securely on their soil, this spirit that waits and watches, and suffers long, until its opportunity shall come, has been manifested too often to be doubted any longer. When, Eussia bas been reported through all Europe, as beaten continually, in battle after battle, when all the 84 THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. nations are summoned to exult over her ruins, then the issue has ever been the overthrow of her adversary. The Eus- sians have thus far, in the end, shaken every invader from them, and made reprisals upon their foe. The grand army of Napoleon fell hefore this inextin- guishable love of country, which preferred the sacrifice of all, rather than endure the presence, on their own soil, of foreign troops, and despisers of their religion ; to which the ruins and ashes of Smolensko and Moscow were a less mournful sight than a hostile army trampliiig on their consecrated places and the graves of their fathers. This same spirit has sunk the Eussian fleet across the harbor of Sebastopol, and wiU probably blow the fortifications into fragments, sooner than see them permanently held by the Allied Powers. It is perhaps consoling to French and English feelings to devise hard names for such a spirit, to call it fanaticism, bigotry, superstition, etc.; but it should not be forgotten, that notwithstanding this gift of hateful epithets, its qualities remain the same, its power is undi- minished, and the soldiers stand as steadily to their guns, and throw their shot and shells with an aim as fatally accurate, as if they had applied ta them terms of admira- tion and endearment. The characteristics of the Eussian people, their determination to defend their country to the last, are not to be changed by bitter language, or by railing at the Czar as a bigot, or coward, or hypocrite, or fanatic, or unmanly rejoicing at the news of his death. Still another element which, serves to produce a national unity in Eussia, the influence of which is likely to extend far beyond the present limits of her dominions, is a national vanity and a world-wide ambition, which no one can approve of, and a traditionary belief that the Sclavouian race is yet to rule the world. Every Eussian, it is said, high and low, entertains the undoubted opinion, that his race will yet THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 85 control the destinies of the nations, and regards all events as only sweeping on toward this ultimate end. This may be condemned or ridiculed as -mere vanity, as an absurdity, demanding no serious attention, and yet it is a fact, and in connection with other things, it becomes an important fact, not to be disregarded in the calculation by which we would measure the power, and determine the future of Russia. Though we may be disposed to reject the idea, that what individuals and nations perseveringly believe themselves capable of, they do generally accomplish, this national char- acteristic must not be forgotten, as a chief element of national power. The misleading character of most of the statements con- cerning Eussia, is clearly seen in the light of these facts. Nothing could be further from the truth, than to represent this Empire as unwieldy and inefficient, as a mass of crude material cohering so slightly, as to be in perpetual danger of falling into fragments, or of being rent asunder by internal dissension. Those who thus represent the Mus- covite nation, either know nothing of the real Eussian, and are painting the creature of their dreams, or for special purposes they studiously misrepresent. The central homo- geneous mass of Eussia, its compact and vigorous nation- ality, as compared with the various tribes that skirt its wide frontier, may be regarded as a mighty continent with a fringe of islands scattered along its shores. This shows also, how vain are all expectations that the death of a Czar will essentially modify the settled policy of the Empire, or endanger its peace. Russia has evidently entered upon a career which is the combined result of her geographical position, the nature of her resources, the condition of Europe, her national religion, and the genius of her people. These have prescribed for her, under the guidance of the God of nations, a national mission, which the west of Europe will 86 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. not prevent her from executing. A national policy, with its general features very clearly defined, has become inwrought in the puhlic mind of Eussia, and that policy will not be suddenly changed, much less abandoned, because the characteristics of a great nation can not be at once obliterated. Although the character of him who wears the crown may accelerate or retard the progress of such a nation, it will, under any leader, still move onward toward its ultimate goal. Like a staunch and well-appointed ship, with a competent crew united in the determination to pros- ecute a definite voyage, that pauses not, even though its com- mander dies, so the national career of fifty millions of united people belonging to one family, will not be abandoned on account of the loss of any one leader. Her national unity is capable of being extended safely, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the Powers of western Europe will not be able to arrest even her southward march, by underrating her strength and resources, nor by sneers at her barbarism, her fanaticism, or her despotism. Her barbarism is found strangely connected with the very highest military science, her fanaticism appears very much like an enthusiasm for religion and country, and her despotism has not driven the people from an ardent support of the throne. CHAPTER VOL Character of the Russians as Soldiers — Can Russia become a Truly Great Military Power ? This latter question the English journals, with few excep- tions, were determined to answer with an enthusiastic No ! What changes the campaign in the Crimea may yet pro- duce in public opinion can not now be foreseen, but English writers have almost unitedly represented the whole course of the war, up to the siege of Sebastopol, as nothing less than a series of almost cowardly defeats on the part of the Russian army — as, indeed, little more than a flight from the Principalities, and across the Pruth, scarcely allowing an opportunity to their enemies to display either valor or skni, so as to win a reputation from victory. Ingloriously beaten on all sides, they declare, by Turks, French, English- men, "beaten, despoiled, blockaded," the Russian army has been represented as almost merely human " nine-pins," to be knocked down by Allied balls, or ridden over by their cavalry, or even to be pushed down for the amusement of the infantry. This is not caricature. It is the spirit breathed by prominent English journals. One would sup- pose that the writers who, at the commencement of the American war of 1812, sneered so complacently at a "few fir built frigates" of the Yankees, with a "bit of striped bunting at their mastheads," had risen from their graves, (87) 88 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. and were enlightening the world once more. It ia pitiable to behold a great nation like England, whose military glory and the courage of whose soldiers no one is disposed to dis- pute, and to whom is cheerfully accorded her whole meed of renown, engaged in underra,ting adversaries who prove themselves worthy to meet her, foes to whom history will assuredly do ample justice, and the more willingly because of her own want of generosity and candor. America has certainly lost no national fame by the studied and unhand- some aspersions of English writers, and England has not secured through them any advantage for herself. Similar results are equally certain to follow any withholding of justice from Eussia. Few are disposed to deny that the English or French soldier is superior to the Eussian, and with equal numbers, and with equal advantages of position and circumstance, most would expect that a Eussian army would be uniformly defeated, but that French or English troops are always able to triumph over three or four times their own number of Eussians, and that a Eussian army is little more than an object of contempt, this is simply ridicu- lous. No such disparity exists between the troops of Eussia and the French or English, as has been so indus- triously and boastingly represented, and every year, and every action of the present war, is bringing Eussia, even in this respect, to the highest level of her adversaries. The flag of Eussia has not yet been disgraced in any battle of the Crimea. The Allies had little reason for boasting at Alma, or Balaklava, or Inkermann. In some points, by their own confession, they are already surpassed, and must consent to learn from Eussia, lessons in the art of war. In some important matters, the Allies are learners before Sebastopol. It will not, perhaps, be uninteresting to the American reader to look at a few short passages of history, in which THE KITSSIAN BMPIKE. 89 the character of the Eussian soldier may be studied on the field, and as it was almost half a century ago. It is prob- able that no portion of Russian history presents in a clearer manner the real character of the people, and the qualities which distinguish her army, whether soldiers or officers, than the record of the French expedition to Moscow. A study of that attack, its progress and results, will enable us to form an opinion as to the issue of any future assault by the Powers of western Europe, while, at the same time, the capabilities of Eussia, and her national characteristics, will appear. Whether one regards the unrivaled qualities of the commander of that expedition, or of the army under his command, it will not be considered probable that the Northern Empire will again be compelled to meet upon her own soil, so formidable a foe, while, at the same time, its power of resistance has been immensely increased since the invasion of Napoleon. A glance at a few of the chief points in that memorable attempt at the subjugation of Russia, can not he without interest in the present crisis. In the first place, it is neces- sary, in order to understand what the Russians really accom- plished, to consider the relative strength of the opposing Powers, at the commencement of the campaign. The total effective force with which Bonaparte entered the Russian territory, as quoted by Alison from the Imperial muster- rolls, was as follows : Total effective force wMch entered the Russian territory Horses, - • Total number of cannon, To this force the Russians had opposed as follows : Infantry. Cavalry. First army of the west, 111,194 20,434 Second army of the west,- 42,804 7,852 Third army of the west, - 34,996 9,852 t: Men, 647,158 - 187,111 1,372 Artillery. CoS5a<;kB. 12,983 9,000 4,165 4,500 3,185 4,500 Grand total, - 188,994 38,138 20,335 18,000 90 THE RUSSSIAN EMPIRE. SUMMABY. Intantry, - - 188,994 Cavalry, ------ 38,138 Artillery, - 20,335 Cossacks, ------ 18,000 Total - - - 265,467 The immense disparity of the forces at the commence- ment of the campaign should he allowed to have its full ■weight with those who are accustomed to think of the Eussians as being driven before the French, onward to Mos- cow. The whole French army was 647,158, matched against a Eussian force of 265,467 — less than one-half the number of Napoleon's troops. The French cavalry amounted to 96,579, while this part of the Eussian regular force was only 38,138, and, including the Cossacks, amounted to but 56,138. Such was the relative force of the combatants when the grand army entered the French territory, to which must be added the matchless ability and reputation of Napoleon himself. The state of the Eussian . people, in view of this overwhelming assault upon their country, is thus stated by Alison, on the authority of Boutourlieu : " The intelligence of the invasion," and the addresses of the emperor, " excited the utmost enthusiasm in the people and the army. It was not mere military ardor, or the passion for conquest, like that which animated the French army, but a deep-rooted resolution of resistance, founded on the feelings of patriotism, and the spirit of devotion. " Less buoyant at first, it was more powerful at last ; founded on the contempt for life, it remained unshaken by disaster, unsubdued by defeat. As the French army advanced, and the dangers of Eussia increased, it aug- mented in strength ; and while the ardor of the invaders was quenched by the difficulty of their enterprise, the spirit of the Eussians rose with the sacrifices which their THE RUSSIAN EM PIKE. 91 situation required." This may be regarded as describing a permanent characteristic of the Russian nation ; from the earliest period of their history to the siege of Sebastopol, this long endurance and gradual but sure accumulation of strength to surmount an obstacle, has been conspicuous. In the two first inconsiderable actions of this war of invasion, the French were defeated. In the attempt which followed, to separate two divisions of the Eussian army, Napoleon was outmaneuvered by the Russian generals, and failed to accomplish his purpose — ^he, however, charg- ing the blame upon his brother Jerome. The first consid- erable battle was at Mohilow, a strong position held by the French Marshal Davoust, with thirty thousand men, the difficult defiles of the forest being filled with artillery. This strong post was attacked by an inferior force of twenty thousand Russians, who fought for hours at the entrance of the defiles, in a perfect storm of grape-shot and muslcet- balls, and then retreated in good order and with " little molestation," the loss on both sides being nearly equal — • about three thousand for either army. The object of Napoleon at this point was to cut off Prince Bagration's forces from the other divisions of the Russian army, and, although he employed for this pui-pose two armies, each of which was as powerful as that of the Russian division, he was foiled in the attempt. The Russian general, Barclay, having assembled eighty-two thousand men at Witedsk, had resolved to wait the attack of Napoleon, at the head of one hundred and eighty thousand, and Bonaparte felt himself sure of his foe. As he retired, on the night of the expected battle, he said to Murat : " To-morrow at five, the sun of Austerlitz." The two armies lay facing each other, their watchfires shining on each other's camps. During the night, the Russian general received intelligence that decided him to alter his plan, and retreat upon Smolensko. 92 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. The manner of effecting this retreat exhibited not only consummate skill, but the highest state of discipline in the Eussian army. To break up a regular encampment of eighty thousand men, is not a small matter under any circumstances, but to do it in the night, almost under the very eyes of a watchful enemy, and to do it so silently, and in such perfect order, as not to awaken even a suspicion of what was being done, to accomplish the object so perfectly that at day-break when Murat went forward to reconnoiter, not a man, not a baggage-wagon, not a weapon, not a solitary straggler out of eighty thousand men, could be found : this evinced a skill and a military science which filled the French officers both with astonishment and morti- fication. There was in such movements thus executed, no promise of easy victories. The advanced guard of the French army sent in pursuit, were unable at the separation of the roads of St. Petersburg and Moscow, to determine which an army of eighty thousand men had taken. At length when the Eussian rear-guard was discovered march- ing in perfect order across the plain toward Smolensko, it was attacked, but the assailing party was utterly destroyed. The influence of the religious sentiment upon the Eus- sian people is well exhibited by the reliance which was placed upon it by the Emperor, in rousing the nation for defense. The language of his address was, "The national religion, the throne, the State, can only be preserved by the greatest sacrifices." He added also to this an appeal to the love of race : " Holy clergy, by your prayers you have always invoked the Divine blessing on the arms of Eussia; people, worthy descendants of the brave Sclavo- nians, often have you broken the jaws of the lions which were opened to devour you. Unite then, with the cross in your hearts, and the sword in your hands, and no human power shall prevail against you." The result showed that the THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 93 emperor knew his people. The population of Moscow voted a levy of ten men in the hundred ; the merchants agreed to arm them at their own expense ; they agreed to a pro-rata tax for the puhlic service, and then made an additional subscription of nearly one million of dollars. The attempts which have been made by some European writers, to throw discredit upon this heroic spirit of the Eussian people, exhibit neither truthfulness nor generosity. They have been represented as acting only through the influence of constraint and fear, as offering to make sacri- fices because they knew that otherwise their property would be wrested from them by a relentless government. To an unprejudiced mind, one willing to do justice even to an adversary, every feature of the case presents an unqualified contradiction to such statements as these. Every step of the Eussians under their alarming circumstances, shows not a cold reluctant support of the emperor, but the spontaneous movement which springs from the glowing heart. The Czar appealed to his people both as a father and as the head of the State, and they responded with the affection of children, and the enthusiasm of patriots. No sacrifice appeared to them great or unreasonable, if by it their reli- gion and country could be preserved. It reminds one of the spirit which pervaded our own country in the time of the Revolution. The whole power of the empire was brought to bear upon the execution of a single purpose, to rid their soil, at any cost, of the presence of a foe. The religious character which was given to the war, the deep religious spirit everywhere excited among the people, of whatever rank, were made the subjects of mirth and ridicule in the infidel camp of the French, though not by Bonaparte. His knowledge of human nature was far too profound to treat with contempt a scene which excited both astonishment and apprehension. The next combat in this contest for power 94 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. and conquest on the one hand, and for home, religion, and country, on the other, was one in which twenty-five thousand Eussians were opposed to twenty-seven thousand French, in which the French were defeated with a loss of four thousand men. An afiFair which soon after occurred while both ai-mies were directing their march upon Smolensko, will show how little occasion there is for sneers at the valor of the Eussian soldier. A small body of Eussians, consisting only of six thousand infantry, and twelve hundred horse, which had been detached for a particular service from the main army, found themselves suddenly surrounded by eighteen thousand French cavalry, and cut off from all possibility of obtaining assistance. These troops were new levies, who had never been in action. The Eussian General, Newerofskoi, determined not to surrender, even under such appalling circumstances. He formed his little company into a hollow square, and commenced his retreat across the plains, perfectly open as they were to the operations of cavalry, that hemmed him in on all sides by this dense squadron. "With constantly- repeated charges, the French hurled themselves upon the bristling bayonets, with a headlong valor equaled only by the steadiness of their foe ; sometimes driven back by the constant rolling fire blazing on all sides of the square, and sometimes bursting through the closed ranks, dashing their horses into the center of the living masses, only to be slain or driven back, the ever-diminishing number of the Eus- sians, still moving on and still closing up their ranks and presenting again an unbroken outer line of men and steel. Forty times, during the day, did the French cavalry charge that Eussian square, and as many times were they driven back, until at night-fall Newerofskoi extricated himself entirely, though with the loss of more than a thousand men. The manner in which the choicest troops of Wel- lington withstood the repeated charges of the Imperial THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. 95 guard at Waterloo, has been the theme of many a warm and just eulogium, but it was fully equaled by the unflinching bravery of these Eussian raw recruits, exposed through the whole day in the open plains, to nearly three times their number of the veteran cavalry of France. It surely is unwise, to say the least, to speak slightingly of the military character of a people that can supply soldiers such as these. Such articles as within the year 1854, have appeared in some of the leading British Eeviews and Journals, whose object is to disparage the Eussian army, to represent the Eussians as a nation of traders and mechanics, and essentially unwarlike, to prove that most of her distinguished generals are, and have been foreigners, that the walls of her forti- fications are ready to tumble down, that the Eussian fleet is mostly unseaworthy, with other similar statements, are far more dishonorable to the English, than the Eussian name. The noblest and the best of England are superior to such studied detraction, but when writers — who are seeking both popularity and remuneration from the British public, pursue this course, the only rational inference is, that they believe that such sentiments will be agreeable to the public sentiment of England, that they wiU meet and gratify the wishes of the people. By a similar course toward America, as impolitic as it was unjust, England created in the Amer- ican heart dislike and resentment which half a century has not removed. The wanton injury which English journalists are inflicting upon the feelings of the Eussians, will yet recoil upon her, it may be feared, in the hour of her great need. Had England, during the trials of our early career, shown toward the United States a magnanimous spirit, it would have bound us to her by ties of sympathy which would have made the two nations one. She chose instead, to gratify her pride by scorn and ridicule, and she has already met her reward, in the mortification and disappointment 96 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. with which she perceives the lack of American sympathy in her present struggle. The next great event in the march of the French army, was the hattle at Smolensko. The fortifications of this ancient city hore no resemblance to those modern defenses within which Kussia has now entrenched herself. An old but massive wall surrounded it, but this had only the arma- ment of fifty old guns, in bad condition, and without car- riages. A citadel of modern construction was yet incapable of proper defense, having, like all the works of the town, been neglected in this interior spot, where no enemy had been expected. The town, indeed, was no longer of any consequence among the defenses of the modern empire, though it once occupied an important position. The first attack at Smolensko was by Marshal Ney, upon the citadel, from which he was promptly repulsed, with great loss. In the meantime, the main body of the Eussian army has- tened to the relief of the city, which at first was held by only nineteen thousand Russians. But, after entering the city, it was resolved by the Eussian general not to hazard a general battle, when a defeat might cut him ofi" from supplies, and he began a retreat toward Moscow, leaving thirty thousand men as a rear guard to hold Smolensko, and thus cover his retreat. The Eussian commander had placed a stream between himself and the main army of the French, which Napoleon in vain endeavored to ford when he saw the retiring columns, and then, as a last resource, ordered a general assault upon Smolensko. Napoleon here commanded in person. He had at his disposal about two hundred thousand men, and five hundred pieces of cannon. Of these, seventy thousand were led against the walls defended by thirty thousand Russians, who had now placed two hundred pieces of heavy cannon upon the ramparts. The French army fought under the eye of Napoleon, with THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 97 their accustomed enthusiasm. Preceded by a heavy artillery force, they advanced unwaveringly under the terrible fire from the ramparts, and were wrapped in the sheets of flame that burst from the walls. After an obstinate battle, they forced themselves within the suburbs, and then one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery were brought to bear upon the walls at point blank range. But, notwithstanding, they were foiled in every effort, and at evening Bonaparte was obliged to draw off his troops, with a loss of fifteen thousand men. The French howitzers had set fire to a part of the city during the day ; the remaining portion was fired by the Eussians in the night ; the magazines were destroyed, and the Eussian army, with its wounded, and a great part of the inhabitants, withdrew before morning, leaving only ashes and ruin behind them — beginning a work that was completed at Moscow. The two armies next met at Valentina, where was the rear-guard of the Eussian army, under Touczoff. A small stream divided the combatants who first engaged. The French first drove the Eussians from their position, and forced them across the rivulet. But when they crossed in pursuit, they were themselves defeated, and driven back over the stream. In the course of the day, thirty-five thousand French were opposed to twenty-five thousand Eussians, and at the close of the battle, the Eussians remained masters of their position, and had lost six thou- sand men, while the French loss amounted to eight thousand. Such was the conduct of Eussian armies up to the bloody battle of Borodino. In the campaign, thus far, there is certainly little occasion for sneers at the Eussian people, as an unwarlike nation, or at the ability or conduct of their generals. Every strategical maneuver on the part of Napoleon was met 9 98 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. by a promptitude and skill quite equal to his own, and history does not show a more admirable instance of the display of military science and discipline than was exhib- ited in the manner in which the Eussian forces retreated towards Moscow. Every effort of the army was nobly seconded by the inhabitan-ts. Cities, villages, mills, stores of provisions — whatever could, by any possibility, give aid or shelter to the invading host, was unhesitatingly destroyed. An enthusiastic attachment to their country, which nothing could shake, which prepared them for any sacrifice, and any effort — indignation at the presence of an enemy on their native soil — such feelings pervaded all ranks, and fired every heart. Under these circumstances a marked national character- istic was exhibited. Thoroughly aroused, almost maddened, as the heart of Eussia was, there were no rash counsels, no hasty, impetuous action. Instead of risking all in one great effort, when failure would have been ruin, the army of Napoleon was subjected to a long, slow, but certain pro- cess of exhaustion, by which it was wisely forseen, that his destruction, though longer delayed, would be certain and complete in the end. With this general policy decided upon, impatience was restrained, and they watched and waited the time when the host of Bonaparte should be so reduced, as no longer to be an overmatch for themselves. The name of Napoleon was a terror everywhere ; it had of itself a power to overmatch thousands of men, and the Eussian generals may well be excused for being even somewhat over-cautious in meeting such an enemy. But the Eussian commander, after retreating as far as Borodino, felt that unless a blow should now be struck in defense of Moscow; that the spirit of the whole nation would be depressed, for Moscow was regarded as the Mother of the Empire, and THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 99 every Eussian heart beat with strong affection for the Holy City. Kutosoflf felt that a defeat would be less disastrous than a refusal to meet the enemy. The battle of Borodino was one of the most bloody, as well as among the most important conflicts of modern times, and exhibits the qualities of a Russian army when engaged on the grandest scale of modem war. It will serve to pre- pare us to estimate aright the defensive power of Eussia. To all human wisdom, it seemed as if on the field of Boro- dino, not only the fate of Eussia, but of Europe might be deci- ded. The defeat of the Eussians would open the road to Mos- cow, and once in the magnificent Capital of the Old Empire of Muscovy, Bonaparte supposed that he should be absolutely secure, and that the Emperor and his nation would be pros- trate at his feet. The two armies were in numbers nearly of equal strength, each numbering about one hundred and thirty thousand men. But ten thousand of the Eussian troops were fresh recruits who had never seen a battle, and seven thousand were Cossacks. The French force was there- fore really superior ; besides, they had thirty thousand cav- alry, the finest in Europe, and this gave them an immense advantage. The Eussians were superior in the number of their artillery by some fifty pieces, and they also occupied a strong position, and had the advantage of awaiting an attack. This position may be made intelligible in its general features, if the reader conceives a strong redoubt in front of the center of the Eussian lines, in the rear of this a second and much larger redoubt, called the Great Eedoubt ; then in the rear of this, crowning sevferal eminences, stretched the long lines of the main army — all these heights as well as the redoubts being defended by artillery. Opposed to this Eussian force was the greatest commander of his age, whose reputation alone had in it the power of 100 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. an army, and at his command, troops unsurpassed by any in Europe, in courage, experience, and skill, led on by offi- cers who had scarcely known defeat in any great battle. Whatever talent, reputation, science, skill, or courage could supply, the French army undoubtedly possessed, and these must be considered in estimating the results of the conflict. Toward evening, on the day preceding the decisive strug- gle, an attack was made on the smaller redoubt in front, which was defended by ten thousand men, and twelve pieces of artillery. This attack was led by Murat, at the head of a very heavy body of cavalry, attended by two divisions of infantry correspondingly strong. The French artUlery, as they advanced, poured a storm of grapeshot into the redoubt, while the ranks of the assailing columns were momentarily thinned by the answering fire from the Eus- sian guns, until the attacking party stood within sixty feet of the redoubt. There, for a time, each gave and received a destructive fire of musketry, till finally, by an impetuous charge, such as few but French soldiers are capable of, the Kussians were driven from their intrenchment, and the redoubt was taken and partly filled with French troops. But in a moment more, the tide of battle rolled resistlessly back, those within the redoubt were utterly destroyed, and once more it was in the hands of the Bussians. Another gallant charge and the Bussians were hurled back again, and masses of the French once more filled the space within its low walls, but still again the returning Bussians came like an avalanche and swept their foes away, and the eagles of the Czar waved once more above the bloody spot. Three times thus, that outpost was taken and re-taken, until in the evening, it remained in the hands of the French, and after this desperate struggle, the first point was hardly won. On the following day, the same skill, courage, and impetuosity in attack, and the same obstinate THE RUSSIAN EMPIBB. 101 valor in defense was displayed by two hundred and sixty thousand men, with more than twelve hundred cannon. Whatever Napoleon could accomplish with troops worthy of such a commander, was done ; and as the result of one of the hloodiest fights the world has ever seen in civilized war, the French army had twelve thousand killed, and thirty- eight thousand wounded — fifty thousand in all ; while the Eussians had fifteen thousand killed, thirty thousand wounded — forty-five thousand in all — and two thousand more had been taken prisoners. At the close of the action, the Eussian army was entrenched in a new position, stronger than that from which the French had driven them, and Napoleon drew off his forces from the battle-field. Neither army was in a condition to renew the battle, and the Eussian commander deemed it prudent to sacrifice Moscow, rather than risk another engagement before receiving reinforcements. Bon- aparte entered Moscow only to see a city of three hundred thousand inhabitants, first utterly deserted and silent as a city of the dead, and then blazing, as the funeral pyre of his hopes, then ashes and ruin, as his hopes were doomed to be. Kutosoff threw his army between Moscow and all supplies, while, from the rich provinces in his rear, his own troops were refreshed, and from all sides reinforcements were continually pouring in. It is needless to pursue the history of this campaign. The object for which these few incidents have been intro- duced is accomplished. In a few weeks more the grand army was annihilated, and scarce an individual of that mighty invading host remained on the soil of Eussia. Such a vengeance had been taken as causes men's ears even now to tingle with the recital. The facts here pre- sented have been mainly derived from the most reliable sources of information, such as the most candid of English 102 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Mstorians, so far as Eussia is concerned, deemed to be authentic. They present a picture of the character of Eussian soldiers which it would be well for any nation, however powerful, to consider, before entertaining high hopes of crushing a Eussian army with ease, under any circumstances whatever. They should bring a blush to the cheek of any man who utters a scoff' at Eussian courage or efficiency. In all the history of the world, there is not a story story of a more enthusiastic devotion to country, or of a more heroic defense, nor of one more skillfuUj' conducted. The Eussian conduct of the campaign was in the main admirably suited to their circumstances, and its ultimate and complete success justifies the foresight with which it was planned, and adds luster to the skill with which it was conducted. Such an army, whether we consider its numbers, its equipments, its experience, its commander, or its general officers, can not now be led against Eussia by her present antagonists, while she, according to the conceded rate of her growth, must have increased her population since 1812, by at least two-thirds of what it then was, while, at the same time, she has been perfecting herself in the science of war, as the fatal superiority of her artillery at Sebastopol has - abundantly proved. These facts, taken in connection with the events of the present war, are quite sufficient to iadicate the probable results of any invasion of the soil of Eussia. The combat with a Eussian army, and especially a conflict with the empire, as a whole, has ever been a deceitful one. The manner of resistance which is assumed, partly by the force of the national characteristics, and partly because they rely much upon the aid which the nature of the country affords them, wears the appearance, in the first stages of the conflict, of inaction or timidity, sometimes even of con- tinued defeat. Bonaparte seemed to be driving the Eussian forces like sheep before him, on his march to Moscow, and THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 103 yet he could never break the perfect order of their retreat, even with the matchless cavalry which he commanded, nor could he succeed, in a single maneuver, by which to sepa- rate the divisions of their army, or prevent a junction, or to cut them off from supplies. On the other hand, he found himself imprisoned and starving in Moscow, and then, not only compelled to retreat, but to march back along the very desert which his army had made in its advance, and thus, and by successive actions, where either nothing was gained, or victory purchased at too great a cost, his army was anni- hilated, and he transformed into a solitary fugitive, fleeing for life. In like manner, we have heard of uninterrupted suc- cesses, both by the Turks and the Allies, since the com- mencement of this nesv war. The Allied troops could hardly obtain an opportunity to show their valor, the enemy was so easily, even disgracefully, beaten, and the English people were busying themselves with the question, what should be done with Sebastopol and the Crimea — how this Eussian possession and the other should be disposed of — soberly making a new map of Europe, and declaring what they would and would not accept or offer as terms of peace, and endeavoring to decide how much humiliation Eussia would safely bear, when at once they find the whole force of France, England and Turkey arrested effectually before a single fortress, around which most of those splendid troops that originally landed in the Crimea, are now lying in their graves. The question now is, not what shall be done with Sebastopol, the Crimea, and other Eussian possessions, but how the Allied troops will extricate themselves from that fatal shore, and how France and England will save them- selves from disgrace. The most extravagant accounts of the new engines of destruction, carried out by the French and English armies, were sent round the world. It was 104 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. expected that a hostile fleet would be almost instantaneously destroyed at a distance that would preclude a return shot, and Lancaster guns were, in like manner, to batter down fortifications, themselves entirely out of the reach of the cannon of the fortress. Instead of all this, it has been stated by English writers that the first siege batteries opened by the French, were silenced by the Russian guns in three hours, and their whole artillery has proved itself superior, both in construc- tion and in the manner in which the guns have been served. A resistance which sustains itself indefinitely, which becomes more formidable as a campaign advances, and which wears out its foe, and overwhelms him in the end, is the charac- teristic of Eussian war when their own soil is invaded. The world, however, is informed that the .sudden setting in of winter, and the destruction of Moscow, were the causes of the ruin of Napoleon's army, that frost and snow, and not Eussian skill or weapons, were its destroyers. But a candid examination, not of partizan statements, or of elab- orate eulogies of Bonaparte, will show that his destruction in Eussia was inevitable, aside from these causes. The people that burned Moscow were equally prepared for any other similar sacrifice, and Xapoleon was expelled from Eussia because the nation was resolved, that cost what it might, he should be forced back across their frontier or be destroyed. The following observations of the elegant English historian who has had the courage and the magnanimity to present facts in regard to Eussia, will exhibit this matter in its true light. When Bonaparte commenced his retreat, the Eussian commander first, by a most skillful maneuver, forced him back along the path which he had made a desert in his advance, while at the same time the Eussian army pur- sued him not in the rear, but on a parallel line of march. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 105 through a district abounding with supplies. Upon this Allison remarks as follows : " Justice requires that due credit should be given to the Eussian mode of pursuit, by a parallel march, a measure which was unquestionably one of the greatest military achievements of the last age. Had Kutosoff pursued by the same road as the French, his army, moving in a line wasted by the triple curse of three previous marches, would have melted away more rapidly than his enemy's. Had he hazarded a serious engagement, before the French were com- pletely broken by their sufferings, his own loss would have probably been so severe as to have disabled him from taking advantage of theirs. Despair rapidly restores the courage of an army ; a disorderly crowd of stragglers often resume the strictest military order, and are capable of the greatest efforts when the animation of a battle is at hand. " The passage of the Beresina, the battle of Corunna, the victory of Hanan, are not required to demonstrate this important truth. Well knowing that a continued retreat would of itself weaken his enemies, the Eussian general maneuvered in such a manner as with hardly any loss to himself, to make prisoners of above half their army, and that at a time when the storms of winter were making as great ravages in his own troops as in those of his antag- onists. Had he not pursued at all, Napoleon would have halted at Smolensko, and soon repaired his disasters ; had he fought a pitched battle with him on the road, his army, already grievously weakened by the cold, would have probably been rendered incapable of pursuing him to the frontier. " By acting a bolder part, he might have gained a more brilliant, but he could not have secured such everlasting success ; he would have risked the fate of the empire, which hung on the preservation of his army; he might have 106 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. acquired the title of conqueror of Napoleon, but he would not have deserved that of saviour of his country. But it would have been in Vain that all these advantages lay within the reach of Eussia, had their constancy and firmness not enabled her people to grasp them. Justice has not hitherto been done to the heroism of their conduct. We admire the Athenians who refused to treat with Xerxes after the sack of their city, and the Eomans who sent troops to Spain after the battle of Connae ; what, then shall we say of the general, who, while his army was yet reeking with the slaughter of Borodino, formed the project of enveloping the invader in the capital which he had conquered? what of the citizens who fired their palaces and their temples lest they should furnish even a temporary refuge to the invader ? and what of the Sovereign, who, undismayed by the fires of Moscow, announced to his people, in the moment of their greatest agony, his resolution never to submit ; and foretold the approaching deliverance of his country and the world? Time, the great sanctifier of events, has not yet lent its halo to these sacrifices; separate interests have arisen ; the terror of Kussia has come in place of the jealousy of Napoleon, and those who have gained most by the heroism of their Allies are too much influenced by momentary considerations to acknowledge it. But when these fears and jealousies shall have passed away, and the pageant of Eussian, like that of French ascendency, shall have disappeared, the impartial voice of posterity will pro- nounce that the history of the world does not afford an example of equal moral grandeur." There is one remark in the foregoing extract which is worthy of special attention ; that those who have gained most by the heroism of Eussia in breaking the power of Bonaparte, have been since unwilling to acknowledge it. Had Napoleon not been checked in Eussia, that threatened THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 107 French inYasion of England might long since have hecome to her a very sorrowful reality, and it ill-becomes her now to speak in terms of scorn and disparagement of that gallant people, who at such a fearful cost, interposed itself between Bonaparte and the rest of Europe. But it is insisted by English writers, that however for- midable Eussia may be at home, aided by the defenses of her climate and country, she is incapable of maintaining an army abroad, and of carrying on successfully an ofifensive war. We are told of the total inefficiency of her commis- sariat, and of the immense losses which her armies sustain, and we are pointed to the campaigns in the Caucasus, and latterly, to the unsuccessful siege of Silistria, as proofs of inefficiency and unskillfulness. More than one point here is worthy of consideration. In the first place, wiU the operations of the Eussian army abroad, compare unfavor- ably with those of England herself, even when England has the command of the sea, and the means of transport. Has a Eussian army often suffered more from the want of order, skill, and efficiency in every department, than the English army in the Crimea, if their own witnesses are to be credited? Has any campaign in the Caucasus been more disastrous or ineffectual than the efforts of the Allied troops? Has the siege of Sebastopol produced any more brilliant results than the Eussian attack upon Silistria? Eussia need not shrink from a comparison with those who affect to despise her. But again, if the whole time of the foreign operations of Eussia is considered, where has she been successfully and permanently, driven back? On all sides, her frontier has been continually extended, and at what point has she failed to maintain herself? She has been driven back, it is triumph- antly said, from the Principalities, across the Danube, across the Pruth. But the end is not yet. Will she remain there ? 108 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. A question which her past history perhaps will answer more correctly than present temporary appearances. Again, it is not in accordance with the genius or policy of Eussia, to make aggressive war for the sake of exten- sive and sudden conquest. It is by no means necessary for her to do this, in order to hecome a great military Power. She need not attempt to march her armies over the pros- trate thrones of Europe, after the manner of Bonaparte ; this is not her mission ; not thus is her ultimate position to be won. It is only necessary for her to possess and wield with skill, sufficient military power to defend herself against the combined assault of western Europe, and then, under God, her future is secure. She requires only the means of protecting her natural growth. Within certain limits, she intends to displace or control all. It. is in this point of view, and with this purpose of hers before the mind, that the military capacities of that great Empire are to be studied. She is not to be extended simply or mainly by conquest alone, by the direct application of military power to the acquisition of territory. Her vast military resources are demanded to protect her growth, to shield her from foreign aggression. As an attacking force pushes its columns forward, under the cover of its guns, so Eussia grows out on every side with continuous enlargement, under the cover of her military power. Behind her fortifications and the lines of her army, within her impregnable home, she cherishes and makes strong her interior life, that swells ever outward by a resistless vigor. It is not necessary, for example, that Eussia should attack and batter down the fortifications of Constantinople, and crush, by violence, the Turkish Power. Turkey will proba- bly disappear by a process more gradual, and more certain. She will be absorbed by the power of a superior national life. She will vanish at last in the same manner that THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 109 Mexico will melt away before the steady advance of the United States. Doubtless there has been, there will yet be, in each case, unholy national ambition, and a wicked treading down of weakness by strength, which a just God must finally punish, but still, the end is apparent, and Prance and England will probably meet with no more suc- cess in their attempts to preserve a European balance of power against Eussia, than in the effort to establish a simi- lar one in the western hemisphere, to check the progress of our own country. Mexico is the Turkey of the western hemisphere, and neither country has in it the element of a permanent life. CHAPTER IX. The Russian Army and Navy. Hating, in the preceding chapter, presented some facts and statements whicli show the real character and eapahili- ties of the soldiers of the Northern Empire, it becomes important to inquire how many such soldiers a Eussian Emperor can command for offensive or defensive war. Certainly, her military power must he regarded as of the most imposing character, if the numher of effective soldiers is in the usual proportion to the population of the country ; if they are well armed and disciplined; if the munitions of war are abundant, and of suitable quality ; and if stores and troops can be readily transported, and accumulated at points where they are required. These points will be the subjects of investigation in the present chapter, to which will be added, also, an account of the size, position, and condi- tion of the Eussian Navy. It is by no means an easy matter to ascertain, even with an approximation to accuracy, the actual military force of the Muscovite nation. WhUe, on her part, national pride and ambition would lead her to present to the world au imposing array, on the contrary, those who fear or dislike her, find their interest, as they think, in reducing, as far as possible, by all manner of deductions, the published statements of the condition of her (110) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. IH military establishment, and after reducing thus her armies ■ within reasonable limits, they proceed to show, either that it can not be supported in the field, or that its difierent corps are so widely separated that they can not be concen- trated upon any single point, and again, that the vast extent of territory to be defended absorbs, in its protection, a large part of the available force of the empire. It is also asserted, that the state of the country is such as to render the transport of large bodies of troops from point to point, exceedingly difficult — indeed, almost impossible. These statements are founded rather on the past than the present condition of the Eussian Empire, and, though not wholly without foundation, must be received with due caution, when we remember under what strong temptations those who control the press of western Europe now are, to underrate the power of their formidable antagonist, and to vail somewhat from the people the actual condition of things. By a comparison of the various estimates of the population of Eussia, it would appear that her numbers are nearly, or quite, equal to those of France, England and Austria. So far, then, as mere numbers are concerned, she should be able to present a military array nearly, or quite, as for- midable as the three combined. "What the power of Eussia was in 1812, when the immense army of Bonaparte was swept away, not alone by frost or the fires of Smolensko and Moscow, but equally by the courage and skill of the defenders of their country, is now a matter of history, and well known to the world. Since that period, she has spared neither eifort nor money in augmenting her strength, and giving to it all the eflSciency which can be derived both from science and discipline. She has brought to her aid both European and American skill and experience, and has been 112 IHE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. steadily and silently perfecting her army, her fortifications, and her navy. Within the last quarter of a century, no state in Europe has augmented its forces in numhers proportionate to the increase of Eussia, nor has any other Power so much improved the quality of its troops. During his long reign, Nicholas applied himself with unremitting ardor to perfect the whole military organization of the empire. Both his capacity and his resources have proved fully equal to the task, and, while we have heard only of the poverty of Eus- sia, of her barbarism, of the inefficiency of every department of the public service, of the corruption of her officials, and the system of peculation and fraud everywhere established, she has built and equipped a navy which places her in the foremost rank of naval powers, equalled by England and Prance alone ; she has established arsenals and depots of wood and other military stores, unsurpassed, to say the least, by any ; her cannon and her gun practice are, at this moment, confessedly the best in the world ; her fortifications sliow the perfection of military science ; her military schools have no parallel anywhere, and her army is, beyond all comparison, the most formidable in Europe, taking into consideration its numbers, its discipline, and the resources from which its losses may be repaired. The support of such a vast military establishment must press heavily upon the general industry of the nation, beyond all doubt; military despotism, and the necessary hardships of a soldier's life, are constantly doing their cruel work, but whether this burthen presses disproportionately upon Eussia, as compared with the establishments of other nations of Europe, does not yet appear. The magnitude of her army is scarcely beyond the due proportion of her popula- tion, as compared with other military Powers, while she can THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 113 maintain her troops at home at less expense than any other nation of Europe. The cost of maintaining a foot soldier in the different armies of Europe, has heen estimated as follows : £. s. Cost of a foot soldier, for a year, in Kussia, - 5 00 " " " Austria, - 9 8 " Prussia, - - 10 00 " " " France, - - 14 6 " " " England, - 21 14 l_Mar7n subvert an all pervading national sentiment, and compel a great empii-e to a new line of policy. In estimating the influence of these sentiments as ele- ments of power in a national movement, it must not be forgotten that they are found not alone in the breasts of the emperor and the nobles, or a few restless and ambitious men, but they are cherished and firmly believed in by the lowest of the peasantry, and made the basis of a truly national anticipation — they are but the expression of a national thought, and the determination of a whole people; and when to this is added the fact that this hope stands inseparably connected with the spread of their national religion, it becomes evident that this idea of "manifest des- tiny" is the source of a power whose importance can scarcely be overrated. It renders Eussia most mighty for the accomplishment either of good or evil. The following is an extract from a late American writer, who regards everything Eussian with a somewhat unfavorable eye, and presents his opinion of the character of that race upon whom the national sentiment alluded to, is working with greatest power. " The great Eussian lives to an extreme old age, longer, upon an average, than the man of another country. His generate power is remarkable. In central Eussia the increase of the population is beyond all former precedent in Europe ; while the natives of the conquered provinces are di- minishing with fearful rapidity, the population of the whole empire, refreshed from this exhaustless source, counts every year another million among its multitudes. Thousands and tens of thousands, in a perpetual stream, flow from this foun- tain head, into the vast regions of the north, south, east, and west. In every country, and among every people, beneath the scepter of the Czar, the Weliki Eussian will be found. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 129 asserting the supremacy of his race, and showing his skill and cunning. All the tribes with whom he comes in con- tact yield to his activit}', and dwindle in significance hefore the progress of his encroachments. He even penetrates beyond the frontiers of the empire. While he profits as a merchant, he is often the secret agent of the government. His advance precedes the march of armies, and his aggres- sions pave the way to conquest." When the idea of a definite national mission or destiny has taken full possession of such a race, it is very likely to produce important results. The portrait drawn by this author can scarcely fail to remind one of many of the characteristics of the American race ; and when he adds that these Eussians are ignorant and dishonest, it should be borne in mind that the Yankees have by no means escaped imputations of this kind, and yet New England is the work of Yankees. And if, as the author affirms, the Eussian in his superstition imagines that a great work has been com- mitted to his country, in the social regeneration of the world, it must be confessed that a similar superstition has seized also on the minds of Americans. It would perhaps be inter- esting to study the present prevailing national sentiment in the prominent nations, and inquire how far these presenr timents may shadow forth the actual future. The following ia probably near the truth. Eussia and America are full of boundless hope, and even confidence of ruling, each, over half a world. They think of nothing less than expansion on every side, and progress, reaching far into the future. France hopes to head a combination of western States. England is filled with apprehension, and no definite future opens before her. The preservation of what she possesses is probably the prominent thought. Austria and Prussia are nearly in the same position, while Turkey is oppressed 130 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. with a sense of approaching ruin. Will not these senti- ments he yery likely to produce a corresponding reality? Certain it is that England is no longer the head of Western Europe. She follows in the train of Catholic France, and we are led anxiously to inquire to what extent she may yet put on the Papal yoke, when such a man as Lord John Eussel, with his suite and family, attends high mass, with all signs of sincere devotion. When those who are at the head of the affairs of England stand in such rela- tions to the Papal power, and she deliberately allies herself with the Latin Church in the present war, choosing, as she has declared, a Western combination in favor of the Eoman Catholic Church, rather than the progress of Eussia and the Greek Christianity, American Protestantism may well find cause to rejoice in the traditional sentiment of the Muscovite Empire, which has placed it as the present sole bulwark in Europe, against this new advance of the Papacy. The world may well hope that both Eussia and the United States may attain unto what they consider their manifest destiny, because they are the only great Powers of the world now, which can be fully relied upon in the present struggle with Eome. With the religious aspect of this Eastern war fully and clearly before her, England has espoused the quarrel of the Pope, and with this evidence of her spirit presented to the world, who shall say that in the terrible struggle for principle, and for faith, upon which the nations have apparently entered, she will again ally herself to the right. CHAPTER XI. The Educational Institutions of Kussia. The present war is declared by England and Trance to be a war of dTilization against barbarism. The London Quarterly, for April, 1854, holds the following language, in which is expressed the sentiment that England is industri- ously striving to spread abroad: " If this contest is to be waged between the forces of civilization and liberty, against those of a semi-barhawus empire, aspiring to crush the inde- pendence of Europe, we neither doubt nor dread the issue of the war in which England and France have been com- pelled to engage." How will this appear when impartial history shall show that Russia, so far from being aggressor in this war, was compelled by the meddling intrigues of French Jesuitism either to yield to the pretensions of Eome, or defend her own equal rights by arms? How the charge of barbarism which rings out from the English Press, and which a portion of the American Press is disposed to echo, will stand by the side of facts which will soon be presented, the reader will judge. The North British Beview, for November, 1854, in describing what the consequences of success, then considered certain, would be, says, " Europe would be for generations, if not for centuries, and forever, liberated from the dangers of a semi-oriental barbarism, and England and France, (131) 132 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. differing in the forms, but yet harmonious in the tendencies of their civilization, might go to rest in each others arms. It seems indeed not unlikely that Protestant England will lie down in the arms of Catholic France, but whether she wiU awake and find herself still Protestant England, admits at least of question. " Semi-oriental barbarism " is the phrase applied by this religious journal, to Eussia. " A war of civilization against barbarism, of liberty against despotism," and on this ground an appeal is made by England and France, to the sympathies of the world, and especially of Eepublican America. That the war is in no sense a war of liberty against des- potism, will be made to appear, and we shall be enabled to judge of the barbarism of Eussia, and of the spirit and ten- dency of her institutions, by a glance at her educational systems. We shall be able to decide from these whether Eussia presents a stationary barbarism, without internal life or vigor, or whether she exhibits the spectacle of a nation rapidly assuming, the forms of a superior civilization, and with vigorous step advancing in the career of solid improve- ment, aiming in all her institutions to cultivate and develop her own individual national life. We only deceive ourselves when we seize upon phrases such as liberty and despotism, civilization and barbarism, and use them ia describing Eussia, without a careful study of her position and char- acter. In studying even an imperfect sketch of the educational system of the empire of the Czar, it should be borne in mind that the popular conception seems to be, that what- ever improvement has been made in Eussia, is due to foreigners alone. Her army, it is said, is officered by for- eigners ; by them her ships have been built, her fortifications have been constructed ; by them her cannon have been cast, and by them her schools are taught. But another conception THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 133 of tUs nation, is, of a people earnest, active, and capable of availing themselves freely of the world's science, expe- rience and skill, to aid them in their work of national elevation. It will he found that the latter idea alone can explain the character of her educational system. The military schools, as the most prominent, first demand atten- tion. The eyxXiCt condition of these schools, now, is not known, but insomuch as they have received the constant and most zealous attention of the government, it is to be presumed that the cause of education keeps pace with the improvements and discoveries of modern science, and that the number of the pupils increases in proportion to the growth of the empire. Some years since, the number of pupils at the military schools, was reported as follows : Pupils at Military Schools, under Grand Duke Michael, - - 8,733 Pupils at Navy Board Schools, - .... 2,224 Total, . . 10,957 The above are principally, if not entirely, from the best families of the empire, and are subjected to the most thorough scientific and military training, a course which, for complete- ness and finish, is not exceeded by any schools of the world. By common consent of all who know their character, they are admitted to have no superior. Some details will here- after be given. These eleven thousand supply the officers for the army and navy. In addition to these, there were at the same time in the schools under the direction of the minister of war, one hundred and sixty-nine thousand pupils, making in aU, nearly one hundred and eighty thousand of the very flower of the Eussian youth, a number which, with the increase of the population, may now be reckoned at two hundred thousand, who are receiving at the hands of the government, the most complete military education that the science of the world is capable of supplying. 134 THE RUSSIAN EWLPIKB. This fact beao-s with great force upon the question of the military power of Kussia, and might he profitably considered by those who insist that the army of the empire is inca- pable of becoming efficient. The world beside, exhibits no such spectacle, no such scientific preparation for war, and the fortresses, the armament and gunnery, bear ample testimony to the proficiency of these scholars. Although for convenience sake, reference has been made to the estimate made by the London Qvxirterly, of the population of the Empire, yet the preponderance of evi- dence would seem to show that the number stated is too small, and that eighty millions is now nearer the truth. This indeed is the estimate of a writer, lately quoted m another English Eeview; while the calculations of Malte Brun would swell the present population beyond even this. But admitting the existence of eighty millions on Eussian soil, having a formidable, active, united race, as the central life and power of the mighty mass, it is an important ques- tion, not for Europe alone, but for Americans to study, what is to be the influence of such a power upon the world's destiny, when directed by the flower of the Empire, with the most thorough military education ? Let those who sup- pose that the power of this great Empire is to be suddenly checked,; or even ultimately repressed, until its national mission is accomplished, study the influence of the schools attentively, and they will find good cause to review their opinions. Let Americans consider the efiect which our one small military school has produced upon our army, and even upon the whole nation, and then estimate if they can, the power created by the. constant education of ten or twelve thousand such young men for the control of the Eussian armies, and of the regular training of one hundred thousand more in the acquisition of the arts of war. No system of detraction, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 135 however skillful or deliberate, or perseveringly main- tained, will prevent such institutions from working out their legitimate results ; and France and England have been compelled reluctantly to admit that they have met in the Crimea a military science, particularly in engineering, more excellent than their own. This skill, which has bafQed the Allied armies before Sebastopol, and which has devised and directed the terrible artillery that has hurled defiance and death from its walls, has been acquired in these military schools ; and when it is remembered that many of these most efficicient guns are taken from the ships in the harbor, it may awaken some reflections as to what the gunnery of the Eussian navy may yet accomplish. Some idea of the com- pleteness of the education in these schools may be obtained from a few facts. The system of Eussian fortifications, by which the Empire is defended, is separated into ten distinct divisions. In the Old Michaeloff Palace, now the School of Engi- neers, in St. Petersburgh, a separate hall is allotted to each of these divisions, in which is collected whatever can illus- trate the character of the district which the hall represents, and the fortifications which it contains. Here, for inspection and study, are plans general and in detail, of all the forti- fications of the Empire, arranged according to their terri- torial divisions, and not only of all the fortresses, but of all that have been projected and are yet unfinished, and each particular fortress has a department by itself, in which are collected specimers of the materials used, or to be employed in its construction, including bricks, and kinds of earth, and descriptions of stone which can be found in the neigh- borhood, so that each pupil has in this way a local educa- tion in addition to his general scientific training. Here also, as subjects for study, are accurate models in wood and day, of every fortification in Eussia, presenting each with 136 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. perfect exactness, so that not a single object, even to a tree, is omitted. By such means, the study of the defenses of each fortification, and the manner in which it might be attacked, may be conned on as perfectly as if on the spot, and every cadet, when he graduates, is prepared for any post in the country, understanding beforehand, all the local characteristics of the station to which he is appointed. It is strongly significant of the traditional policy and prevailing feelings of the nation, that here also is a perfect and most minute plan of the fortifications of Constantinople ; the castles of the Dardanelles, with every feature, are pre- sented, together with the aspect and character of the Straits, so that every young Eussian officer studies the nature of an attack on Constantinople, in addition to his general preparation for war. A single fact is sufficient to show the practical character of the instruction in the naval schools : The senior class of cadets annually take in pieces and re-buUd a large model of an American frigate. The instruction in these schools embraces the higher mathema- tics, and their application to military and naval architecture, and navigation, drawing, in all its departments, both the theory and practice of the construction of fortresses and ships, with modern languages, history, and general litera- ture. The children of soldiers, and especially the orphan chil- dren, are particularly cared for by the government, placed in schools, and educated for the army. At St. Petersburgh, there is the Miners' School. It occupies a magnificent building, in which more than three hundred pupUs are constantly studying, under competent professors, with every facility for obtaining an education having great breadth and thoroughness. In this institution the pupil spends eight years,. and then, with as perfect a training as science can impart, he is sent to superintend the government mines THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. 137 in tie Ural ; and this scliool and the number of its pupils, is enough to indicate the importance of that portion of the resources of Eussia. Attached to this important school, is an immense and very complete collection of whatever can illustrate the sci- ences of geology and mineralogy, hut particularly that of Eussia. These several museums, rich, as is said, beyond comparison with any similar collections elsewhere, contain minerals, geological specimens, and fossils, from the most interesting localities, not only in Eussia, but from other parts of the world, and here also are collected models of machinery, and implements, and even models of mines themselves. The completeness of the education which the government bestows upon its servants, and the enlightened character of its policy, may be seen in the expenses incurred, and the pains which have been taken to prepare those who are to have the care of the public mines and the Imperial mint. In addition to what has been already described, artificial mines of various kinds have been constructed, by the actual excavation of subterranean galleries, such as are found in the real mine, and a foio simile of a mine in the Ural is produced, with the real earths, rocks, and imbedded ores and minerals, precisely as they are found in the distant mountains. Here, the geological student beholds the iron, the copper, the coal, the precious stones, and the gold, in their natural position, and precisely as he will meet them in his future operations in the actual mines. Certainly no more admirable device could be found for preparing the students of this school for the duties of real life. Is there any government in the world which has undertaken the development of its mineral resources on so magnificent a scale, and in a manner so thoroughly scientific, and at the same time so practical? 12 138 THE EUSSSIAN EMPIRE. Tke Academy of Fine Arts is a building four hundred feet long, and seventy feet higli, in which is not only a magnificent picture gallery, but a school of Art, in which three hundred pupils are supported and educated. A School of the Arts is also maintained by the government, in which two hundred students, the sons of tradesmen, receive not only a general education, but also special instruction in the mechanical arts, and who are sent, for the general improvement of the country by directing its various branches of labor. There is a Normal School of importance ; the University, with five hundred students, and fifty-eight professors ; a Medical College with five hundred pupils ; a Female Institute, in which four hundred young ladiea are gratuitously educated ; and there are also Theological, Com- mercial, and other schools, of various character. Among these, the Agricultural School deserves particular mention. A farm of seven hundred acres has been laid out, under the direction of the government, and on the premises, an Agricultural School has been established, where both the theory and the practice of agriculture are taught to two hundred young peasants. An extensive museum is attached to this farm, containing whatever relates to the occupation of a farmer, including all descrip- tions of agricultural implements, even to the latest improvements known in America. Here also, the finest breeds of cattle are collected, and model cottages are intro- duced, with the design of improving the architecture of the Russian farmers, which resembles very much the log-cabins of our own " Icuikwoods." Each province is allowed to send annually, a certain number to this school, and each year fifty graduates are distributed through the country, bearing abroad the skill and science which they have obtained in a four-years' course. The pupils are also taught here various trades, which THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. 139 may be either useful to a fanner remote from markets, or which can be followed as a business by the pupils. Black- smiths' and carpenters' work, cooperage, the construction of agricultural implements, tailoring, shoemaking, and cabinet making, are included in the course of instruction, and con- nected with the school there is a foundry, a brick-yard, a pottery, a tan-yard, and a wind-mill. As, by the testimony of candid travelers, this establish- ment is well conducted, its influence must be extensively felt, in the development of the agricultural resources of the country. Great care is taken, in this school for farmers, to show how the principles of agricultural science shall be applied to particular localities, so that the education of the pupils becomes eminently practical and available. At the conclusion of the course, each graduate is presented with a farm, and one thousand roubles to stock it, and the govern- ment encourages them to become, by theory and practice, the teachers of the neighborhood in which they are located. Baron Haxthausen, whose notes on Eussia are among the most reliable sources of information, made a close exami- nation of one of these farms, and describes it as in a good state of cultivation, and as having exercised a marked influence upon the adjoining country. He found the farm- house "comfortable and scrupulously clean" — there were books indoors and flowers without, and all the furniture of the house, as well as the farming tools and machinery, had been made by those who occupied the farms. A second government school of this description, on a very extensive scale, is now in a flourishing condition, at Lipezk, in south Eussia, and, in addition to this, a horticultural school has also been established by the emperor, and placed in charge of some German teachers. Separate from these schools for special purposes, is a school system for the em- pire, yet in its youth, but which promises great results for 140 THE- RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the future, and is, indeed, already exerting a transforming power upon the character of the nation. The whole of Kussia is divided into university districts, with a district university in each, with subordinate schools attached, and at the head of them all, is the National University at Moscow. All the schools of each district are under the charge of the district university. It is a com- pletely organized national system, which, when fully carried out, will make the means of education universal in Eussia. The following statements, condensed by the London: Quarterly, from the " Notes" of Baron Haxthausen, will be found interesting, as affording accurate information concern- ing these schools, and some of the institutions of Moscow, and throwing light upon the spirit and aims of the govern- ment: " Few capitals can boast so many educational institutions as now exist at Moscow, under the crown patronage. Begin- ning with the University, the Baron speaks of the upper professors as fully acquainted with all that has been written in other countries on their respective subjects, nor is he less pleased with the state of the numerous schools subordinate to this University. Other schools are, those of commerce (partly supported by the merchants of Moscow), of drawing, for soldiers' orphans, and for cadets ; but the greatest of all seems to be the Imperial House of Education, founded by Catherine II. It has at least twenty-six thousand chil- dren belonging to it, either within its walls or put out to nurse in the country — all of them orphans of officers, or foundlings. Of the children in the house, the boys are brought up to be schoolmasters, or to be sent to the Uni- versity ; the girls to be governesses — learning German, French, drawing, dancing, history, geometry, and music, besides sewing, knitting, etc. Places are found for them, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 141 bye-and-bye, but not in either of the capitals, which are thought unsafe for " unprotected females." They are watched for six years, and if marriage comes in their way, proper inquiries are made about the swain. Attached to the institution is a School of Arts, the pupils of which are thoroughly trained in the practice of some one of the dif- ferent trades that figure on the list, and which are in number seventeen." Among the educational institutions of Eussia, the pubKc libraries of St. Petersburgh should not be omitted. The Imperial Library is one of the largest in the world. It contains four hundred thousand volumes, and fifteen thou- sand manuscripts. It is open daily for the use of the public. It is a curious fact that some of the most valuable of the state documents of France are now found in the Eussian Imperial Library. During the French revolution, these treasures of the French government were seized by the populaxie, and sold to the highest bidder, who proved to be a Eussian, and by whom they were forwarded to St. Peters- burgh. There has been gathered here — partly by purchase, partly by presents, and also by the spoils of war — one of the very best collections of oriental works to be found in the world. The library of the Academy of Science contains one hundred thousand volumes, and that of the Hermitage has one hundred and twenty thousand. The present condition of Eussian literature, and the activity of the public mind, may be shown from the fact that in the ten years next preceding 1843, seven millions of vol- umes of Eussian books were printed, and nearly five millions of volumes of foreign works were imported. In a single year of this period, eight hundred and eighty works were printed and published within the Eussian Empire, and only seventy of these were translations from foreign tongues. The whole subject of education is committed to one of the great 142 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. departments of state, at the head of whicli is the Minister of Public Instruction. This is necessarily an imperfect sketch of the educational institutions, in which many details are necessarily omitted, hut enough has been exhibited to enable the reader to judge of the justice of the epithet " Barbarian," so constantly applied to the Empire of the Czars. No one will fail to perceive that these are only different parts of one grand and harmonious system. There is an admirable compact- ness and unity in the whole design, and two main ideas have evidently both originated and shaped the whole — ^first, as most important, the defense of the empire, and, sec- ondly, the development of the national resources and the encouragement of domestic manufactures. In regard to the first of these, many an invective has of late been hurled at Eussia, because, as is charged, she consumes her strength in the equipment and support of an immense military force wherewith to threaten or overrun all western Europe; whereas instead, as is maintained, she should have devoted herself to the arts of peace and of internal growth. But a candid observer of the condition and progress of Europe, from the time of the French revolution, will, perhaps, be inclined to admit that Eussia has neither gone too fast nor too far in her military preparations, and that her policy has not only been a prudent, but a necessary one. The invasion of 1812 was an admonition not soon to be forgotten, and Nicholas has been too keen and too intelligent an observer of passing events not to foresee that a second attack on his nation was certain to be made, sooner or later, either by the infidel democracy of Europe, or, if the republican move- ment should fail, then from the western Powers, directed by the Eoman Catholic church. The control of the Black Sea is essential to the growth and even safety of Eussia, and no Eussian statesman has THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 143 teen ignorant how restive both England and France have been at the predominance of the power of the emperor there. Under these circumstances, Kussia certainly showed a true sagacity in holding herself prepared, and the event has justified the wisdom of her policy. What would have been the fate of the nation now, unless western Europe had found her with her harness on, awaiting their approach ? Eussia can not preserve her nationality, her existence, far less execute the mission which she believes has been entrusted to her, unless she maintains a military, capable of resisting the combined power of western Europe ; or, at the very least, as the event has shown, the united strength of England and France. She maintains her immense force to secure herself from successful atta<;k, not for for- eign conquest. Instead of sacrificing internal development to the support of an army and navy, she maintains them in order that within their circling lines and guns, the works of peace may make secure progress in the heart of the Empire. France and England have intruded them- selves where they have no right to interfere with the growth of Russia, which has been more legitimate, more reputable, and marked with less injustice to the weak, than the progress of either of her adversaries. As has been well observed by an English writer, France made more aggressions upon neighboring nations in the space of ten years, than Eussia has done in as many centuries ; and when England complains of Eussia, let her think of her East Indian exploits. These things do not lessen the guilt of Eussian aggressions, but they ought to silence these, her special and busy accusers, who arraign her at the tribunal of public opinion, as if they alone were innocent of ambition, or oppression, or robbery. After the safety of the nation has been cared for, the government turns its next care to internal national 144 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. development ; and certainly no nation in the world can boast of a more enlightened, thorough, or scientific system of instruction than Eussia herself has established. The great sources of her national strength, and from ^yhich she derives her vitality, are agriculture, her mines, and her manufac- tures. Constructing as a basis of educational operations, a complete national system, which is extending itself regu- larly with the progress of the country ; she has then pro- vided schools of the most magnificent character, to give the minds of the Eussian youth that special direction which is demanded by the character and policy of the country ; and from these schools, as centers, an influence is diflTused through the whole nation, by which the resources of the Empire are sought out and developed by a combination of science with mechanical skill. It is doubtful whether any other nation of the world has studied its own resources more carefully, or instituted a more effectual method for making them available. A nation capable of such designs, and of executing them on a scale of such grandeur deserves not the name Barbarian. CHAPTEIl XII. The Characteristics and Capahilities of the Russian Mind. Having made a partial exhibition of the elements of greatness which belong to the Eussian Empire, it may be well to pause, before the introduction of additional state- ments on these points, and bestow some attention upon the mental characteristics of the race in whose hands these resources and advantages have been placed, in the Provi- dence of Grod. This, perhaps, will enable us to determine the probable character of Eussian civilization, and its future influence upon the destiny of Europe and America. Two interesting questions here present themselves. Will Eussia assume a form of civilization, individual and national — a Eussian or Sclavonic civilization — and if so, what will be its distinctive characteristics? It is a common remark of French and English writers, that Eussia produces nothing original, that she is destitute of the creative power of genius, and possesses only the imitative character of some of the Oriental nations, and is therefore doomed like them to the inferior life of a mere copyist of western Europe. She is represented as wearing the garments of civilization after the manner of a savage ; a European exterior, which can not conceal the barbarian. No intelligent opinion can be formed of the future of this great Empire, until we decide whether such representations are true or false. In 13 11*6) 146 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the very beginning of such an investigation, it should be remembered that even the highest forms of genius must operate with materials already in existence, that strictly speaking, it creates nothing, and that its most signal tri- umphs are won by presenting familiar things in a new light, and throwing them into original combinations. Every modern nation to a great extent, is necessarily an imitator. Our age is the heir of the past, and has come into possession of the treasures of thought and art, accumu- lated by preceding generations, and the only question which remains, is, whether from this stock of material, common to all Christendom now, a nation can rear a social, political, and religious structure, which shall exhibit a distinctive and individual character? The nations of the modern world, are all the inheritors of the mingled Greek and Eoman civilization, and these forms of national life have been developed, in western Europe, from the materials thus supplied — the Latin, the German, and the Anglo Saxon. These, however, are being now mingled, and the original individuality by which they were distinguished, is disap- pearing, and a constantly increasing intercourse is sweep- ing away the peculiarities of each. It would appear impossible, under present circumstances, for any one of the nations of western Europe, to work out hereafter a sepa- rate and individual destiny, or to pursue a strictly national policy. Each is molding each, and society must become the resultant of conflicting forces. Europe can neither be English, nor French, nor German, nor can either nation retain the sharp distinctness of its own original outline. It remains to be seen what excellencies these mingled elements may exhibit, as they combine. StiU Germany, France, and England, stamping their own characteristics upon the materials furnished by the ancient world, have each produced a national form of civilization, a form which THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 147 France shares with the other branches of the Latin family. In the same manner the Koman forms received the impress of the Grecian mind, and thus Greece herself softened and adorned the stately, gigantic grandeur of Egypt. Nor wiU. it he easy to discover any nation this side the deluge that has originated, strictly speaking, its modes of thought and expression, and its form of national life. Wherever we searclf, we find something still due to the past ; a former age has bequeathed its legacy of wisdom and experience. If, then, Eussia is able to avail herself of the materials which the age affords her, and can construct from them a national edifice which shall bear the impress of a distinct national character, the world must then admit that she possesses an originating power, and can produce a Eussian civilization, which, in the end perhaps, will assume the more definite, as weU as more comprehensive name, Sclavonian. This she may do, although the style of her architecture and dress, her manufactures, tools, weapons, etc., have the Euro- pean form. America presents an example of what is here intended. Through forms, which, with the exception of the political structure, are essentially European, there appears an individual, an American life, which, with each succeeding year, will become more distinct and dominant, tiU the ultimate result is reached, not an Anglo-Saxon, but an American civilization, separate and peculiar. The people of the United States are continually reminded that they are mere blind imitatiors of what others perform, that they have no literature, or art, or science, of their own, or independent national life or character. Doubtless this is, to a great extent, true, or rather it has been true. Still it should have been remembered, that nothing less than a miracle, on the most extended scale, could have enabled an English colony, with the task of subduing a continent on their hands, to present at once all the 148 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. phenomena of an independent national existence. The question should rather have been, whether a germ had been planted here, which in its maturity, should have not only a territory, but a name, a character, a history, of its own. Such considerations should not be lost sight of, in forming an estimate of the present condition and prospects of Eussia. For, although, if we adopt the mere reckoning of years, Eussia may be considered old, yet her true national career dates back not more than a hundred years, and indeed it was not until the reign of Catharine II., that she first appeared as a great nation upon the theater of Europe. At the time of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the population of the empire was about twelve millions, at the death of Peter the Great in 1725, about twenty millions, and at the ascension of Catharine II., in 1763, about twenty- five millions. One hundred years, then, is quite as long a time as can reasonably be assigned as the true national life of the Muscovite nation, for the impulse given to the nation's growth by Peter the Great, was subsequently lost in a great degree, and the attempt to improve the country was made in a new direction. It is then quite too soon to charge Eussia with a want of original power ; the capabilties of the Sclavonic race are yet but in the germ. In studying the future of this nation we should regard not so much the Eussia which now is, as that which is so rapidly forming itself from the mass of accumulated mate- rial. Travelers have deceived themselves and misled others, by dwelling upon and magnifying the fact of the existence of many races within the limits of the empire, describing it as a mere aggregation which must soon fall asunder. They forget that there has been a rapid acquisition of territory and population, and that sufiicient time has not yet elapsed to secure a complete consolidation of the mass. But had they looked a little beyond the external aspect of things, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 149 and studied with some care the actual movemen of the forces, which shape the course of the nation, they would have discovered a central life power which, with an almost unexampled energy, is diffusing itself through the whole national mass, assimilating or displacing whatever it touches, and aided in its operations by the settled policy of the government. They would have discovered one dominant race, compacted by every tie that can bind a people together, inspired by common hopes and a common ambition, wielding a. power before which all else disap- pears, either by incorporation or removal, and which, unless arrested by the providence of God, will inevitably fill the vast territory of Eussia with one single family, with one language, one literature, one government, and one religion. Of the mental characteristics of this race, then, we should gain, if possible, a distinct idea, in order to estimate the future — ^because the future will be the work of their hands. There are three methods of estimating the mental charac- teristics of a people. They may be studied, as exhibited in individuals, or in those public manifestations which are the expressions of national thought, or in the characters of those great men who sometimes stand forth as the expo- nents of their age, an individual expression of the charac- teristics of a nation. The true Eussian possesses, in an eminent degree, energy, activity and fertility of resource. He is found in every part of the empire, as a merchant, a mechanic, a peddler, a speculator, and in all society his is the ruling spirit ; he is the shrewd, successful man, to whom others give place — removed from his path by superior skill, or force, or fraud, as circumstances seem to demand. Society receives from him its impulse-^— new schemes are hatched in his brain — he drives the sharpest bargain — and, like other sharp men, he overreaches and deceives. Some travelers speak of him in terms that might have been borrowed from 150 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the descriptions given by southern men of the peddlers and clock-sellers from New England. The Eussian universally thinks or says he can. His disposition is to surmount obstacles, or sweep them from his path. He endures the toil, and labors hopefully on. De Custine, who was filled with true French disgust every moment while in Eussia, who saw almost nothing that he could approve, has, nevertheless, recorded this national characteristic as a noble trait. He says: "One of the most attractive traits in their character, at least in my opinion, is their dislike to objections ; they refuse to recognise either difficulties or obstacles. With his hatchet in his hand, which he never lays aside, a Eussian peasant triumphs over accidents and predicaments which would altogether stop the villagers of our own provinces, and he answers ' yes ' to everything that is demanded of him." In such a character, there are, at least, the elements of power, and a capacity for progress. The native force of the mind may, in the uncultivated and unregenerate man, break forth in acts of unkindness and cruelty, but this same strength, if properly directed, might also be employed in creating a national power that would bless the world. His versatility of talent and power of imitation, render the Eussian a most successful scholar, and he makes rapid progress in whatever he undertakes. The raw recruit is transformed, in an incredibly short period, into one per- forming correctly the evolutions of the regular soldier, and assumes, with great facility, the air of the camp. He is capable of being metamorphosed, as suddenly, into a trades- man, a mechanic, or a peddler. He is crafty, and to a remarkable degree insinuating in his address, and without being distinguished for muscular strength, is capable of great endurance. The Eussian can scarcely be considered as possessing the THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 151 military spirit, in the ordinary acceptance of that phrase. His nature does not prompt him to arm himself and sally forth in quest of adventure and conquest. He is neither a sea-king to rove the seas for booty, nor a knight-errant, fighting for renown, and the mere love of hattle. He plans no revolutionary uprisings for the rights of universal humanity. He is more inclined to the peaceful arts of agriculture, manufactures and trade, wherein his skill and cunning can he exercised, and where success is obtained by superior activity and address, rather than by blows. As a fighter, he is distinguished more by resistance than aggres- sion. His enemy shouts as victor in the first onset, but is generally exhausted by victory, and in the end destroyed. He conquers not in the assault, but in his defense. The Eussian army, therefore, has heretofore been far more formidable at home than abroad. For although the Eussian prefers peace to battle, he defends his property and his country to the last extremity. No candid man will fail to perceive that a race possessing the qualifications which observers attribute to the true Eussian, is capable of a higher form of civilization than the nation yet has reached. Fifty millions of people, with these characteristics, can not fail to make an impression upon the world. And, although the highest forms of genius have not yet been manifested, there are germs of intellectual power, whose future expan- sion may surpass the present expectations of the world. Eussia needs the development which another century will give her, before her capabilities can be correctly estimated. The progress of the nation for the last hundred years cor- responds, in a remarkable degree, to the course of the indi- vidual Eussian. What he is to individuals of other races, Eussia has been, and is, to the nations on her frontier. She has made an aggressive progress, and without direct wars of conquest, has continued to absorb one portion of territory 152 THE RUSSIAN BMPIBE. after another, till she has swallowed up the contiguous countries, or important portions of their domain. Another method of determining the mental qualities of a people, is by observing the public manifestations of thought, in which the general mind of a people will embody itself, such as their public works and institutions, their national policy, the national structure which becomes the exponent of the popular thought. Such productions are often ascribed to the genius of the individual mind, and a nation is often regarded as the creation of its great men, molded by them as clay in the hands of the potter. But this idea should be received with important qualifications. The man of genius, in whatever department he moves, is in great degree the exponent of national thougbt, which through him obtains expression, and he becomes a national favorite because each one beholds at least a partial revelation of himself. When a great poet arises, it is as if the hitherto dumb nation had found its speech. Similar thoughts had been long floating chaotically through the popular mind — thousands of hearts had been stirred with similar feelings, and at last all are delighted to find them so well expressed. The national soul has found its interpreter. Even when the poet, like Shakspeare, addresses himself to universal humanity, his work still bears the individual impress of his nation. Shakespeare is the poet of the race, but his poem is English still. There was a basis in the English mind for such a production as his. Burns gave an articulate expres- sion to the thoughts and feelings of the Scottish peasantry, and, wherever we direct inquiry, an individual national mind is found, which, by the aid of genius, finds expression in national works and institutions. The wondrous creations which made glorious the valley of the Nile are not to be regarded as simply the conceptions of individual artists, but as expressions of national thought. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 153 The grandeur has clothed itself in Egyptian forms, the enor- mous structures enshrining the vastness and elegance of Egyptian thought. They exhibited the individuality of the national mind. So, also, the poets, the orators, the statesmen, the philosophers, the artists of Greece, were all formed after a Grecian intellectual model ; there was a national Grecian soul that molded the genius of the individual. If we study a nation as a whole, in all its productions, in all its actions, in the character and direction of its public efforts, we behold in them, all combined, but the legitimate out-growth of the national mind, the outward forms in which the thought of the nation has expressed itself — even as a plant unfolds itself from its germs. Eussia, when judged by this standard, will neither appear like a mere barbarian, nor as only the servile imitator of the rest of Europe. In the national structure which she is erecting, there are already individual features, and a largeness of conception, that give promise of a future greatness which shall be known as her own, bearing the impress of the Eussian mind. Her territorial idea, which she is so rapidly working out, is the grandest conception of the kind, of modern times — ^perhaps of any age. Bonaparte himself, unless in some of his day-dreams of an Eastern Empire, with its capital at Alexandria or Constantinople, never conceived of such a kingdom as that whose image fills the national mind of Eussia as a definite object of pursuit, and toward which she has thus far made a steady advance. There is much more of folly than of wisdom in sneering at a nation which proposes for itself an empire that rests one broad wing on the Atlantic, and the other on the Pacific, with one capital controlling the Baltic and the adjacent seas, and the other on the Dardanelles — and which has so nearly converted her original conception, vast as it is, into a historic reality. There is grandeur even in 154 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the thought of such a dominion, and we may well marvel how it could have originated with a people that was hemmed in on every side hy surrounding nations, more powerful than themselves, without a ship, or even a sear-port ; hut when we behold that secluded race expanding itself on every side, swelling out to the proportions of its great idea, devis- ing the means by which it has wrought successfully on toward its ultimate purpose, until it seems now to have nearly reached its goal, in spite of the opposition of Europe, it is far wiser to study such a fact, than to turn away with a scoff at the " barbarians." It is simply absurd to deny that the successful working out of such an idea, is a task which can be executed only by a people capable of greatness. The morality of Russian progress is no more to be admired or defended than are the national acts of the other Powers of Europe, or even the method of our own growth, but viewed as a creation of human intellect, and, throwing out of sight the means employed, Eussia, as she is, may well challenge the respect of the world. The morality of her national acts will scarcely suffer in comparison with that of her civilized neighbors. The treachery, fraud, oppression and cruelty of others, do not, of course, justify her own similar acts, but England, France, and even America, might well shed some penitential tears over portions of their own territory before they sit in judgment upon Russia. Again, the conception of her plan of national defense, and her execution of the work, is an exhibition of the char- acter of the Russian mind. She has not only created a powerful navy, but she has constructed for this navy places of security, where the two great maritime Powers of the world have not, as yet, in two campaigns, been able to touch an important prize. She holds still her naval treasures safe for her future need. Her great fortifications have THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 155 been built on a scale of grandeur, and have been equipped with a science which baffles as yet the military skill of Europe, and these, too, are exponents of the national mind, and are proofs of its capacity. The same vastness of idea characterizes the whole military establishment of the country, and is also stamped upon the schools, and indeed upon every department of the government. There is not seen as yet, perhaps, a perfect adaptation of part to part, in the great machine, but there is a largeness of idea that gives promise of a most imposing future. The idea so often insisted upon, that all this is the work of foreigners, is as puerile as that with which England pleased herself so long, that our naval victories were won by the valor of English sailors, on board our ships. Eussia is doubtless largely indebted to foreign science and skill, and so also is America But this foreign aid has only served, in both countries, to assist the growth of the native mind, and the foreign effort has been shaped by the national model. With all the assistance which has been rendered, Eussia is not a foreign nation, and America is American still. The diplomacy of a nation also affords a criterion whereby to judge of national capabilities, Eussian intel- lect has long been tested in the councils of Europe, in its encounter with the most cultivated and distinguished men of the surrounding nations, and no one has yet pretended that the diplomatic agents of the Czar have been deficient in talent or skill, or that they have been wanting in success. On the contrary, Eussia has enlarged and enriched her- self more by her skill in negotiation, than by the conquests of her armies. She is, it is true, largely accused of dupli- city, and even fraud and bribery, but until the hands of other Powers have been somewhat cleansed, such charges may be regarded, perhaps, as an expression of those who 156 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. have been losers in a game where aU parties alike were endeavoring to play with marked cards and loaded dice. Had Eussia possessed no capacity but such as manifests itself in treachery and cunning, a lofty and unspotted integ- rity on the part of the other Powers, might have baiHed her long ago ; but there is much reason for believing that the Czar and his ministers have merely foiled the neigh- boring cabinets in the use of their own weapons. Russian diplomacy, it must be confessed, is not distinguished for frankness and integrity, but it certainly evinces great sagacity, and consummate skill, while it is not easy to show that in her political morality she has fallen below the standard of her cotemporaries. The vast conception of an empire, which she holds steadily before her mind, and which by gigantic effort she has well-nigh realized, her immense military system, with the resources she has accumulated, the science and skill evinced in her admirable schools and other governmental institutions, the style of her one modern city, and the success of her diplomacy, are all so many witnesses that indicate the power and the characteristics of Eussian mind. The Eussian empire, as it now is, huge, imposing, impregnable as it seems as yet to be, is the production of Eussian thought, as truly as was the Egyptian or Grecian civilization the proper out-growth of the national mind. The national idea is one of grand proportions, it has taken full possession of the public thought, and it lies clearly defined even before the mind of the Eussian peasant. It has shaped itself into a settled public policy, and this policy is the expression of the desires, and hopes, and determinations of the great Eussian family. Eussia gravitates by a law of her national life, toward Constantinople ; her never-ceasing endeavor is to realize the national conception of the empire, and in all her operations she has exhibited a capacity for THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 157 enlarged thought, a power of extensive comhination, and a skillful adaptation of means to ends, not second to any Power in Europe. If she is still to be considered only as a barbarian nation, then, in some important branches, civili- zation may well become the pupil of barbarism. Another method of determining the characteristics of a race, and of measuring its capabilities, is by studying its great men. A truly great man is the exponent of his age and nation. He combines in himself the chief qualities of his race. In the youth of a nation, a great man is in him- self a prediction and guaranty of national greatness ; in its manhood he represents his country as she is ; in its decay he is but a proud" memorial of the past. Thus Hildebrand was the true prophet of the Eoman Catholic Church. He first conceived, and clearly defined the great idea which has since been the center of its life, and shape, and growth. Charlemagne was the individual expression of his age. Alexander was the true exponent of the Macedonian thought. Louis XI 7. was the embodied France of that age, and Chatham exhibited England in her proudest hour ; and the men of the American Eevolution were predictions of the American future. In the same manner Nicholas may be regarded as the true exponent of Eussia as she is, and the earnest of what she will become. He was not only thor- oughly Eussian in feeling and aims, but he so combined in himself the chief qualities of Eussian character, as to be a true representative of his nation, and Eussia may be pro- perly studied in him. He was more thoroughly Eussian than any other man in the empire, though his family was in part of German origin. But the future of Eussia will be shaped not alone by S/usdans, but by the combined power of the great Sclavonic race, organized around a common center, and working out the problem of a common national life. CHAPTEE XIII. The Actual Progress of the Kussiam Empire. In connection with, these observations upon the character- istics of Eussian mind, it is interesting to consider the actual progress of the Empire, and ohserve whether it cor- responds to these supposed capabilities of the race, and in what direction the national effort has been made. It wUl be seen that the policy of the nation has been steadily shaped toward certain definite aims, that have not been lost sight of, at least for a hundred years, while Nicholas haa been the first to conceive a truly national scheme fitted to accomplish the national purpose. This purpose embraced several distinct points, viz : general territorial enlargement, the control of the Baltic and the adjacent seas, the control of the Black Sea and the Dardanelles, an outlet for her Siberian possessions on the Pacific, and a station there for a great eastern naval depot for a Pacific fleet and the East Indian commerce. In 1452, at the time of the fall of the Greek Empire, the territory of Eussia was estimated at a little more than two hundred thousand square miles, not quite equal to four States of the size of Illinois, and its population was only about six millions. It had not a single seaport, nor any independent method of communication with the commerce of the world. At the accession of Peter the Great, in 1689, the territory l;ad been increased to THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 159 nearly four millions of square miles, while the popula- tion was still but fifteen millions. At the present time, her territory is considered to be equal to about seven millions square miles, and her population is variously esti- mated from seventy millions to eighty millions. The fol- lowing account of the steps of Russian progress, is taken from Alison's History of Europe: 1721. — The battle of Pultowa and the treaty of Neustadt gave the Russians the province of Livonia, and the site where Cronstadt and St. Petersburgh now stand. 1772. — The frontier of the Empire, on the side of Poland, was brought down to the Dwina and the Dnieper. 1774. — By the treaty of Kainardji, the Muscovite standard was brought down to the Crimea, and the Sea of Azoflf. At about the same time acquisitions from Tartary were made, larger than the whole German Empire. 1783. — The Russian sway was extended over the Crimea, and the vast plains which stretch between the Euxine and the Caspian, as far as the foot of the Caucasus.' 1792. — The treaty of Jassy advanced the frontier to the Dniester, and Odessa was brought beneath their rule. 1793. — In this year they obtained command of Lithuania. 1794. — The Russians extended their frontier to the Vistula, and nearly half of the old kingdom of Poland was. obtained. The peace of Tilsit rounded their eastern frontier by a considerable province. 1809. — ^Russia attained the whole of Finland, as far as the Grulf of Bothnia. 1812. — Her southern frontier was extended to the Pruth, and she gained partial possession of the mouths of the Danube. 1800 to 1814. — Many conquests were made froni the Per- sians and Circassians, and Georgia obtained. 160 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. 1816. — The Grand Duchy of Warsaw was added to the Empire. 1828. — The Araxes became the southern frontier of their Asiatic territories. 1834. — The Dardanelles were closed to armed vessels, and the Black Sea was open only to her ships of war ; and whether France and England will succeed in holding open the gates of the Euxine, or whether they will he closed forever against them, remains yet to be seen. Since the above dates, additional territory has been obtained in Poland ; a province has been gained from China, on the Pacific, which gives Eussia the command of the river Amoor, navigable in the direction of south-eastern Siberia, for more than a thousand miles, and affording a most important naval station at its mouth. In addition to this, such are her relations to Denmark and Sweden, that she must, ere long, command entirely the Baltic. Such has been the actual progress of Russia, and such is her present position. With her position, resources, and means of defense sufficient to arrest the combined power of France and England at one of her outposts, it is difficult to understand how a reasonable man can entertain the idea that Eussia can now be persuaded or compelled to abandon the settled policy which is interwoven with the thoughts and desires of the whole nation, surrender those advan- tages which it has cost the labor of a century, and an immense expenditure of life and treasure to obtain, and give up the very purposes for which the Eussian govern- ment exists. Russia has too strong a faith in her national mission, to be easily checked in her career, or to be turned permanently aside from the line of her nation's march. The demands which the Allies have made upon her, require a complete revolution in her national policy, the surrender THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 161 of her settled scheme o£ Empire. They ask indeed, that modern Eussia should cease to exist, and that the Empire should be rolled hack a hundred years in policy and posi- tion, and should return to its former state of seclusion. France and England have virtually demanded that Eussia should retire from the field of Europe, and yield the con- trol of the world to them ; and it may he safely predicted, that the Muscovite will never do this while he has people and arms. If the Allies choose to force upon Eussia a struggle for national existense, they must beware the con- sequences. 14 CHAPTER XIV. Eussia is aiming at a CiTilization distinct from the forms of Western Europe. The popular opinion concerning Eussia may, perhaps, be expressed in a single sentence. Her government is a hor- rible despotism, and she is the determined foe of liberty — the chief barrier t» European progress. This assumption underlies all the attempts which have been made, both in Europe and America, to arouse against her the indignation of the world. Another outcry is popular on both sides of ' the Atlantic, that the ferocious Northern Bear is about to seize aad devour the Lamb of Turkey, and an armed world is bound to rush to the rescue. If this were disinterested benevolence, if those who raise the cry were not so anxious to be the guardians of the lamb, for the sake of the ileece, or to appropriate it entirely to their own use, it would be entitled to more respect. But if the lion wars against the bear, merely because he desires the prey himself, it is not needful, on this account, that American sympathies should be strongly excited. Another English charge against Eus- sia is made more particularly for home consumption. It is that Eussia will not consent to adopt the free trade system, and render herself, on that account a huge dependency of England, but insists on protecting her own industry, and applies herself to the steady development of her own (162) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 163 resources. Eussia thus threatens to become the competitor of England in the markets of the world, and so England sends forth her fleets and armies, in the name of progress and liberty, to cripple and arrest her too rapid growth. The charge that Eussia is a cold-hearted despotism, and that she is the chief opponent of European civilization, should be studied in the light of some facts which seem to have received little attention from many of those who are striving to stir up the human race against her. She is shaping a civilization of her own, distinct from that of western Europe, based on a separate idea, and intended for a separate race, and in connection with a distinct form of religion. The value of this, her national conception, can only be estimated by studying carefuUy the genius of her own people, and also the condition of the rest of Europe, and the character of the influences by which the western nations are controlled. The system of Eussia is intended for a separate and peculiar race ; her national idea is aot only Sclavonic in its origin, but it is Sclavonic also in its design. It is a home system, a family institution on a great scale, which she wishes to conduct upon a model of her own ; and before she is utterly condemned, it would be well to take a calm survey of the actual state of aflairs of Europe. Three distinct forms of civilization are at this moment struggling for pre-eminence on the field of western Europe — the Papal, which allies itself to civil despotism ; the infidel democratic ; and the Protestant, which connects itself with the idea of constitutional liberty. These three sys- tems are quite distinct from each other in theory, and are separate as actual movements, though the friends of each are not yet drawn into separate communities. It is necessary to study the character of each of these forces, now contending for the mastery in western Europe, before we can be prepared to form an accurate opinion of 1(54: THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the policy of Eussia. The central idea of the Papacy, upon which the whole system is based, is this : the Eoman Cath- olic Church is the one only true church of the world — that out of her pale, there neither is, nor can be, salvation — that to her, as the one true church, belongs the supreme power of the world, vested in her head, the Pope — and that he, reigning in the stead and by the authority of Jesus Christ himself, is the rightful king of kings, and that he, at his pleasure, may plant or subvert all civil power, as subser- vient to the proper authority of the church ; and that it is his duty to overthrow every government which rejects the Eoman Catholic communion, because it is heretical. Infal- lible in doctrine, she claims it to be her duty to prescribe a faith for all men, and she considers the mission of the Eomish church to be, to stretch its scepter over aU the earth, to embrace all the kingdoms of the world in one universal monarchy, of which she, by the appointment of God himself, is the rightful head. This may be called the " BiU of Eights " of the Catholic Church, the Magna Charta which she has granted to the nations — the right to be gov- erned in all things, temporal and spiritual, by the Pope — the heaven-appointed head of the one true church. A right granted to all kings to receive their crowns at his hands, and from all men in authority to derive their authority from him, and the right to be punished as heretics if they assert the right of private judgment, or of inde- pendent government. This is the one unchangeable idea of the Papacy — the essential nucleus of her system, the center of its life — to reign supreme over all the world, as the true representative of Jesus Christ, ruling in his stead, and wielding his authority as lord of lords and king of kings. This idea, from the time it was first proclaimed by Hildebrand, has never been abandoned, never lost sight of in her darkest hours, never despaired of amid her sorest THE KUSSIAN BMPIEB. 165 defeats. This scheme, which seems worthy lioth of the intellect and the pride of the lost archangel himself, is pressed at this time, with fresh activity and zeal, upon the attention of the world ; and it presents a very grave subject of thought, that, in this nineteenth century, when, accord- ing to the hoast of some, the world has passed so far beyond the reach of every form of superstitution, the renewal of the most absurd pretensions of the Catholic Church, instead of repelling all men from her, is adding to her popularity and strength. It has not been without a profound know- ledge of human character, that the leaders of the Papacy have put forth the new dogma of the Immaculate Concep- tion. It is not the offspring of a mere puerile conceit, but of a clear-seeing sagacity, which, knowing the weakness of men, uses it for its own purposes, and which understands perfectly that no mere intellectual progress, no influences of what we call modern improvement can, of themselves, save men from the grossest superstitution, or secure them against the vilest imposture of a religious character. So far as mere worldly policy is concerned, the Eoman Catholic Church is wise in assuming the loftiest ground of Hildebrand, and the Innocents. The very loftiness of her demands, 'bordering even upon absurdity, will secure the respect and belief of thousands. The same world that scoffs at moderate pretensions, is inclined to worship the man that resolutely persists in declaring himself a god. In reviving therefore, the most preposterous demand of their church in the Middle Ages, and in adding thereto the new dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the leaders of the Papacy are really playing a safer game with the credu- lity of the world, than if they had moderated their pretensions. The Eomish Church, as a mere religious denomination, one church among many, is simply a con- temptible juggler, that could not command the respect of 166 THE EUSSSIAN EMPIRE. the lowest ; bat that same church, expanded to the gigantic proportions of the rightful ruler of the world, walking in queenly rohes, and wearing the triple crown, demanding homage and obedience as the vicegerent of the Lord Jesus, will excite wonder, and fear, and even the spirit of wor- sliip, though in the nineteenth century, and amid railroads, and printing-presses, and telegraphs. A church that proposes to stoop to the level of human reason, and make herself and her doctrines fully understood by the unregenerate mind, will obtain such measure of regard as the rationalist is willing to bestow — no more. But a church that throws itself above reason, that commands the obedience of reason, in the name of God, will make even the philosopher tremble. Por this reason, we often behold some proud and lofty intellect rejecting the truths of salvation as taught by the Protestant Church, yielding itself to the pretensions of Eomanism, or mastered by a pride and audacity superior to its own. To abate one tittle of her proudest claims would be fatal to the Eomish Church. The strong re-actionary movement of the Koman Catholic Church throughout Christendom is one of the most signi- ficant facts of the present time. A short time since, it seemed as if her power was broken forever. She appeared to be not only at the mercy of the people, but to be rejected by them and doomed to destruction. The Pope fled before the revolutionary wave, and most perhaps supposed that the long-predicted overthrow of the Papacy had finally come. It seemed altogether improbable that its influence could be again restored, and many looked for the speedy triumph of Protestantism in Europe. Now, that Papal power has not only arisen from its apparent defeat, but is wielding, at this moment, the controling influence of western Europe; scorning all companionship with the world that THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 167 attacked her, she re-asserts all the proudest claims of the church in the hour when monarchs bowed before her, and has made a great and skillful effort for the recovery of her supremacy over the nations. Once more her Jesuits are busy in embroiling the world. In Jerusalem, at Constan- tiuople, in the court of France, they fan the fires of strife, and direct the western Powers upon Russia. The jealousy, ambition, and pride of England are successfully played upon, until she marches her armies under the guidance of a Papal flag, while every effort is made to win the nation as a whole back to the support of the Pope. In the United States a well concerted and persevering attack is made upon the very life of American Protestant institutions ; the money of Europe is freely used for our overthrow ; the strife of parties is employed to weaken the national sentiment ; the same spirit which has directed the armies of Prance and England upon Russia, is excited in regard to our own country, and there wants but the fitting opportunity, and we may expect an armed attack originating in the same motives which gave rise to the war on Russia. The Papal power is in the ascendancy in the councils of western Europe, and all influences tend swiftly to a combi- nation of the Latin nations, with France to lead them, on which new union of these civil Powers, the Papal throne will rest once more, for a time at least, securely. This is one of the forms of civilization which are now in conflict with each other in Europe. Its ambition is as wide as the globe, it aims at nothing less than the supreme dominion over all nations. History records the means which it has been accustomed to employ to secure its ends, and these same methods it will use again when occasion offers, with whatevi?r new instrumentalities the modern world is able to supply. What this power can do for the world is already known. 168 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. The condition of society where the Papacy has had undis- puted sway is too clearly marked to admit of a mistake The sickening monuments of her misrule stand thick upon the earth. Liberty has been crushed, public and private morality has been destroyed, industry has been crippled, and thought has been repressed. Yet, inexplicable as it may appear, upon any theory of the supposed advance which the human mind has made in these days of light and phi- losophy, the nations are rallying once more, in an unexpected manner, around the Papal throne. There may be much which is merely political in the movement, but there is nothing in the moral or mental condition of Europe which forbids the idea that the Papacy may yet bind the people of the west of Europe by an earnest faith in her preten- sions. The science, and steam, and railroads, and printing- presses of the nineteenth century have not lifted men above the influence of superstition or religious imposture. On the contrary, just in proportion as man recedes from the true light and God, is his liability to embrace false religion, and there is but a step between the present infidelity of Europe and the blindest superstitions of the Eoman Catholic Church. Against the Papal form of civilization, Eussia would be strongly and watchfully opposed, from two principal consid- erations : First, since the separation of the original church into the Latin and Greek churches, the Papal Power has waged constant warfare upon the Greek church, and has left no measure untried to move or force it into subjection to the Papal scepter. The quarrel between the two churches has been carried on for almost a thousand years ; it is bitter and irreconcilable. Eussia — as the present head or repre- sentative of the Greek church — is the inheritor of this ancient religious war, and, of course, would regard with watchful jealousy any movement of the ancient enemy of THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 169 her mother church, and now equally an enemy to herself. More especially would the Eussian government guard itself against the power of the Eoman Catholic church in the latter portion of the reign of Nicholas, when the movement among the Latin nations in favor of the Papacy has heen so marked, and when a disposition has heen growing in England unfriendly to Eussia, and a tendenej' to unite with the Papal Powers against her. The Eoman Catholic church is not only the most hitter foe of Eussia, as head of the Greek church, hut she has been busy in arraying western Europe for the overthrow of the power of the Czar. Eussia stands in opposition to the Papacy from the necessity of self-preservation. The very same feeling which has roused the American mind in regard to the Papal Power and its designs and aggressions, has excited the Eussian nation also, and with far more reason, for the attacks upon Eussia have been more palpable and open ; it was but too eyident that Eome was aiming at the prosperity, and even the life of Eussia, and therefore Nicholas was on his guard. The sense of danger, and the necessity of uniting his people for self-defense by the power of one national faith, induced Nicholas to sepa- rate some Eussian communities from a union with the Eoman Catholic church, and this has been denounced as bigotry and intolerance. The Edinburgh Review, for April, 1855, says : " He gave a persecuting character to the Eus- sian church, and waged a war of a sanguinary character against the Eoman Catholic faith in Poland." If a man is justified in defending his home from the intrigues of a spy, or the meditated violence of an enemy, then is the Eussian government not to be blamed for repelling everywhere in its dominions the influence of the Papacy. The Czar was not blind to the character or designs of the Papal church, nor of the obvious tendency of affairs in 15 170 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Europe, and one necessary preparation for the blow which has been at last struck at Eussia, was to exclude as far as possible, Catholic influences from his dominions. There was no other safe course left for him to pursue. As a sov- ereign and protector of the interests of a vast country, he Was bound to protect her against the presence and machi- nations of his country's hereditary, most active, and most bitter foe. If he performed his duty with severity or cruelty, for this he should be held responsible ; but Ameri- cans, who are themselves awaking to a sense of the necessity of destroying the influence of the Papacy in the United States, or run the risk of destruction at its hands, will never join in an outcry against the Czar, because he was not disposed to permit the Papal Power to provide the means of annoyance or injury within his own dominions. Nicholas knew full well that no art of Jesuitism would be left untried to excite the spirit of dissatisfaction and to stir up revolt among his Polish subjects, and; with the enemy nourished and sheltered in the bosom of Poland, how could he be pre- pared for that attack which he knew sooner or later would come from western Europe. With a strong Papal influence in Poland, where would now be the security of Russia in that portion of her territory, and how soon the Allied Powers would be able to kindle there the fires of insurrection. A sound and justifiable policy dictated the exclusion of all Papal influence from the dominions of Eussia, and Americans, instead of condemning the Czar for the use of any proper measures for obtaining security from Jesuitical schemes, would show a statesman-like wisdom if they should look more narrowly than ever at the intrigues and designs of the Papacy here. A second phase of civilization in Europe is the form aimed at by the Eevolutionary movement — that which seeks the establishment of Democratic institutions. To this, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 171 doubtless, Nicholas was inflexibly opposed, and therefore he is denounced as the foe to progress, and the enemy of freedom. To favor this idea England and France are guilty of the mockery of inscribing Liberty on their banners when they march against the Muscovite. However strongly the Czar may be opposed to Eepublican institutions, he is fully matched in this opposition by Louis Napoleon, and the English nobility, while the hatred of the latter of any rule of the people, any form of truly popular institutions is more cordial than that of the Czar himself. Let the candid American reader once place himself in the position of the Emperor of Kussia, let him look out on the revolutionary spirit of Europe from his point of view, and then he will be able better to understand, if he does not approve, the motives of the Czar, in opposing the democratic movement, as earn- estly as he does the power of the Eoman Catholic Church. In the first place, it should be considered that an American starts with a deceitful assumption in regard to the democratic movement in Europe. He very naturally looks upon those engaged in it as he would upon so many Americans seeking a rational liberty embodied in republican forms, such as that for which our fathers toiled and died. But American Protestant republicanism, is a widely different theory from that of European democracy. Let this difference be borne in mind, and let it be remembered also that while Eussia has steadily opposed European democracy, she has been as uniformly the friend of America, and perhaps the motives of the Emperor may then be better understood. A firm, nndoubting religious faith, and a regard for properly con- stituted authority, are among the controlling ideas of the Eussian mind. This faith is doubtless obscured by super- stition, but still it is faith, though blindfolded and led astray, a faith strong enough to form one of the mightiest elements of national power. The respect for authority is 172 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. also allied to a blind reverence even for despotism, but tben, every Christian mind will acknowledge tbat without these elements, viz : a religious faith, and a regard for proper authority, there can not be a State. The founda- tions of government are wanting where these are absent. How then would a man like Nicholas, educated in the forms and theories of his national church, cherishing as an indi- vidual an undoubting faith, and observant of the forms of worship, and referring all earthly authority, even his own, to God, regarding it as resting upon the Divine sanction, how would he look upon the democratic theories of modern Europe ? He, in common with the rest of the world, would regard the whole movement as the direct fruit of the French revolution, and that would stand inseparably con- nected in his mind, with the invasion of his country, and the burning of Moscow. He, and every other Kussian would from these associations be led to look upon everything savor- ing of French opinions with extreme suspicion, or even with disgust. It is not necessary, therefore, to regard the feelings and policy of Eussia concerning the republican spirit of Europe, as arising merely from a love of tyranny or a hatred of con- stitutional forms of government. The Czar may well be excused if he should cherish strong feelings of distrust, and even dislike, of that spirit which, receiving its birth in France, rushed forth for the overthrow of all the constituted forms of society, which regarded nothing as sound, and from which nothing was safe, which swept over his own native land like a storm, and wrapped in flames some of the chief cities of his empire. Again, the emperor of Eussia from the very necessities of his education and belief, as well as the facts in the case, would look upon the democratic spirit of Europe as the spirit of atheism. It would be considered by him as an THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 173 impious attempt to establish a government independent of the authority of God. To him it was a proposition to sub- vert the whole structure of society, to banish from the world morality and religion, to create a State, and institute a society, which should lie without the jurisdiction of God. Looking at the theory of the French philosophers of the revolution, at the results actually reached in reducing that theory to practice, how could a Eussian prince regard it but as the spirit of atheism arrayed against every form of belief and worship, the spirit of lawlessness bent upon the levelling of all distinctions and the overthrow of every description of authority. Nor was the Eussian emperor sin- gular in such opinions. The most candid and judicious everywhere, while thankful for such good as was accom- plished by the wild outbreak among the nations, headed by Prance, have regarded atheism as the central idea and moving power of that bloody era. It was not so much an attempt to obtain a rational freedom, as the annihilation of every form of authority, and the removal of all restraint from the individual man. It was an effort to live without God in the world, upon the asssumption that the authority of a government rests upon human compacts, and not upon God himself, thus annihilating the moral power of a State, and substituting instead the mere will of a present majority, with no recognition of the eternal right, and wrong, nor of God as the ultimate Judge and Supreme Legislator. Nor can it be denied that this is the character and scope of the radical democratic movement of Europe now. Doubtless there are many good and true men, who sympathize with the disposition to overthrow both the civil and ecclesiastical despotism of the continent, and who desire for the people a freedom based upon a Protestant faith, but this is not char- acteristic of the modern revolutionary spirit as a whole. In its essential principles it is the antagonism of religion as 174 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. well as of monarchical forms of government. It abjures a Protestant faith as decidedly as the belief in the supremacy of the Pope. It rejects the cross as scornfully as the wor- ship of saints. It places the Bible among the inventions of a priesthood, and the legends of monks. It substitutes a holiday for the Sabbath, and the theater, the saloon, and the club-house, for the worship of the sanctuary. Such is this movement in Europe in its most radical forms, such was its spirit as manifested in the French revolution, and such do we behold it in thousands who have made our own country their home. European democracy must not be mistaken for, nor con- founded with American republicanism. They have more points of antagonism than resemblance. The type of the one must be sought in the atheistic movement which was originated by the French philosophers of the Eevolution, while the true model of the other is to be found in Ameri- can society as it existed in the colonies and in the era of our Eevolution. It separates man from his God, and recognizes no higher rule for human action than the present will of the present majoritj-. This is tie form of civilization which Ked Eepublicanism would establish in Europe, and this also is the movement to which Eussia has stood inflexibly opposed. That she has met it with the watchful spirit of despotic power is doubtless true. That she has been-jealous of every movement in favor of popular liberty in Europe, is also true — but it is also a fact, that the movements of the people have partaken of the infidel democratic spirit, with the single exception of Hungary, and how far that should form an exception, we are not now prepared to judge. Had that revolution, however, became a general one, em- bracing Italy, Germany and France, its character would have been that which has just been described, for such is the type of European democracy as a whole. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 175 The interference of Eussia in Hungary, unjustifiable as it was by any moral rule, was not a crusade against liberty, but a stroke of policy to secure Austria against tbat bour of need wbicb now has come. Its sagacity as a measure of state policy, is sufficiently shown by the late negotiations, and the present position of Austria. Let it then be consid- ered exactly what is meant by most European writers when they charge the Eussian government with being the foe of liberty. It means that the whole spirit of the country is as strongly opposed as the emperor himself, to the idea of an infidel democracy, and that the Czar has shut his coun- try up, as far as possible, against such influences, and dis- couraged and repressed it elsewhere, according to his power. It would be difficult to show how Europe would be improved by another French Eevolution — not local, but general in its character — ending, as it inevitably would, in the re- establishment of military despotisms. It certainly remains to be shown that even Eussia would be improved, and the condition of the people ameliorated by any form of freedom which rejects as its basis a Protestant faith. Eussia has not directed her intrigues or her armies against American liberties, nor shown herself, in any way, unfriendly to our government or our progress. The United States have been twice compelled to meet England in ai-ms, in order to preserve their liberties, and French and English intrigues have been full often arrayed against our interests even on this continent ; and both these Powers have shown a constant desire to become the self- constituted " regulators " of American affairs, while Austria and the other Papal states have sought to overthrow the Eepublic by the influence of the Eoman Catholic church ; in short, there is no Power of Europe that has evinced so constant and consistent a friendship for this country as Eussia. This so-called foe of liberty and progress has 176 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. shown a steadfast regard for that people among whom liberty and progress are the two national ideas — the chief forces by which society is controlled. Americans, then, should certainly pause before they echo the clamor against Eussia which has been raised by the Papal Powers and England, for the purpose of vailing their own designs, and to justify the present war. It does not necessarily convict Eussia of being the enemy of mankind, to prove that she excludes her most bitter foe from any influence in her affairs, or that she guards her interests and people from the in- trigues of the Jesuits, or even that she does not favor a second edition of the scenes of the French Eevolution. She may do all this, and yet the government may have some scheme of its own for the elevation of humanity — some policy fitted for the advancement of the Eussian people, different both from Eed Eepublicanism and from the civili- zation which is proposed for the world by the Eoman Cath- olic Church. The exact character of the Eussian govern- ment can not be understood from either French or English descriptions. Their writers observe and narrate with pre- viously formed opinions to which Eussia is made to conform, and their testimony is strongly colored by interest and prejudice. Such men visit Eussia in order to see and describe the barbarous foe of liberty and civilization. They mark and paint in vivid colors whatever is objectionable in Eussian society, or the general condition of the country, but feel no sympathy with a people struggling with heroic spirit against the difficulties that beset them, and endeavor- ing to work out a national destiny. Another form of civilization which is striving to establish itself in Eussia, is that which is the proper outgrowth of a Protestant faith. Its influence upon the destinies of the eastern world is probably less, so far as National councils are concerned, than at any time since the Eeformation. THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. 177 The Papal influence is the ascendant power in the affairs of western Europe, and England declares that she prefers the re-action in favor of the Papacy, with the French nation to lead it, to the further advance of Eussia. She is willing to see the Eoman Catholic Church again lording it over the nations, if only Eussia can be humbled. The influence which Protestantism now exerts in Europe is by the indirect and silent power of truth, and not by any great Protestant nation standing up in noble defense of the principles of the Eeformation, as England has done in former times. America is, at this moment, the great Protestant Power of the world — as such, she is watched, hated and plotted against by the Papacy, and as such, God is preparing her to execute her mission. But Eussia is charged with hos- tility to Protestantism. The English journals declare that the Eussian Church is as strongly opposed to a Protestant faith as Eomanism itself. The assertion is an unfounded one. The Eussian Church is not intolerant in its nature, and has not one essential element of the Papacy. In the char- acter of the Church itself, there are no more reasons for hatred of Protestantism, than are found in the Church of England against dissenters. The Eussian Church is simply a national establishment, with the Greek form of worship. The Eomish Church is, by theory, in spirit and practice, the changeless foe of all that dissent from her dogmas and that refuse her communion. The tolerant spirit of the Eus- sian Church, its tendency to affiliate with Protestants, was clearly shown in the reign of Alexander, when the govern- ment united its efforts with those of Protestant churches for the circulation of the Bible, and for the evangelizing the world. But now, this policy, it has been said, has been abandoned, and Eussia no longer co-operates even in the circulation of the Bible. This is true ; but then the cir- cumstances of this case are worthy of consideration. In the 178 THE RUSSIAN EMPJKE. reign of Alexander, England was the ally of Eussia against France. Alexander was sincerely desirous of elevating and refining his people ; lie wished to enter in earnest upon the career of national civilization, and he was disposed to regard with favor the English example of Protestant constitutional liberty, and as a hasis of the work which he hoped to per- form, he engaged in the circulation of the Bible, and encouraged the British Bible Society within his dominions. But Nicholas has been placed in entirely different circum- stances. He found himself compelled to prepare for the approaching hostility of western Europe, including even Protestant England, notwithstanding her professions. He saw the Papacy and Protestantism, in the person of its chief champion, arraying themselves against his dominions, and with a far more comprehensive and clear-seeing mind than Alexander, he perceived that the future greatness and even safety of his country depended not upon giving to Eussia the impress of western Europe, but upon the cultivation of a true Eussian nationality. When, therefore. Protestant- ism, as represented by England, was gradually changing from an ally, to the enemy of his throne, it was perfectly natural that he should think it needful to repress the growth of Protestant influences within his dominions. It is altogether unjust, in such circumstances to accuse the Eussian government of hostility to a Protestant faith. England has not always been so pure and disinterested in her policy as to scorn the idea of using even a religious influence for state purposes, and what American statesman would desire that even the English church should obtain a wide influence in this country, while the government of England was not only showing unfriendly feelings, but even making preparations for war, and allying herself with a Papal Power against us. That Nicholas, under such circumstances as these, should THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 179 discourage the spread of Protestantism in Eussia, is surely not a very decided proof that he hated its principles ; hut it shows most conclusively that he was aware of the dangers that were gathering round him, and that he had the sagacity to perceive the most effectual method of defense, by strength- ening the national sentiment, and the attachment of the people to their national church. Discerning the real pur- poses of England through the veil of her diplomacy, it would have been suicidal in him to have adopted a different course. English Protestantism, in the hands of the govern- ment is not a perfectly harmless thing, and what perplexities would now surround the Eussian Court if a strong Eng- lish religious influence had been permitted to establish itself in the country. In distinction from the three forms of society just mentioned — the Papal, the infidel democratic, and the Protestant as represented by England — Eussia has been aiming at a civilization which shall be the joint result of the national religion, and the cultivation of an inde- pendent national life, a civilization not European, hut Eus- sian — a political, social and religious structure, fitted to the genius of the Sclavonians. These considerations, though they may not justify the policy of Eussia in all respects, serve to explain her course, and to relieve her from the charge of mere wanton intolerance and bigotry, which has been argued against her. Candor should induce us to give her the full benefit of siich explanations, and not to present a mere caricature of her faults. The rapid progress which has been made by Eussia within the last hundred years, is conclusive proof that her system has in it the germ of a true life. Seventy millions of human beings can not be permanently ruled by a mere show and cheat, much less can they thus be taught to make swift advances in what elevates and refines the race. Nor can they long be crushed by a mere heartless despotism which 180 THE RUSSIAN BMPIBB. has in it no element of good, which afifords no protection to the people, and bestows no blessing, and where society exists for the benefit of a single man and his court. Such a sys- tem has no perpetual lease of life, even among a barbarous people. But Eussia presents the spectacle of an enduring and an improving life. Individuals have been often hurled from the throne, but the system itself has remained unshaken, still constantly accepted by the people, and tend- ing also continually toward the adoption of more liberal forms. These facts give evidence of the existence of a true life, of a system which has been called into being by the actual wants of a people, and which continue, because with all its faults, those wants arc at least in some degree supplied^ The system is endurable, and therefore it remains. Upon investigation a very important fact is revealed. The germ from which the Sclavonic civilization is unfolding, consists of two principles which are identical with the central ideas of Protestantism, viz : a strong religious sentiment, based on a creed which in its essential features is orthodox, and the idea that the State, however represented, derives its authority only from the higher sanction of God, and there- fore that to a properly constituted human authority, obedi- ence is rightly due. This theory derives the right of government from God himself, and not from human com- pact or the mere will of a present majority. While, there- fore, the government may properly demand the obedience of the subject, when in the proper exercise of its authority, because wielding a power derived from God, it is under the most solemn obligation to conform its acts to the principles of the Supreme Law of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, nor can the subject be rightfully called upon to obey that order of the human government which contravenes the statute that has been enacted by the Supreme Legislator himself. The difference between this and the Papal theory is THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 181 essential and apparent. The Pope also rests his authority upon that of God, claiming a Divine sanction for his acts, but then he assumes to be himself the sole and infallible judge of the character of these actions, and thus leaving no liberty, or right of judgment, or conscience, to the gov- erned, stands in the place of God himself, allowing no question, and no right of appeal. The Protestant principle secures to the citizen the rights of conscience and of private judgment of the character of the acts of the ruler. The one secures a rational liberty, and the other is a crushing despotism. The Eussian or Sclavonic civilization then in its infancy now, and though it dimly discovers truth as yet, seeing " men as trees walking " in its imperfect vision, does, never- theless, embody a true life, resting upon trnthful prin- ciples, distinct from the essential and changeless despotism of the Papacy on the one hand, and from an infidel move- ment on the other, and beyond comparison better than either. True, the religious sentiment is now perverted and clouded with much of folly and superstition, yet the Eussian mind is in the attitude of faith ; it sincerely believes in the truths and rites of the national religion, and may therefore be regarded with hope. Authority, too, is used in a des- potic manner ; cruelties and abuses there are many. Still, instead of gathering up all evidences of present wrong, the true question should be whether Eussia is capable of a better future, and whether she is earnestly and successfully endeav- oring to rise to a more elevated position in the scale of civilization. While the mind of the nation is bound to a religious faith which presents the actual plan of salvation, and while govei'nmental authority is respected as emanating from God, Eussia may be regarded as possessing not only the elements of national greatness, but as holding to prin- ciples from which rational liberty yet may spring. And 182 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. this, perhaps, will more clearly appear, if we consider the peculiar form which all society in Russia has assumed, a form to which there is nothing in the rest of Europe, or at least outside of the Sclavonian tribes, that bears a resem- blance. The patriarchal idea pervades the whole social and political structure, from the father of a family upward through all the gradations to the Czar, the father of the nation, and to God the Heavenly Father of aU. In theory, this is not only beautiful, but true, and could it be properly realized in practice, Russia, even though an empire, might become a model State. In practice, these Russian fathers are, doubtless, often stern, exacting, and cruel ; such fathers as some of the Czars have been, have conferred no special blessings on their millions of children ; still the beautiful theory itself remains a witness against those who abuse it, to be itself, perhaps, completely vindicated and reduced to practice at some future day. Covered, as this theory may now be, by the rubbish of a despotic government, or by the superstitious observance of a corrupt Church, it is still a great truth, and as such it will survive, and in spite of all obstacles it will, in the end, clothe itself in a body of fitting institutions. Aside from Protestantism there is no theory of social life and govern- ment in Europe so likely to win for itself a noble future, as that which prevails in Russia. There is evidently no possible hope for Europe through the Papacy. It is utterly incapable of conferring any benefit upon the human race. It may persecute, and degrade, and destroy, but to elevate or to save, is no longer within its power. The atheistic movement is doomed to destruction because the Almighty God watches and reigns in heaven. Protestant and Russian civilization may yet afiBliate, and the government of the North be liberalized, not by association with an infidel democracy, but by the spirit of Protestant freedom. If the THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 183 power of England could now be thrown in favor of the right, how mighty the influence she might exert in favor of con- stitutional liberty. Now every shot she fires is in favor of Papal aggression, and tends to hinder or defeat a noble experiment in civilization, whose success might open a new era for the world, and especially for the wasted East. It would be wise for those among us who desire that the influ- ence of Eussia may be destroyed, to inquire what will take its place in Europe ; what power will be in the ascendant, if Eussia falls. The sole choice lies between the Papacy and Atheism ; a thought worthy the serious attention of Americans, and especially of American Christians. Protest- ant England, even if she remains Protestant, can not now rule Europe. She holds, and must continue to hold, with her present policy, only a secondary position. She has shaken hands with the Papacy, and she must eat the fruits of her bargain. A Sclavonic civilization, Atheism and the Papacy, are the real contending powers in Europe. With which should America sympathize ? CHAPTER XV. The National Idea of Russia. The life of a nation resembles that of an individual. Its early portion is spent in mere growth and preparation, which has, perhaps, no definite aims. There is enlargement of parts, a husbanding of strength, a discipline of faculties, with no distinct perception of the purpose which is to be attained. But the period at length comes when the object for which the man is to live and act, presents itself clearly to the mind, and the individual perceives his task, his mission in life is revealed, and thenceforth his effort is to shape his actual life according to the idea which he has formed. So also with great nations. There is a prepara- tory period in which there is no consciousness of a special national destiny. Like the boy at school, a nation, in childhood, forms no settled plan for the future ; but in the progress of its growth, there is gradually shadowed forth, no one can explain how, a conception of what the national purpose should be, and this, in time, shapes itself to a clearly defined idea, and becomes the object of national existence and effort. This may be called the national idea, and when truly so, it shapes the whole policy of a govern- ment, and directs upon itself the whole energy of a people. As with an individual, so with a nation, the actual achieve- ment will bear some proportion to the grandeur of the (184) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 185 conception and the loftiness of the aims, for in the arrange- ment of the universe there seems to he some correspondence hetween desire and capacity. Eussia, as it would seem, has now so far emerged from her years of childhood, as to have formed a distinct and individual national idea, upon which she has shaped a well- defined national policy, and to this all her efforts tend. This, then, must be the key to all her movements, and until we obtain a clear view of her national idea, Eussia will remain an enigma, and we shall hear only of despotism and barbarism. This policy will perhaps be best understood by presenting, as preliminary, some negative statements. And first among these, it may be truly afl&rmed that the con- quest of western Europe is no part of the policy of Eussia. The oft-repeated cry that this present war has been under- taken for the purpose of preventing the Czar from overrun- ning Europe, and that therefore it is a contest of civilization against barbarism, has no foundation in fact. There is not a single proof that Eussia has ever entertained the idea of using her military power for the conquest of England, France, Germany, or any of the larger nations of Europe. Her designs in this direction have been confined to a control of the Baltic, and the adjacent sea. The Eussian Court has never been seized with such a madness for conquest. The Eussian statesman knows full well that if all these western crowns could be laid at the feet of the Emperor, the gift, if accepted, would be fatal to his country. The incor- poration of such masses of heterogeneous material into her state, is no part of the Eussian scheme. On the contrary, such an idea is the exact opposite of the one which really rules her. She is much more likely to draw around her a cordon of armies to keep Europe out and away, than to use them to conquer and incorporate the western nations. In fact, this is precisely the signification of her military 16 186 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. system, so far as Europe is concerned. Her fortifications are intended to keep Europe away, while within her bristling lines of artillery she pursues her national work. Eussia would never attack western Europe unless in self-defense, to ward ofi" a clearly meditated hlow. Whatever has been written in regard to the peril of England or France from the arms of Eussia, has been either in ignorance of her real and obvious policy, or with the direct design to cover the true character and objects of the war. That hereafter she may seek to cripple these Powers, whenever she has the ability, may perhaps be expected. France and England have made an issue not to be mis- understood or evaded. Their utmost strength is employed to humble Eussia, and will he, while a hope of success remains. Necessity will compel her to a similar course toward them. She has been taught, in a manner which she will never forget, that she has nothing to hope except from their inability to injure. The idea of the conquest and incorporation of the western nations. Papal and Protestant, is clearly an absurdity too palpable to be entertained. It is not, by any means, a universal dominion of this sort to which Eussian ambition aspires. The associating of all animals, of different natures, in one harmonious family, and within one cage, is a trivial feat compared with bringing into peaceful relationship, under one government, the differ- ent races and religions of Europe. The thing is impossible, even were there adequate physical power, until the people shall be all righteous — in short, until the millennial age. But, possible or impossible, it is not a purpose which the rulers of Eussia have ever seriously entertained. Whoever will glance at the map of Europe, will perceive at once, that so far from its being demanded by any interest of Eussia that she should absorb the German states, she greatly needs them precisely where they are. They THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 187 constitute her southern frontier defense, and help to render her impregnable, by standing between her and her more for- midable western foes. Not conquest and incorporation of Germany, but influence over its policy, is what Eussia both requires and seeks ; this, through the Sclavonic race, she will be very likely to attain. Of this, the course and posi- tion of Austria and Prussia afford sufficient proof. Instead of meditating aggressive war upon France and England, Eussia merely desires to be free from assault herself, that she may pursue, unhindered, her own separate career ; and by what means will the influence of Eussia over Austria be prevented, when seventeen millions of the population of Austria are Sclavonians ? This fact of the, alliance of races is the true key to the policy of Austria. Neither does the policy of Eussia contemplate aggressive war as the mere propagandist of despotic principles and forms of government. She abhors the theories of the atheistical movement ; they shock the deep religious senti- ment which pervades the Eussian mind. The late Czar began his reign with the necessity of crashing a conspiracy which originated in French influence, and he detested a spirit which he regarded not as the spirit of freedom, but of lawlessness, which sought to trample all authority under its feet, and reproduce, even in his own Empire, the scenes of the reign of terror in France. To prove that Eussia opposes the infidel democratic tendances of a portion of Europe, is not necessarily to show that she is the determ- ined foe of human liberty. There are millions in England, and millions in Eepublican America, who regard the atheist- ical movement on the continent as hostile to the best inter- ests of humanity, and tending to enslave, not to liberate the race. There are millions of the firm and devoted friends of freedom and progress, who would much prefer to have every throne in Europe remain, to the triumph of 188 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. that lawless spirit whicli scoffs at, and rejects all authority, both divine and human, and claims to be a lawgiver and a god unto itself. No man, of course, will attempt to prove that Kussia is not a despotic government, both in spirit and in practice, but it does not prove her love of despotism to show that she opposes such a democracy as has once con- vulsed Europe only to the destruction of popular rights. To such a miscalled liberty as many seek to establish in Europe, the vast majority of Americans are as steadfastly opposed as the Czar himself. Let, at least, this justice be done to Eussia. Has she ever sought to overthrow the constitutional liberties of England ? Has she ever shown herself hostile to the Eepublican liberty which has embodied itself in our own institutions? She should have all the benefit of a clear discrimination between a rational liberty based upon a religious faith and a due recognition of the authority of God, and a mere desire to sweep all authority and restraint away, and enthrone the individual will, or human reason, or the bare decision of a majority, in the place of God himself. Has Eussia shown a settled hostility to any movement for the elevation of the race, except the infidel one of Europe ? This question should be fairly answered before she is condemned, and Americans should be careful to distinguish between the theory of our Protestant Eepublicanism, and that false theory of freedom which, discarding religion, would begin with bloodshed, and end in the most hopeless forms of despotism. Neither the conquest of western Europe, nor a propa- gandism of despotic principles, nor the arresting of human progress, nor the destruction of human rights, are the pur- poses which shape the national policy of the Northern Empire. What then, it may be asked, is the true national idea of Eussia ? Her territorial idea is of a kingdom which THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 189 shall include the Baltic on the west, which on the south- east shall cover the Black Sea, the Caspian, and Constanti- nople, with a floating eastern frontier advancing toward India, while on the north-east her possessions already lie along the Pacific, including the mouth and valley of the magnificent Amoor. This is the Eussian conception of territorial limits, and it is one whose grandeur stands unequalled by any idea of empire, whether of ancient or modern times, except by the American thought, which embraces the twin continents of the west. Eome herself, in the height of her pride and power was but as a third- rate power compared with what Eussia would be, could she once realize her vast conception. It is one of the most splendid ambitions that has ever stirred the human heart. Let those who so lavishly heap the epithets barbarous, and ignorant, and rude, upon Eussia, take a map, and sit calmly down and study this national idea of territorial greatness. In extent and position, in variety and amount of resources, in every element of prosperity and power, such an empire would be foremost in all the history of earth thus far, and instead of its being a mere empty vision — a day-dream, to muse over — Europe awakes now, with a start, to find this whole scheme so nearly accomplished as to render it doubt- ful whether the combined strength of the western nations can ofier any effectual resistance. These vast regions she proposes to populate mainly with Russians, or at least Sclavonians, and to extend over it all, the influence of a single race, and, if possible, a single religion. Lastly, by these means she intends to restore to its ancient channels, the commerce of the East. These, it must be conceded by all, are vast conceptions, and they form together what may be regarded in general as the national idea of the great northern Power — the scheme which shapes her policy. That she has been, or will be, scrupulous in the choice of means 190 THE RTJSSSIAN EMPIRE. for the accomplishment of her purposes, will not be pre- tended, but judged by the moral rules which have governed the policy of other nations, she will not be found a sinner beyond them all, and there is something truly ludicrous in the present position of England, which has never scrupled to seize and appropriate where she could, in all .the regions of earth, priding herself now upon her spotless and irre- proachable integrity for refusing an offer of the Czar, for the partition of Turkey, because it did not suit her interests, and after it had been virtually approved. She who has swallowed half of India and still declares herself insatiate, is shocked, and cut to the heart, that Eussia should enlarge her territory. Treachery, force, injustice, and oppression have marked the progress of every great nation of earth, Eussia included, but her virtue is fully equal to that of those who are accusing her so loudly ; and of all nations, England is least fitted to teach others the commandment, " Thou shalt not steal." To work out this great idea, and produce the correspond- ing reality, is undoubtedly the main ambition of Eussia. To the acquisition of this territory, to establish this unity of race on the firm basis of a common religion, to direct toward herself the riches of the commerce of the enriching East, she bends her energies with a steadfastness and strength of will that would seem to be the earnest of suc- cess. It is not a policy which depends upon an individual or a party. It belongs to the nation, and Czars may be deposed, or assassinated, or die, in the midst of their schemes — still the course of the empire is toward Constan- tinople and the East. It will be seen, therefore, that the real national idea of Eussia is to become a great commer- cial state — the great commercial Power of the world — and her military array, vast as it is, was never intended for conquest, but for self-protection, for an hour like this, when THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 191 Papal hatred and commercial jealousy are seeking to cripple her power, to arrest her progress, and to prevent her from restoring the Eastern Empire and the Greek Christianity on the Sclavonic basis, to far more than their original power and splendor. The reader, perhaps, will now he prepared to study with increased interest, and more in detail, the means which Eussia has chosen, and the facilities which she possesses for executing her designs. CHAPTER XYI. The Policy of Russia that of Self-Development. One of tte leading ideas of the policy of this government undoubtedly is, to render itself independent, as far as pos- sible, of all other nations, and hence its steady adherence, under great difficulties, to a system of self-culture, and the endeavor to stretch its dominion over a territory which would affijrd within her own limits the means of independent sup- port. Peter the Great undertook the impossible task of civil- izing his country by forcing it into the mold of Europe. He put Eussia into foreign costume and declared that the nation was civilized. His successors perceived dimly the mistake, and did what in them lay, though little, to apply the remedy, but Nicholas first saw clearly^that Eussia could be made great only by being expanded from a national living center of her own, and that the individual Eussian character must be the basis of the empire. He therefore adopted a thor- oughly national system, too exclusive, doubtless, in some of its features, but intended to accomplish a purpose worthy of a great man and a great nation — the complete develop- ment of the resources of his empire. Much had been done, indeed, before his reign, but he alone had the comprehensive mind which enabled him to form the fragmentary designs of his predecessors into one compact and clearly-defined system, embracing all the great interests of his kingdom, (192) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 193 stimulating, guiding and protecting its industry, and open- ing up its hidden resources. His far-reaching sagacity foresaw the coming collision with the west, and he addressed himself to the task of rendering his country independent of others. The sound statesmanship which dictated this policy is now abundantly evident to the world. Kussia has not only been able to bear the shock of western Europe, but such is her financial condition, that in the very midst of the conflict the rates of exchange have threatened to remove the bullion from the Bank of England to St. Petersburgh, and against every effort made to prostrate her credit, it still stands firm and unimpaired, and her stocks at this moment command a better price and market than many of our first-rate Amer- ican securities, though we are at peace and with no external causes to impede our prosperity. England, since the com- mencoment of the war, has taken occasion to sneer at the weakness of Eussia, occasioned, as she declares, by her " barbarous tariff," but this same barbarous Eussian system, by which home production and manufactures have been stimulated and improved, has proved in this, her hour of peril, the salvation of the empire. England and France may blockade every port of Eussia for fifty years, and instead of crippling her power or diminishing her resources, they will only exhaust themselves, while she grows strong within. They may, in this way, for a time, hinder her external progress, but she would thereby daily become more formidable from the concentration of her strength, from the increasing power of her central life, and in the end she would burst all barriers away, and sweep far and wide, with resistless flow. Such is already the variety and extent of her resources and manufactures, that her progress would stiU be steady, even though it were possible to cut off alto- gether her European trade, for she could soon produce for 17 194 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. herself whatever she purchases in the west, and she has an extensive Asiatic trade which can not be interrupted. But her European trade can not he cut off by any blockade that would be tolerated by the rest of the world. After the Baltic fleets had blockaded the Eussian ports through one season, it was discovered that the exports of Russia were still as large as before. All articles had found their way to the markets of the world by having first been conveyed to neutral ports ; and thus it will continue to be unless France and England can prevent all neutral nations from carrying on a trade with Russia. Had the Czar been de- luded with the policy of England, had he allowed Great Britain to become his merchant and manufacturer, suffering meanwhile his own resources to remain untouched, and using up the product of his Ural gold mines yearly to settle his account for English goods, he would have been completely at the mercy of the western powers, compelled either to submit to their every demand, or to see himself humbled, crippled, exhausted even in a single campaign. England seems to have so far convinced herself, by her own false reasoning, concerning the doctrine of free trade, as to be incapable of believing that Russia could make progress under her " barbarous tariff," and at the beginning of the war was really ignorant of the condition and strength of her foe. As in our own Revolutionary war England refused to believe that her soldiers, duly provided with "pig-tails," and each one properly " pipe-clayed," and understanding too, all the mysteries of drill, could by any possibility be beaten by men in " tow frocks," who knew nothing of " pig- tail," or " pipe-clay," or " drill," so with England now it has been deemed a sufiBeient answer to all suggestions of the strength of Russia, to say she is weak, even bankrupt, because of her " barbarous tariff." Now that the Muscovite is found THE RUSSIAN BMPIEB. 195 full of vigorous life, well-nigli or quite impregnable in his positions, England can no more solve the enigma than she could understand the battle of Bunker-Hill, when the Americans knew no more of the proprieties of war, than to slaughter and defeat regularly drilled soldiers in " pipe- clay and pig-tails." The Czar was too barbarous to com- prehend how his state would be enriched by digging and coining gold wherewith to purchase abroad what he had every facility of producing at home, and so he concluded to manufacture for himself what he needed, inasmuch as his people had both time and material, and then he would lay up the produce of his gold mines against a day of need, or he would at least keep it in circulation at home. At the same time he employed a liberal portion of this newly- created wealth, and newly-developed activity and skill, in strengthening and multiplying the defenses of the empire, and in this, with liberal hand, he has, it appears, exhausted the power of modern science, and thus when the western Powers assailed him, instead of finding a needy bankrupt, ruined by his " barbarous tarifi"," it was discovered that he had more bullion in his coffers than the Bank of England, and they have dashed themselves against fortifications that defy thus far their utmost effort, and which can only be captured, if at all, by a most shocking sacrifice of treasure and of life. It is quite clear that Russia, under the influence of her home system, had reached a degree of power, of an inde- pendent interior strength of which the Allies had no ade- quate idea — and for which they were evidently unprepared. Under the walls of Sebastopol they are learning the art of war from an enemy they have affected to despise ; and the present aspect of Russia before the world conveys the most impressive lesson in political economy that has been taught in modern times. She now presents a practical argument in 196 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. favoi" of self-development wMcli can neither be evaded nor answered. She stands mighty and self-balanced, and there- fore calm, self-reliant, and hopeful, reaping the fruits of a wise attention to the culture of her own national life. She presents an example well worthy the study of American statesmen, of what may be accomplished, even under great disadvantages, by a protection of home interests. The system which the government has adopted, is one which embraces in its design the leading interests of a nation. It has given no more prominence to the military department than was demanded by a prudent regard for the condition and purposes of the great Powers of Europe. Her preparations to meet the assault of the western Powers, has neither been too rapid nor too extensive. The formi- dable character of the present conflict, and the spirit in which it is conducted, show conclusively that Russia has not overrated the means needed for her defense. It must not be forgotten that the policy which now controls the empire, is of recent origin, and owes its present form and efficiency mainly to the statesmanship of Nicholas. It has therefore had too little time, as yet, to work out completed results. There, as in the United States, society is still in the transi- tion state, and the Eussians, like ourselves, are struggling forward in the career of improvement, under all the disad- vantages which are found in a country where resources, though abundant, are yet in great measure unused, and to a great extent, perhaps, unknown. Peter the Great under- took to force upon his country a system of life copied wholly from the West, for which his people were unprepared, and which was in measure unsuited to their genius, and though he awoke Eussia to a new life, yet it wore more of the appearance of a masquerade than of a real life. Nicholas, on the other hand, proposed to himself to create a civili- zation for his empire which should be a proper out-growth THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE. 197 of Eussian mind, and based upon the home resources of the country. England is disposed to discourage and sneer at these efforts, for obvious reasons, precisely as she derided the early attempts at manufacturing in the United States. The folly and ruinous consequences of cherishing home production was duly pointed out, the rudeness of our machinery, the unskillfulness of our workmen, the impos- sibility of competing -with English establishments, the infe- rior character of our fabrics, were all most clearly shown, and yet with the fostering care of government only capriciously extended and as capriciously withdrawn, and in spite of much adverse legislation, American manufactures have grown up to their present importance. The efforts of Eussia are being crowned with an earlier success because the Impe- rial government has extended to this home policy its full support. Still the nation has but just entered upon this new career, and what it has already accomplished may be regarded only as the earnest of a more glorious future. The adoption of this policy has placed the national life of Eussia beyond the reach of the rest of Europe. Her out- works may be perhaps destroyed, but the process of destruc- tion will be more costly to France and England than their erection was to Eussia, or than their reconstruction will be. The Allies can not afford to demolish many such fortresses as Sebastopol — while Eussia, if she adheres to her present policy, will each year be able to construct such defenses with greater facility. This system, as has been said, embraces all the great interests of a state, although as yet it is not equally devel- oped, nor working in perfection anywhere. But great results have already been reached, and the promise for the future is abundant, and enough has been done to render this future secure. The leading idea is to secure for Eus- sia the control of the native race, to fill the territory of the 198 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. empire mainly with the native population. For this reason, foreign influences and foreign control are guarded against with a watchful care, and the exclusive policy wliich has brought such showers of reproaches upon Eussia, is one whose necessity the native American population is begin- ning to feel even here, and when we consider the policy which circumstances are forcing upon this nation, we shall at least be better able to comprehend the motives of Eus- sia. She pursues her course, it may be, in a despotic manner, which the liberal must condemn, and which she, in the end, must modify ; but on the other hand, Americans now perceive that in their extreme liberality to foreigners, they have been unjust to themselves, have put in jeopardy the republic, and have even prejudiced the best interests of the foreign population themselves. Eussian statesmen are resolved that the native race shall control their- country, and this is the essential idea of a true national life. Then, as next in importance, both for purposes of trade and for preserving the national unity, great attention has been paid to a system of internal communications. This has been conceived and executed on a scale proportionate to the extent of the country. The most distant points of the empire are already connected with each other by lines of river and canal navigation, and these are so located in the interior that it is sca,rcely possible that the domestic trade of the country should be afifected by foreign war. These communications are becoming every day more im- portant and valuable to the inhabitants, on account of the introduction of river steamboats, by which, as with us in America, the transit of passengers and merchandise is yearly rendered more cheap, more rapid, and more certain. The navigable rivers are connected by numerous interlacing canals, and by means of both, the Caspian, the Euxine, the White Sea and the Baltic, have all communications with THE BUSSIAN BMPIKB. 199 each other, running through the heart of the empire, affording almost unequaled facilities for the transportation of the various commodities which are required by seventy millions of people. These works, begun by Peter the Great, have been con- stantly extended and improved since his reign, by his successors, as an important feature of national policy ; and in addition to these, the late Czar projected a system of railroads on a scale equally extensive, two important trunk lines of which are nearly completed. The government schools already mentioned, are a most important feature in this scheme of national policy. They look equally to the protection of the country, and to the rapid and scientific development of its agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing resources. In these schools thousands of scholars are scientifically trained, in mining, in agricul- ture, and in the mechanical and manufacturing arts, and then they are scattered through the country to become the practical teachers of the communities in which they reside. Results of the most important national character have already been reached in the mining and manufacturing operations, which are far more extensive and complete than most either in Europe or America suppose. This fact per- haps can not be more clearly shown than by the following quotation from an article lately translated from the French for the Merchants^ Magazine : " At the same time Eussia attempts to naturalize in her provinces all the industrial arts of the West, and has made a real progress which is easy to be proved, and of which Europe makes too little account. The Czars in their haughty pride, do not wish to he obliged to ask anything from the rest of the world, and profiting by the different climates united in their vast empire, endeavor to cultivate the productions of every clime. They have no colonies for 200 THE RUSSIAN BMPIBB. the production of sugar ; but the provinces of Orel and Sacolef are covered with immense plantations of heets from which sugar is manufactured. Their southern provinces furnish wheat for part of the west ; in 1850 the exportation was enormous. The northern provinces produce prodigious quantities of flax and hemp. " Cotton is cultivated in Georgia and the country taken from Persia; since 1845, indigo has been introduced into the Caucasian provinces, merino sheep by hundreds of thou- sands are all around Moscow, toward the Baltic, and on the shores of the Black Sea ; they prosper everywhere, and pro- duce abundantly. Silk is produced in the southern prov- inces, and in 1833, the Emperor Nicholas caused four millions of shoots of the mulberry-tree to be planted. The gold mines of Asiatic Eussia are very productive, and furnish annually one hundred millions of francs to the treasury. " Finally, the Czars wished to have their wine independ- ently of France, and the Crimea is covered with vineyards. We look with astonishment, and almost with fear, at the rapid and powerful development of Kussian activity ; for the genius which has given and still gives impulse to this great movement of Oriental slavism is not the friend of liberal institutions, or the tendency of the people toward political or religious emancipation. Any nation whatever that rises and marches onward in grandeur and prosperity has a claim to our respect and to our sympathies, but in Eussia it is not the feople that rise, it is the Autocrats." Here is presented, and apparently in an authentic form, some most valuable information concerning the condition and progress of Eussia, but one can not avoid being amazed both at the narrow spirit in which the article is written, and the conclusion which the writer has reached. It proves how impossible it is for France to form a candid judgment of Eussia. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 201 It is certainly difficult to perceive why a desire to avail themselves of the great natural advantages of their terri- tory, even to the utmost, should be stigmatized in the Czars as a haughty pride. How much more worthy of reproach or contempt would they be if they had either over- looked these advantages, or knowing them had suffered them to remain unused. It has generally been considered as evidence of wise statesmanship where a government understands and earnestly avails itself of its own resources, and by a course of honest industry increases the amount and variety of its productions, until, if possible, it can obtain an independent support from its own industrial pursuits. But it seems tliat Russia can not appropriate her lands to such productions as soil and climate indicate, without being charged with a haughty desire to become independ- ent of surrounding nations. This desire coupled with pro- tection to her own industry, is denounced as an evidence of barbarism by England and France. If Eussia would con- sent to confine herself to the raising of such raw material as England and France require, sell it to them at prices estab- lished by themselves, and purchase from them all her sup- plies of manufactured goods, at their prices, also, and settle by specie the yearly balances, thus making herself a huge and helpless dependency of the West, then she would be admitted to the rank of highly civilized nations, and the loud cry against Russian despotism would be heard no more, at least from England. Russia converted to the wisdom of free-trade would be lauded and caressed. The Czars of the North see in the free-trade scheme only an effectual plan for sending the gold and silver of the Ural district to the Bank of England, and they are bar- barous enough to desire to hold it in deposit at home, and employ it for the general advancement and defense of their country. England and France are sore amazed at this 202 THE KirSSIAN BMPIBB. uncivilized want of discernment on the part of Eussia and are now endeavoring to enlighten her with cannon-shot and twenty-two-inch shells, under General Pellissier, the Araiie Professor of Christian civilization, who, in a most enlight- ened and highly civilized manner, suffocated in their rock fortress the brave Arahs whom he could not conquer in an honorable battle. Eussia barbarously enacts a tariff and cherishes her own native industry, and avails herself of all the aids of modern art, as found among her neighbors. Haughty Eussia, exclaims France ; too proud to be dependent ! Barbarous Eussia, replies England, she enacts a protective tariff, and manufactures for herself, despising the wisdom of free-trade and dependence. Why should not the hill-sides of the Crimea be covered with vineyards as well as those of France ? Why should not Eussia exclaim, haughty France, that seeks to drink wine independently of my Crimean vineyards ? Why should not Merino sheep feed on the hills of Eussia as well as on the mountains of Spain, and why should not Eussians if they have the skill be allowed to spin and weave their fleeces ? W^hy is it not as reputable to raise beets as sugar-cane? Is it a better proof of high civilization to take forcible possession of some tropical island or province, and obtain sugar therefrom by compulsory labor, than to grow beets at home ? The writer of the article from which the quotation has been made, after presenting a picture that shows most clearly the vigorous life which pervades the empire on account of its industrial activity, reaches two sad conclusions: first, that the tendency is not toward political or religious eman- cipiation, and second, that the Czar alone is rising, not the people. It is doubtless true that the tendency of Eussian civilization is not toward such a political or religious eman- cipation as France has gained, and it is no less true, that THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 203 no sane, Christian well-wisher to humanity would desire such a result. Russia neither desires a Papal despotism nor an infidel liberalism, nor such a republic as France has established. Few, however, out of France, will consider this a just cause of reproach. It would perhaps open up a new chapter in political economy, if some philosopher would explain how, with this general and rapid progress of the nation, the Czar alone is rising. It has been heretofore supposed that when a nation is making swift and permanent progress in agriculture, education, commerce, and the manufacturing arts, by which new sources of wealth are continually opened, roads are laid out, canals are dug, and railways are built, that the peopk are thus inevitably elevated and refined. It has been thought that these are the means by which modern nations are advancing, and it is not clear how Russia can be an exception, nor how one man, the Czar, can reap all the advantage of this general movement of the nation. Such statements, of course, show either an invincible prejudice, or a determination to wrest plain facts to a wrong conclu- sion. Russia is doubtless carrying forward her system for the stimulation of her home industry with a rapidity and success which have astonished and alarmed both France and England, and this writer attributes to Russia a hatred and jealousy of England, which certainly has never manifested itself by sending her fleets and armies to blockade her ports, to destroy her commerce, and to burn her towns and batter down her fortifications. It is the successful prosecution of the protective policy by which she has grown so rapidly into a great and independent nation, the foremost power of Europe, able to cope, single- handed, with her two mighty foes, that has so aroused the fears and jealousies of England as to lead her, goaded on by France, with other ends in view, into the present 204: THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. disastrous war — disastrous to all parties, whatever its termination naay he — ^for it can not materially and per- manently check the growth of Eussia, while all parties engaged may consume upon it the earnings of half a century. ^ That policy which Eussia has adopted for the purpose of cherishing her own industry, and to render available her own great and varied resources — a system which England denounces as barbarous and injurious to her prosperity — is the best possible proof of political wisdom, showing that Eussian statesmen have discovered the only method by which their country can attain unto a true civilization. She has been reproached with being simply a semi-barbarous military despotism, having neither commerce, nor manufac- tures, nor literature — as contributing nothing to the general stock of wealth or knowledge — as producing little, origin- ating nothing, and worthy of no respect, except such as may be given to the strength of her armies. Then when she adopts a course whose object is to create a wealth and power of another description, a greatness based on the more enno- bling pursuits of a higher civilization, she is accused of barbarous exclusiveness and savage ignorance, because she is not converted to the free trade philosophy of England. Simply as a producer of raw materials, no country, how- ever productive its soil may be, can reach the highest stages of civilization. The intellectual stimulus and culture are wanting, by which alone true national greatness can be created. Without commerce or manufactures, Eussia would be a nation of agriculturists, miners, fur hunters, and soldiers. Such a nation would consume all the earnings of its industry upon food and those coarse, cheap goods which manufacturing nations can supply with the greatest possible advantage to themselves, and with all the profit derived from machinery. THE EUSSIAN EMPIKB. 205 It would be the unequal contest between unskilled manual labor on the one hand, and the power of capital, skill, machinery and steam on the other, resulting inevitably in a low state of civilization, dependence and poverty for Eussia — in wealth and power for those who might supply her wants. There would be for her no basis on which to rear the highest forms of civilization, and she would remain equally without the means of independence or defense. It has been long perceived by the Russian government that without an extended commerce, the idea of holding a first position among nations must be abandoned, but no profitable foreign commerce could be maintained without a manufac- turing system of her own. The materials for almost every variety of manufacture were known to abound within her own territory, not excepting exhaustless deposits of the precious metals, and a net-work of navigable rivers and lakes offered, throughout all her vast dominions, the means of easy transport ; and it was resolved, therefore, to create, maintain and perfect, if possible, a system of home manu- factures, which should not only render her, in a measure, independent of foreign production, but which should also open to her a participation in the commerce of the East. But how could this be accomplished without that "bar- barous tariff," which has drawn forth such loud complaints from England. The manufactures of Great Britain are more effectually protected, by far, than those of Eussia can be for a quarter of a century, by all the fostering care of the government. The capital and skiU of England have fenced round her interests more strongly than a tariff of prohibition. Her policy aims steadily at a complete protec- tion of every branch of her own industry, and from this course she has never deviated for a single moment. Her free trade means simply freedom for all nations to sell to 206 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. her their raw material, to the extent of her wants, and freedom to purchase from her all manufactured articles, in return. She throws no branch of her trade open until she is certain that she can defy all competition. The only possible course then open to Russia was to grant such a protection to her infant manufactures as should shelter them from a ruinous competition from abroad. But it is said that by this course the cost of her manufactured articles is far greater than it would be if she should pro- cure them from England and the west of Europe, and thus the tax upon her imports is laid really upon the consumers at home. But is not this an entirely inadequate view of the whole subject ? It is necessary to observe the general result upon the nation at large ; it is necessary to compare the Eussia of to-day with the empire one hundred years ago ; or we may observe only the change which has been wrought in a quarter of a century by the influence of this very system which free trade condemns. If it be conceded, for argument's sake, that the tax imposed upon foreign goods has been paid by the inhabitants of Russia, has there been rendered to them, and the country at large, no equiva- lent for this money? A new life has been infused into all parts of the empire, an increased activity marks every department of society ; roads have been opened, canals have been dug, railroads have been constructed, steamboats have been placed on rivers ; factories have been built, villages have sprung up, and local markets have been opened for the productions of the soil. The establishment of one principal manufacture has called into existence a host of dependent but connected branches, and countless new modes of industry, and new sources of wealth, have been discovered by the inhabitants. By such means new desires spring up, new wants are created, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 207 and ingenuity seeks the metliod of supply. Thus mind is stimulated to effort, the intellectual power of the country is increased and guided to profitable action. Capital accumulates, and is expended upon the refining arts of life, a higher taste is cultivated in architecture, dress and furniture, a love for the beautiful is created, the fine arts are cherished, and a literature appears. These are the processes by which civilization advances toward perfec- tion — upon such a career Eussia has entered, and the aspect which she now presents in the terrible conflict that is testing her powers, is proof conclusive of the efficacy of that system in creating the elements of national strength, while the extent of her present eastern commerce reveals the rapid progress she is making. If a mighty system of national industry, which lays its quickening hand upon the multi- tudinous resources of the land, creating wealth and sending it through the empire by ten thousand new channels, can be produced simply by the tax on imports, certainly it is a most profitable expenditure for the nation, yielding dollars in return for cents invested. Nothing, however, is clearer than that the active compe- tition of the home-workers speedily brings down the cost of the domestic article to the price at which the foreign goods could be purchased if the trade were free to the foreign rival, and the protection granted to the manufacturer, instead of becoming a tax upon industry, provides new and more profitable employment to labor, multiplies the comforts of the industrial classes — who are, in consequence, better fed, better clothed and educated — while the general awaken- ing and stimulus of thought leads in the end to mechanical invention, discoveries in science and art, and the higher creations of genius. The rapid advance of the Northern State, and the new career upon which she has entered, have awakened the 208 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. jealousy of England, and aroused her fears, and lest her own commercial supremacy should be endangered ; she sends forth fleets and armies to extinguish, if possible, this new light of civilization which is dawning upon the world, and in order to protect, in this manner, her own monied interests, she is willing that millions of lives should be sacrificed, and that the Papal despotism should, through France be re-established in Europe. But it will prove an abortive effort. Sclavonic civilization has become a mighty fact — its march is eastward, and the Euxine and the Helles- pont must yet be the center of its life. CHAPTER XVII. Bussia and the Commerce of the East. The determination of Eussia to establish and perfect a manufacturing system of her own, on a scale commensurate with her territorial greatness, and with the other features of her scheme of empire, has for its object not alone the development of her native resources, but the control of at least an imperial share of that Eastern commerce, the exhaustless source from whence the western empires have drawn their wealth and the means of civilization. It is one of the chief features in her national design, and with direct reference to this object, her territorial acquisitions have been made. The importance of this position of her policy will be more clearly perceived, by giving a few moments' attention to the history of this enriching com- merce, and the various channels along which it has flowed in its westward course. At the very outset, it should be distinctly fixed in the mind, that the present ocean routes by which this eastern trade pours round the Cape of Good Hope, and so to the cities of southern and western Europe, is comparatively a modern innovation, the result of improvements in the art of navigation, and that the policy of Eussia contemplates its restoration, in part at least, to the old channels, by which it will be again directed to more northern points, within her IS (209) 210 THE RUSSSIAN EMPIEE. present territories, or those which she hopes yet to gain. And here again we must allow her the credit due to a great conception, though she uses improper methods to attain her ohjeefc. Long hefore England had attained any considerahle importance, and not far from the period of the Norman conquest, Eussia was one of the chief western emporiums of the commerce of Asia, and in the Jieart of her present dominions was a flourishing state, greatly enriched by its manufactures and trade, whose capital city, Nishhei Novo- gorod, contained half a million of inhabitants. Foreign conquest, civil wars, despotic governments, and the change in the direction of the commerce of the Indies by the dis- covery of the Cape route, swept this former prosperity and magnificence away, and for centuries the history of Eussia was a story of confusion, and tyranny, and bloodshed. It is not without reason, then, that the Eussia of to-day fixes her eye and hopes steadily upon the East, and is shap- ing, with persevering effort, all her policy to turn back once more into her bosom those golden streams that en- riched her country almost a thousand years ago. It will be seen, in the course of the investigation, that it is no empty dream which fills the minds of Eussian statesmen, but a stupendous design which she has already brought much nearer to its accomplishment than the western Powers supposed, and which they will find it exceedingly difficult, if not quite impossible, to frustrate. Her outposts already stretch far beyond the Black Sea, into Persia, on her east- ward march, and it does not yet appear how even the united strength of England and France will dislodge her from these eastern possessions with which she is encircling Con- stantinople. From the earliest ages, to which history reaches even witli an uncertain light, it is found that wealth, civilization. THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 211 and power are connected with the commerce of eastern Asia, India, China, and the East Indian Archipelago. Wherever a depot conld be formed for the reception of the precious merchandise of the " far East," there was a mag- nificent center of dominion. From this source Egypt derived much, or most of her enormous wealth. Her upper and lower Capitals were each connected with the Eed Sea and so with India, one hy the celebrated ship canal, portions of whose bed still are visible, and the other by a graded road from Karnac to Kosseir, and their wonderful ruins suificiently attest how Egypt fattened both upon the military and commercial spoils of India and the eastern Islands. Solo- mon with his Indian seaport at Ezion Geber and the Elan- istic Gulf, directed a portion of that commerce by sea toward Jerusalem, while Palmyra, that beautiful miracle of the desert, was created by the trade of the caravans, and the enriching effects upon Judea are graphically described in the Scriptures, where it is said, that iron became as stones, and silver as iron, and gold as silver in the streets of Jerusalem. Again, when this trade was centered upon the eastern shore of the Mediterrarean, it produced Tyre, that ocean queen, and Sidon, scarcely inferior. It was a vast commer- cial idea, and not simply a mad thirst for useless conquest that originated the eastern expedition of Alexander. It was one of the most remarkable conceptions of any man in any age, considering the birth, education and position of the young Macedonian, dying as he did almost in youth, in his thirty-third year. It was the establishment of a mighty empire, with an Eastern capital as its center, to be enriched by the control of the commerce of India. For this purpose he founded Alexandria, and attempted to con- trol all the East. A French writer, from whom a quotation has already 212 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE- been made, bears tbe following testimony to tie sagacity of Alexander: " Alexander opened to Europe the commerce of the Indian seas, and of eastern Africa, by a road which if it was at the present day free and perfected as it ought to be, would cause the way by the Cape of Good Hope to be entirely abandoned." At the same time, Alexander and his successors did not overlook that more northern route upon which Eussia has her eye now fixed, by the Cas- pian and Black Seas, and whose advantages were so long enjoyed. Alexander built cities on the south and east of the Cas- pian, while one of his immediate successors attempted to unite the Black Sea and the Caspian by means of a canal connecting the Eiver Kouban, which empties into the Euxine, with the Kouma, which flows into the Caspian, thus stretching a line of navigation eastward toward India. The idea of Alexander was long and fondly dwelt upon by Napoleon, and gave rise to his expedition into Egypt. He saw that if the East Indian commerce could be diverted from its route by the " stormy Cape," and brought once more along its ancient channels, through the Eed Sea to Egypt, that it would change the seat of the world's wealth and dominion, and restore to their former importance the eastern shores of the Mediterranean. England has under- taken to monopolize this trade, by conquering and holding the very countries where it originates, and while she makes Europe echo with her bitter condemnation of the aggres- sions of Eussia, she seems to forget that the annals of earth do not present a record of a more grasping^ selfish, and cruel policy than that which has marked her course in India. There is no act of ambition or fraud, selfishness or oppression, which Great Britain has ever charged upon Eussia in her acquisitions in Europe and Asia, for the pur- pose of opening a highway to China and northern India, THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. 213 for which impartial history will not find at least a parallel in the manner in which England has sought occasions of quarrel and interference in India, and trampled down the weak and wrested their possessions away, for the purpose of controling this very commerce of which Eussia once enjoyed a part, and which she is now seeking to share with the rest of Europe. The importance of that portion of this trade whicn once poured into Europe hy the Black Sea, must not he forgotten in an estimate of the present course and aims of Eussia. An active commerce between India and the West was car- ried on along this route, in the remotest antiquity to which the light of history has reached. The Phoenicians who are said to have possessed a powerful navy two thousand years before the Christian era, established colonies and built cities both on the Dardanelles and the shores of the Black Sea, which flourished upon the trade of the remote East. The description of the traffic of Tyre, in the twenty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel, shows that horses, mules, slaves, and other articles were brought from the Black Sea and the Caspian, while from thence also, she hired the soldiers by which her walls were defended. The route traversed by those merchants who brought her the silks and spices of China and India is not mentioned, but we should infer from other facts, that the course of a part of this trade was by the Sea of Aral, the Caspian and the Euxine. Troy, at or near the entrance of the Dardanelles, was also an opulent emporium of eastern commerce, whose power is attested by the ten years siege. This city seems to have been attacked because, as Constantinople now does, it commanded the gates of the Black Sea, whose commerce was coveted by the rising and aspiring Greeks ; and thus, many centuries before the coming of Christ, the theater of the present war was the scene of bloody conflicts, whose 214 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. objects were similar to those which have stirred up the strife of modern times — the command of the Euxine and the adjacent waters, with the traffic of the East. The Colchians, at the foot of the Caucasus, having sprung, as is supposed, from an Egyptian colony became greatly enriched by this commerce with China, India and the inter- mediate regions, and their wealth and luxury having attracted the cupidity of the piratical Greeks, gave rise, probably, to the famous Argonautic expedition, in which some of the towns of the Colchians on the Black sea were pillaged. This lucrative commerce was soon after monop- olized by the rising power and maritime superiority of the Greeks, who not only controlled the trade which flowed into the Euxine by its numerous rivers, but extended a line of towns and citadels, or fortified halting places for the cara- vans far eastward toward India. For centuries the high- way from Greece to India lay along the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Sea of Aral, the precise route which Rus- sia is intent upon re-establishing now. About one hundred and fifty years before Christ, the countries on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean con- tended with Eome for the riches of the Black Sea commerce. In this contest Rome was victorious, and the Euxine became a closed sea, a Roman lake, and under Pompey the country was explored toward India for the purpose of extending the commerce by which Asia Minor had been enriched. The civil wars which followed occupied soon after the whole attention of Eome, and when Egypt fell into her hands the old highway to India by the Red Sea was occupied again, and immense Roman fleets, in the time of Augustus passed by the ship canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, on their eastern voyages. But this commerce was burthened by the emperors with excessive duties, and this tended to force it gradually back upon the northern routes toward the Black THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 215 Sea once more. Even at this remote period the iron and furs of Siberia were among the articles of Eoman traffic, the mountains of the Ural then yielding their precious deposits. The importance of the commerce on this northern route to India at this time, may he understood from a single fact. A short time hefore the Christian era, Phasiona, on the river Phasis, was the great mart of eastern trade, and such was its extent that there were one hundred and fifty bridges across the stream to accommodate the business carried on upon its shores. For some time previous to the Christian era, and for several centuries subsequent, the direct trade between China and the West, centering upon the Caspian and Euxine, was exceedingly active and important, and few probably are aware of the extent of the Chinese overland trade which Bussia at the present time eiyoys, and which she is steadily and rapidly increasing. It is a struggle, as is perceived, between the ancient highways of traffic, and the modern new routes from India, which directing the wealth of the Indies upon Western Europe have built up London and Paris, as the eastern marts were reared of old around the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and upon the banks of the Nile. The removal, by Constantine, of the capital of Eome from the Tiber to the Hellespont, formed a new and most advan- tageous center for commercial interchange between the East and the West, and Constantinople soon rose to be the foremost city of the world. To her markets crowded the merchants from China, India, Arabia, Persia and Europe, and her magnificence in consequence was without a rival. The advantages of her admirable position between Europe and Asia, and between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea,were understood and wisely used. . She was, in all senses, the mistress of the East and West, with the single exception 216 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. of tlie spiritual power of Eome. Thus for some centuries she flourished, and then the Arabian power was interposed between her and China and India, and Bagdad and other lesser Arab cities rose on the fruits of this intercepted commerce, and dazzled for a time all the East with their splendor. Constantinople suffered in consequence, but was still, in the twelfth century, the most splendid city of the world. Bagdad alone was worthy to be in any degree compared with the Queen of the Hellespont. But the hatred of the Eoman Church and the ambition of Venice and Genoa to possess themselves of an eastern commerce, directed an army of the crusaders against Con- stantinople which they besieged and plundered, glutting at once religious hatred and commercial ambition, and Venice obtained the control of the Mediterranean and the Black Sea together. She excluded as far as possible Genoa from any participation in her advantages, and monopolized and fattened upon the business of Constantinople. For the possession of this commerce long war was waged between Venice and Genoa, but in the fifteenth century the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, and the discovery by the Portuguese of the new route to India, seaward, by the Cape of Good Hope, changed the whole face of Europe. Commerce deserted its ancient seats on and around the Mediterranean, and planted the centers of future dominion in western Europe, whose cities soon became the depots for the eastern trade. But previous to this, as has been already stated, one great commercial and manufacturing city with half a million of inhabitants had been built up in central Russia where the merchandise of India and China was brought to be dis- tributed through Europe, andJihus centuries before England had any importance, as a manufacturing or maritime nation, THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. 217 Eussia received by the way of the Black Sea, an enriching portion of the traffic of India and China. But in the meantime Eussia was desolated by a Tartar conquest and then by civil strife, ending in a stern, unyield- ing despotism, that for a time not only crippled her energies but threw her back toward barbarism, and during this period tlie Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Dutch and Eng- lish, by their maritime enterprise and skill, had turned into their newly-opened ocean route, the trade of India. When once more Eussia emerged from obscurity, in the time of Peter the Great, the world's great centers of power were altogether changed. Desolation and silence reigned in the once busy marts of the East, the old highways of commerce were all deserted, the Mediterranean fleets and cities had moldered together ; in all the East the Turk ruled only to oppress, and exhaust, and ruin, and ocean fleets were conveying the riches of China, India, and the Eastern Archipelago, to the rapidly advancing cities of southern and western Europe. The Dutch, the French and -the English, were all seek- ing to establish themselves in India, and to obtain control of its commerce, and hold it for their own exclusive beneflt. In this condition of things — the most important and enrich- ing trade of all the world in the hands of the western Powers, which commerce would soon make them the center of power and civilization, as it had already done for all who had previously enjoyed its advantages — Eussia perceived clearly that her only hope of becoming a great nation lay in her recovering for herself a portion of the Eastern com- merce, and that her only route to India and China was the ancient one — by the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Ural. She saw the necessity of producing those commodities which she might exchange for the precious stuffs of the East, and therefore created a manufacturing system of her own, for 19 218 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the douUe purpose of stimulating her own industry, open- ing up her own resources, and to obtain within herself an independent supply of manufactured goods, suitable for the Eastern markets. In connection with this, she set herself earnestly about the construction and securing of her highway to India, with her eye fixed on Constantinople as the spot where ultimately the great emporium of this commerce would be again, as it had been in the centuries past. From this point of obser- vation, the policy and course of England and Eussia can be distinctly perceived, and easily and intelligently compared ; and we shall be able also to judge whether the aggressions of Eussia are worthy of any severer condemnation than those of which Great Britain herself has been guilty, in pursuit of the same general object. The court of St. James and that of St. Petersburgh have equally resolved to possess themselves of the riches of the East. England, throned in the midst of the seas, is forced by her maritime position to choose the sea-ward route, and therefore, having made herself, in a thousand battles, mis- tress of the ocean, she sends her ships to Hindostan. Driving out from thence all rivals, she conceives the idea of subjecting to her exclusive control that immense penin- sula, and with a military occupation of a small tract, she began the execution of her design. Step by step her ad- vances were made, crushing, as she went, the native powers that dared oppose. Here she seized by violence, because she had the power, without the slightest provocation, and there she subverted by fraud. Here she sought occasion of quarrel as a pretext for seizing, and there diflSculties were fomented between th* native princes, that she might become the arbiter, and in each settlement her own territories were enlarged. The lust of conquest has only been stimulated by success THE EUSSIAN BMPIEB. 219 — province after province has passed into her possession,- and the wealth and territory of India have been absorbed together, simply because they were necessary to the great- ness of England. Far away northward, to the Hima- layas, and north-eastward into AfFghanistan, by force, by purchase, by treaty, by subversion, at an expense of millions of lives of the natives, she has stretched her dominion over a country seized solely for purposes of national aggrandise- ment, without reference to the interests or wishes of those she invaded, till now she boasts that one hundred and fifty millions in India acknowledge her sway, while her career of conquest is by no means ended, and each year, and almost each arrival from India, brings news of some fresh accession to her territory. This has been, and is, England's method of securing the commerce of India, and when China refuses to receive the poisonous productions of her Oriental plantations, she compels their purchase at the mouth of her cannon. This is the course of a nation which now arraigns Eussia as the one troubler of the world's peace — the one great aggressor upon the rights of mankind. Turn now to the actual course of the Northern Empire, not to justify it in wrong, but to show how little qualified the other nations of Europe, especially England, are to arraign her before the world. Eussia, like England, desired to share in the trade of northern India and China. Eor her no path was open across the waves but the old highways ; leading from the Euxine eastward, though mostly deserted, might, perhaps, be opened and occupied again. But between her and her goal lay the Tartar and the Turk. The question at once arises, was it more criminal, more heartless and despotic for Eussia to remove these from her path, than for England to sweep away the natives of Hindostan. Great Britain was march- ing northward, conquering and absorbing India as she went ; 220 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Eussia was marching south-eastward, conquering, but also incorporating what she subdued, and making it an integral part of her empire. She has been displacing and incorpo- rating Turkey, while England has been swallowing India, and both for the same purpose, viz : the securing that world- enriching commerce of the East. Eussia has thus advanced to the Crimea, southward to the Danube, northward round the Black Sea, and eastward still to the Caspian, embracing that also in her acquisitions, and now and thus she has enclosed Constantinople in a semi-circular line of her possessions, from the mouths of the Danube, northward and eastward, round to near the neighborhood of Ezeroum and Trebizond. In addition to this, such is her influence with the court of Persia, that her route lies open eastward. In all this, Eussia has invaded no right of England, has touched neither her territory nor her property. She has been endeavoring to open for herself a land route eastward, while England held the sea and was conquering and overrunning India for her own exclusive advantage. Tried by the rules of Christian morality, the course of Eussia can not be defended ; but on the other hand, when compared with the policy of any one of the great nations of Europe, she will scarcely suffer in the comparison. She stands before the world as one among those powers, swayed by the same ambition, and using against others the same means and the same arts which were directed against her- self, and which every strong one was using like herself for the subjugation of the weak. Not to defend or justify the acts of the Eussian court, have these remarks been made, but to expose the hypocrisy of those who, deeply stained as Eussia with the sin of ambition, and selfish and wanton aggression, are now wiping their mouths with an affectation of innocency, and crying out against the Czar THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 221 as if he were the only disturber of the repose of Europe — and where this is done merely as a cover for their own ulti- mate designs. Let England compare her own march from the trading-post of Clive, northward over the subjugated provinces of India, with that of Eussia from Moscow to the Caspian, and she will find little cause for self-congratula- tion. She has established a rule there over one hundred and fifty millions of a down-trodden people, the rule of strong and exacting masters over comparatively weak and defenseless races, that will be crushed out and displaced, not elevated to the position of free and civilized communi- ties, who will neither share the glory nor the prosperity of the nation by which they have been subdued. India is a vast plantation owned by England, and worked exclusively for the benefit of the dominant race. Eussia, on the other hand, instead of conquering and holding in a condition akin to servitude, one hundred and fifty millions, has expanded her population more by growth than by conquest, for fifty millions of the seventy millions that she numbers in all, are of the Eussian family, in addition to which, her Polish population is also of the Scla- vonic race. She has incorporated with herself what she has conquered, nor have they lost by the exchange. By the confession of Poles themselves, Eussian Poland, previous to the last revolt, was better governed and more prosperous than any other portion of that country, and not a province has been wrested from Turkey, but is now in better condi- tion than it was under the rule of the Ottoman. In the partition of Poland England shared by acquiescence, and it should be remembered that by affinity of race that country stands allied with Eussia, and its acquisition is but the initial in a vast design not yet accomplished, but ulti- mately to be executed — the union of all the Sclavonic races under one government, with Eussia at their head. 222 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB* The tendency of this separation and re-union of races in Europe is too clearly marked to be mistaken, and in all probability the Sclaves, the Teutonic and Latin races will in the end be drawn each round its own appropriate center, and pursue a separate career. In her eastern march and aggressions, Eussia has directed herself almost exclusively upon the Ottoman Power, pressing them back into Asia, aa they forced themselves originally into Europe, and drawing around Constantinople the chain of her possessions as they did centuries ago ; and wasting their power now, as they withered up the Empire of the East. May not this be a part of her national mission? There is another circumstance to which allusion should here be made in connection with the aggressions of Eussia upon Turkey. What has been called the traditional policy of the Empire, looking to the conquest of Constantinople, is not a modern dream, nor did it originate in mere lust of dominion. In a religious point of view, Eussia is the daughter of the Greek Church ; Constantinople was her holy city, as Jerusalem was to the Jew, as Eome is to the Eoman Catholic now. It was therefore not without strong abhorrence, that the Eussian people saw the Infidels in pos- session of the chief city of their Mother Church. Eussia felt herself to be the chief defender now left of the G-reek Church, and the design of expelling the Turks from Europe- was formed almost as soon as they had occupied Constantinople, and, as head of the Greek Church, and heir or representative of the Eastern Empire, she has pressed toward Constantinople with a religious ardor like that which sent the Crusaders to the Holy Land. Thus a powerful religious sentiment stimulates the commercial ambition of Eussia. It is now easy to perceive why Eussia rejects the idea of surrendering her supremacy in the Black Sea. It would be to abandon the main object of her national policy, THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 223 it would be to turn back with her hand already touching the goal. The Allies have chosen to make it a struggle for life with Eussia, and they have proposed terms which will never be accepted, unless they can utterly crush her power. It is also a life struggle with them. Should they fail in their attack, no barrier can hereafter be created between her and Constantinople, and a bitterness of feeling has already been most unwisely created, a hatred of races and differing religions, which can scarcely be allayed again. Eussia has been made to understand that this blow has been aimed at her life, and it can never be forgotten. It will arouse her far more in the end than the invasion of Bonaparte. It will lead her to press heavily upon western Europe when- ever she obtains the power, and isolate her from the Latin races completely, and probably forever. But to return to a consideration of the commerce of the East. Eussia aims at the trade of the East Indian Archi- pelago, China, Northern India, Persia, and the countries around the Hellespont, the Euxine and the Caspian. To place herself in communication with the wealth of the East Indian Islands she has stretched her dominions to the Pacific, and along its shore, till she now embraces the mouth and the valley of the Amoor, including a large and fertile prov- ince obtained from China. This river opens up a commercial highway, as has been stated, far westward through north- ern China into Siberia, toward the Ural, whence a railway ia practicable into Europe, toward Moscow and Odessa. Eivera and canals already connect all parts of the Empire with the Euxine and the Caspian, and then a great northern route stretches out before her, by the way of the Sea of Aral, toward Herat and northern India. Already this trade has been nourished into great importance. This will appear by the following statement copied from the May 224 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. nTunber of the Merchants^ MJaga/dne, in an article whose authority can scarcely be questioned : " The Eussian caravans carry the furs of foxes, beavers, castors, of Kamkschatka and of America, coral, clocks, linens, woolen cloths, wool, leather, looking-glasses, glass, etc., and give them to the Chinese in exchange for silk, precious stones, tea, cotton, rice, porcelain, rhubarb, gauze- crape, mourning-crapn, musk, anniseed, silks with threads of gold, velvets, tobacco, sugar candy, preserved ginger, pipes, combs, dolls made of silk and of porcelain. " In the time of Catherine, this business was valued at 20,000,000 of francs, equally divided between the Eussian s and Chinese. The business has constantly progressed ever since, and in 1860 the Eussians exported to China 28,000,000 francs worth of merchandise. The caravans of Kiatka have not alone the privilege of the commerce between China and Eussia ; the independent Tartars carry to Oremherg and Troizkai the provisions which they purchase in India and China. A part of this merchandise, and of that brought by other caravans from Thibet, from India, from Khiva, from Bokhara, from all central Asia, from Persia, from Georgia, from Armenia, arrive at the great fair at Nijnei-Novgorod, at the confluence of the Volga and the Oka, where, it is said 600,000 merchants assemble. To give an idea of the importance of the commerce of Eussia with the difierent countries of Asia, it is sufficient to say that she imports by the Caspian 8,000,000 francs' worth of merchandise, to which must be added about 10,000,000, to represent the productions which she receives by land from the Turkish a,nd Persian provinces. She buys 1 1 6,000,000 francs' worth of Chinese productions, and brings from Bokhara and Tar- tary 76,000,000. Her exports by land to Asia amount to 170,000,000 of francs. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 225 " It would be easy for Kussia to bring all this commerce to the Black Sea, without doing any prejudice to her pro- vinces in the north of Europe. She is doing everything for the accomplishment of this result, and nature has traced the route by which this immense commerce would easily flow into the Euxine. The most considerable rivers in Eussia — the Dnieper, the Dniester, and the Don — empty into this sea; and with them, all the agricultural and manufacturing riches of Eussia would descend into the Euxine, attracted there by the merchant vessels of the maritime nations of southern Europe, of western Asia, and of the north of Africa. In order to prevent any obstacle to this powerful current of commerce, which would bring to the south the productions of the northeast of Europe, the rivers just mentioned were connected with the Baltic and the White Sea by means of a vast system of canalization, conceived and commenced by the genius of Peter the Great. " The Danube alone could bring into the Eussian ports of the Black Sea the commerce of a large part of western Europe ; for the Danube, united to the Ehine by the canal Louis, which puts it in direct communication with Prance, Belgium, and Holland, oSers to commerce the most direct line of communication between Europe and Asia. The Caspian is connected with the Northern Sea by means of an immensely important canal, which joins the Volga to the Meta, a tributary of the Volchov, which falls into the Lake of Ladoa;a. This lake communicates with the Baltic (Gulf of Finland) ; the Volga itself is connected with the Lake of Ladoga by the canal of Tchkvin ; and the canals of Koubensk, and of the north, unite the Caspian with the White Sea. " However great the importance of this net-work of canals in Eussia in Europe, still they do not suffice to carry out but a part of the commercial projects of Peter the 226 THE S0SSIAN EMPIRE. Great. It was still necessary to bring eastern Asia and the Black Sea into communication with the Caspian Sea. Peter, as we have already seen, had traced on a map the plan of a canal between these two seas ; this was no more than the renewal of the project of Seleucus, of which we have spoken in its place. At a later period he decided to join these seas by means of a canal between the Clavlia, a tributary of the Don, and the Kamychenka, a tributary ot the Volga — an enterprise which had been attempted by the Venitians and the Tartars of the Crimea. " There were great diflBculties to overcome before com- pleting this canal, for the Don is higher than the Volga. But Peter undertook to overcome them, and employed an English engineer named Perry, who, after three years labor, was obliged to abandon it to complete fortifications of immediate necessity. Catherine II. caused the enterprise to be carried on for two years ; but the Eavine of Peter the Great, as it is called, is still unfinished. " Now, it is probable a railroad will take the place of a canal. The Black Sea has already become almost a Bussian lake. The Caspian belongs to the Czar, for Persia has lost the right to keep an armed force there, and her communi- cation with the Black Sea becomes at once of the greatest importance to Eussia. Besides, the Caspian receives the Volga, that immense stream which traverses all southern and eastern Eussia, which, by the aid of the Kama — one of its tributaries — is connected with the Ural Mountains, so rich in mines of gold, platina, iron and copper ; also the rich productions of all eastern and central Asia, of Persia, of Armenia, and the neighboring countries, flow into the Caspian by different routes. Now, to carry out the com- mercial views of Eussia, it remains to put the Caspian in direct communication with all central Asia, as far as India and China. Nature had primitively established this THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 227 immense line of communication, by making but one great internal sea of tlie Aral and Caspian. Ever since the ej)Ocli of the separation of these two seas by the vast steppes of Manquischlaks, a communication still existed, if it is true that as late as the tenth or eleventh century of our era the ancient Oxua (Amou Daria) emptied into the Caspian, placing her in a direct communication with the southwest frontiers of China and the north of India ; but in the pre- sent day this river empties into the Aral, but still could, by its numerous tributaries and by caravans, easily bring the productions of Chinese Tartary, of Thibet, of Cashmere, and of India, by Khiva, to the Aral, which receives the Scria Daria (Jaxade), which is the route of an active com- merce, and the best communication with the table-lands of China, Turkistan, southern Russia, and the Black Sea. " From the preceding, it is easy to understand the efforts made by Eussia to get possession of Khiva, which is at the head of the Amou Scria (Oxus). Once mistress of this place, Bokhara would soon see her at her gates, and Kho- kanee, which is near, would become her prey. Then she would at pleasure direct the caravans of China, qf Thibet, and of India. After that, it would be easy to create a communication between the Caspian and the Aral, and the Black Sea would be connected with the extreme East. Inde- pendently of the facilities of communication by water, just mentioned, a prodigious quantity of merchandise would come by caravans from the east to the Black Sea. " In two hundred days, the caravans can make the jour- ney from Chin-Si, on the western frontiei'S of China, to the eastern shores of the Caspian. From there the numerous steamers can easily transport the merchandise to Astrakan. A large part of the commerce of western Persia, of Arme- nia, of Mesopotamia, and other countries bordering on the Tigris and the Euphrates, on the northeast of Asia Minor, 228 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. goes to the Black Sea, and Trebizond is its principal depot. Now, Trebizond is within a few leagues of the Muscovite frontiers. Eussia is preparing to extend herself on the south. She already covets Kurdistan and Armenia, and would like the possession of the Tigris and the Euphrates, so important to her commercial interests ; and in 1829, during the war against the Turks, General Paskiewitch, who was at Ezeroum, had the intention for a moment of taking possession of Bagdad, rendered an important city by its commerce with Egypt, Arabia, India, Turkisfcan, and Persia, and depot of the merchandise from the East which is directed to Syria, Asia Minor, Trebizond, and Constan- tinople. "Kussia, in order to iirmly establish her commercial power, tries, like an immense polypus, to stretch her thou- sand arms over the Eastern world. At the same time, she attempts to naturalize in her provinces all the industrial arts of the West, and has made a real progress, which is easy to be proved, and of which Europe makes too little account. The Czars, in their haughty pride, do not wish to be obliged to have to ask anything from the rest of the world, and profiting by the diiferent climates united ia their vast empire, endeavor to cultivate the productions of every clime. They have no colonies for the production of sugar ; but the provinces of Oral and of Sacalof are covered with immense plantations of beets, from which sugar is manu- factured. Their southern provinces furnish wheat for part of the west ; in 1850 the exportation was enormous. The northern provinces produce prodigious quantities of flax and of hemp. Cotton is cultivated in Georgia, and the country taken from Persia; since 184-5 indigo has been introduced into the Caucasian provinces ; merino sheep, by hundreds of thousands, are all around Moscow, towards the Baltic, and on the shores of the Black Sea — they prosper every THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 229 where, and produce abundantly. Silk is produced in the southern proviuces, and in 1833 the emperor Nicholas caused 4,000,000 of shoots of the mulberry tree to be planted. The gold mines of Asiatic Eussia are very productive, and furnish annually 100,000,000 of francs to the treasury. Finally, the Czars wished to have their wine independently of France, and the Crimea is covered with vineyards." From what has now been presented, the grand commer- cial idea of Eussia will clearly appear. It is certainly second to no conception of modem times, and it ill becomes other nations to accuse her of ignorance and barbarism, when she is working out before the world so vast a problem as the restoration of the commerce of the East, in part at least, to its old highways, that commerce which filled once all the space between the Mediterranean and the Indies with populous cities, and whose ebbing tide left these seats of old dominion to waste and desolation. There is one feature of the operations of Eussia which seems to indicate a design to render her commercial scheme independent of the possession of Constantinople. While the Allies are arrested at Sebastopol, she is exceedingly active in Asia, in the neighborhood of Trebizond and the southeastern extremity of the Black Sea. She evidently intends to possess herself of permanent stations there. With a seaport at that point, and communication with the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf, she would possess a com- mercial line to India and the East which would be entirely independent of Constantinople and the Mediterranean. CHAPTEK XVIII. The Commercial Phase of the Eastern War. <^ There are two aspects in whicli the present war in the East must be regarded, in order to be understood — the commercial and the religious one. England is chiefly influ- enced by commercial considerations, while in France the restless and unscrupulous ambition of the nation has been stimulated for this contest by the leaders of the Papacy. Eussia presents the most formidable obstacle which exists in Europe now, to the reaction which is going on in favor of Komanism, and the attempt is to form a combination of the Latin Powers against Eussia as the representative of the hated Greek Church and Eastern Empire, which combina- tion is to be headed by France hereafter, because Austria is too closely allied by interest to the Czar. When the motives which have led to this war have all been unvailed, it will be seen that it has originated in a design of the Eoman Catholic Church to combine the Western Latin Powers against Eussia, with France as their leader. France has not forgotten that she was once the head of a western emjiire, and the vision of the empire of Charle- magne dazzles the eye of Louis Napoleon, as it did that of his greater uncle, when he put upon his head the iron crown. England, on the other hand, has engaged in this conflict with the cool calculation that by assisting to cripple (230) THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. 231 Kussia she may retain her own supremacy in commerce. Leaving for the present the religious aspects of the war, and the designs of the Papacy, and turning again to its commercial phase, the policy of England may he clearly understood from the statements which have been made in regard to the commerce of the Black Sea and the eastern trade in general. Here it is important to consider a fact which every American ought to know, viz : that in this conflict Eussia is not the aggressor. In a late number of one of the most influential of the English Periodicals is found the following language. The writer is speaking of the proposition made by Nicholas while in England in 1844, to agree upon the manner in which the Turkish question should be settled upon the fall of that empire, an event which he assumed must necessarily be near : " That it would have been most discreditable to England to have made such pact is generally admitted — far more to her indeed than to Nicholas, for the aggressive policy southward was the tradition of his race, and he spoke in the name of growing and expanding Eussia. But we hardly saved our honor in the transaction as it was, for the ministry listened smilingly, and tJie Times wrote hading articles on the sickness of Twrkey. Let this pass. We only meant to say that he (Nicholas) meant no harm to ns, for we can not suppose that the Czar could have ruminated on the distant closing np of Eussia on England, like the iron prison in its last fatal change on the victim of Italian revenge. There is no doubt that we have acted wisely, most wisely, in preferring the alliance of France to his, for France and England are doing ea^h other good every day of their united lives ; but still it is not fair that we should bear his memory any malice, foe rr was we and not he WHO STRUCK the eikst BLOW. He has done nothing to 232 THE RUSSIAN BMPIKE. deserve at our hands unseemly caricatures, or that his death should have been applauded in an English theater." In these few honest sentences there is much food for thought, and many reasons are found why Americans, at least, should hesitate to give credence to the specious decla^* rations that England has been forced into this war, in defense of civilization and humanity, statements which have been made merely to render the war popular, and to excite the people against Eussia, a work which has been so thor- oughly done, that the English people disgraced themselves by savage cheering at the Emperor's death. England having possessed herself, by her maritime superiority, and by her conquest of India, of the commerce of the East, adopted the double policy of securing to herself the advantages she had won, and of excluding if pos- sible other nations from a participation in this lucrative trade. It has been, therefore, one of the chief anxieties to estab- lish, if possible, and hold for her own benefit, a monopoly of the East — and for this purpose her jealous care has been to prevent the re-opening of any of the old highways of that trade whereby it could be diverted from her own marts, or to gain possession of them herself. While the ocean route could remain the only or the main channel between India and Europe, by her ships and her possessions in Hindostan the monopoly of the trade would be hers, and she would rest content. But when the question of estab- lishing other communications arose, England was almost omnipresent to secure herself against a rival. Hence her intrigues in Central America, and her establishment on the Musquito shore, and her projects on the Isthmus of Panama, for ship canals, in order that she might gain possession of the American key to the Indies ; hence, also, her fleet at THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 233 the mouth, of the Nile when Bonaparte was in Egypt threat- ening to re-open and hold for France the old Red Sea route to the East ; which scheme, had it been successful, might have restored to the cities of the Mediterranean their ancient wealth and power ; and hence too, he it remem- hered, her anxieties for the fate of Constantinople. Not sympathy for the Turk, has ever moved the heart of England, but every movement in connection with Turkey has been made with anxious reference to her eastern trade. It is because she has not been contented to share this com- merce with the rest of the world. She has coveted a monopoly of its profits, and has been ready with her fleets and her armies to prevent any other Power of Earth from building for itself a highway to India. She has endeavored to frustrate the United States in Central America ; she suc- ceeded in forcing the French army from Egypt — and she has now determined not only to prevent Eussia from estab- lishing herself at Constantinople, but to wrest from her the control of the Black Sea, and prevent her from occupying the old northern road to the East. Let it not be forgotten here that it is not the conquest of British India at which Russia is aiming, or which she has ever proposed, but to open for herself a commerce with northern Asia by a route of her own ; that she proposes not war on England, but an honorable competition for the trade of Asia ; and this England opposes with a war whose object is to destroy forever all hope of maritime or commer- cial prosperity for Russia, which done she would hold a complete monopoly of the richest commerce of the world, while at the same time the manufactures of Eussia would be ruined, and she would again become dependent on Great Britain. It is now easy to perceive the real policy of England in regard to the proposition made to the British government 20 234 THE EUSSIAN EMPIKB. while Nicholas was in London. He frankly informed Eng- land that the time was near when the Turkish government must inevitably fall, without any external force, that it had no vitality, was in fact already seized by death, and that he desired some friendly understanding with England as to the course to be pursued when that event should come, that all of Europe might not then be embroiled, because other nations would be constrained to abide by the joint decision of England and Russia. It is understood that he proposed that England should occupy Egypt, while the control of Constantinople should he given to Eussia. Simply as a hargain between Russia and Mngland, this surely was not an ungenerous offer for Eussia. The Czar offered to surrender to Great Britain the best of all the inland routes to India, the one which gave wealth and magnificenee to Egypt, and Jerusalem, and Tyre, the one re-opened by the genius of Alexander, the one which she has long coveted, and to secure which she fought the battle of the Nile. It was a proposition which, to all appearance, would have made her supreme in the West, holding as she does, Gibraltar, the Mediterranean key. Nor was it need- ful for her to be anxious in regard to the hostility of France it would seem, with Eussia for her ally. The holy indig- nation which England has so abundantly manifested at this proposition since war was determined on, was by no means aroused when it was first advanced ; on the contray, " the MINISTRY RBCEIVED IT SMILTNGLT " then, and " THE ' TiMES ' WBOTB LEADING ARTICLES UPON THE SICKNESS OE TuRKEY." The offer was taken into friendly consideration, and sym- pathy for Turkey was a rare virtue in England. It is perfectly clear that the Czar had never received the slightest official intimation that his proposal had been unfavorably received, and that his confidential communica- tions with Sir Hamilton Seymour were but the carrying THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 235 out, on his part, of the design which he had heen led to suppose was favorahly received, and even virtually decided upon by the English government. The Eussian Emperor was frank and honorable in his dealings with England, and she, on the other hand, receiving his advances with marked favor, took them into long consideration, pondering in the meantime whether even a better bargain might not be effected in some other quarter, and so soon as she had deci- ded upon a French alliance, endeavored to excite the world against Kussia for proposing that " atrocious " partition of Turkey which the heightened honor of England had so decidedly rejected, though when presented, ministers had looked all smiles and the Times had written leading articles to prove that Turkey was as good as dead, and it was time to determine England's share in the property. England at first was strongly inclined to favor and accept the propo- sition of Nicholas, and did not perceive its wickedness until the newly projected alliance with France. Then the cry was opened upon " barbarous Russia," which was making war upon civilization, which had piratically pro- posed to divide Turkey, and whose advance must now be checked for the salvation of Europe. But this allusion to the smiles of ministers and leading articles in the Times, is by no means the only evidence which shows that the English government was merely playing a part in its affected horror at the proposition of Nicholas, and that so late as 1854, the Czar had every public assurance that his policy was approved, and would be defended by England. A few facts will render this point sufficiently clear, while they place the British government in a most unenviable position, when compared with the straight-forward frank- ness of Nicholas. Since 1844, England had been in possession of the proposal of the Eussian Emperor, without a word of 236 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. disapproval, tacitly consenting. In 1853, when the affairs of the East began to wear a threatening aspect, and when Eussia was assuming a position which showed that she intended to resist the intrigues of France, Lord John Eussell on behalf of the government, wrote as follows to the Czar : " Her Majesty's government are persuaded that no course of policy can be adopted, more wise, more disinter- ested, and more beneficial to Europe than that which his Imperial Majesty has so long followed, and which will ren- der his name more illustrious than that of the most famous sovereigns who have sought immortality by unprovoked conquest and ephemeral glory." In another part of this dispatch are the following remarkable words : " The more the Turkish government adopts the rules of impartial law and equal administration, the less will the Emperor of Eussia find it necessary to apply that exceptional protection, which his Ipaperial Majesty has found so burdensome and inconvenient, though no doubt PRESCRIBED BY DUTY AND SANCTIONED BY TREATY." The admission of Loi-d John Eussell in regard to the cor- rectness of the Eussian interpretation of the treaty of Kainardji, does not stand unsupported even by English testimony. In a history of the Ottoman Empire, forming one of the series of the JSneychpedice Metropolitana, pub- lished in 1854, is the following account of that treaty. " The most fatal condition to the Turkish dominion, and at the same time the most honorable to Eussia, was the recog- nition of the latter Power as Protectress of the Moldavians, the Wallachians, and of the Christians generally in the Sultan's dominions." At the time this sentence was penned, it is evident that the learned authors of that history believed that the claims of Eussia were properly based upon treaty stipulations, THE RUSSIAN EMPIBB. 237 although in a closing chapter, written after the declaration of war, Kussia is denounced for adhering to such an inter- pretation of this treaty, though it was previously admitted to he just, even hy themselves. Here is the important concession made by a British min- ister in 1853, and by British historians, that Kussia was not only right in her demands upon Turkey, but that this right was already secured by treaty, precisely as Eussia declared, and as Turkey, instigated by France, directed — England then testified that the demands of Eussia were just ones, and consequently she was not the aggressor in this war. She was unjustly attacked, through the influence of Papal France, and it is a war in defense of the rights, the territory, the faith, and homes of Eussia. Nicholas in his conferences with Sir George Seymour, in 1853, said, " We must come to some understanding, and this we should do, I am convinced, if I could hold but ten minutes' conver- sation with your ministers. " And remember I do not ask for a treaty or a protocol ; a general understanding is all I require — that, between gentlemen, is sufficient." The English government replied through Lord Clarendon as follows, in March : " The gen- erous confidence exhibited by the Emperor entitles his Imperial Majesty to the most cordial declaration of opinion on the part of her Majesty's government, who are fully aware that in the event of any understanding with reference to future contingencies being expedient, or indeed possible, the word of his Imperial Majesty would be preferable to any convention that could be framed." After the British fleet had been ordered to the Bosphorus, Lord Clarendon informed the Eussian minister that the " British fleet had no hostile designs against Eussia." After the battle of Sinope, the British government informed Eussia, that " measures will le taken for preventing 238 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Turkish ships of war from making descents upon the coast of Russia." In the opening debate of 1854, Lord Aberdeen declared " that be saw nothing to find fault with the memo- randum (containing the proposal of Nicholas), and that be looked upon it with great satisfaction." ' Count Nesselrode, in a letter to the Eussian minister, speaks of " the late con- fidential overtures which Sir H. Seymour has been instructed to make to us" but in the publication of the dispatches by the British government all this was seduously concealed. The whole had been expunged. In the light of such disclosures, how will England con- vince the world that she has not been guilty of treachery to Eussia, while Nicholas was honorably keeping faith with her ? And what shall be thought of her candor or her generosity when at the eleventh hour, while Eussia was relying upon her declarations and her honor, having dis- covered, as she thought, that she might drive a still better bargain by an alliance with France, she deserted the Czar, called upon the world to admire the lofty honor that had rejected the proposals of Eussia, and declared that she was hastening to the defense of Turkey and to protect civiliza- tion against the barbarism of the North. The value of such pretenses can now be estimated at their proper worth, especially when we add to what has been stated already, the late significant declaration of Lord Pal- merston, that England has designs in this war ulterior to the preservation of Turkey. What potent argument in the way either of menace or of larger spoil, was offered at this junction by the French government, that induced the change in English policy, lies hidden among the secrets of diplomacy ; but that there was a sudden change, and that Eussia was deserted and deceived, is too plain to admit of doubt. But it may be asked, what explanation can bo given of THE KUSSIAN EMPIEE. 239 tte course of England, except upon the supposition that she was sincerely indignant at the proposal of Eussia, and that from truly lofty motives she has undertaken this war to defend weak and tottering Turkey against her powerful foe ? First, it is quite clear that she was not indignant when the suggestion was made, nor until shq had deter- mined that an alliance with France would be more valuable than the friendship of Eussia; and second, her policy is more fully explained by another suggestion. England proposes to herself to become the manufacturer for the world, and the chief factor of its commerce. The bearing which any settlement of the " Eastern question " may have upon this main purpose, is the important one in the opinion of English statesmen. At first view the possession of Egypt and the route to India by the Isthmus of Suez, would appear all that Eng- land could desire, controlling, as in that case she would, two main channels to the East. But then a second thought will show that with Eussia holding the Black Sea and Con- stantinople, together with the mouths of the Danube, she might, with the eastern highway by the Caspian and the Aral, soon become a formidable rival both in the east- ern and European markets ; and there would be great danger that Constantinople would absorb much of the trade coming through the Eed Sea. If, therefore, the power of Eussia could be broken in the Euxine, if her influence at Constantinople could be destroyed, and Turkey, as a nomi- nally independent Power, made by the free-trade system a mere dependency, a province of England, it would be far more advantageous than if she should gain Egypt, with Eussia at Constantinople. The interests of Turkey have no more been regarded in this whole transaction by England than by Eussia. Both Powers have thought only of their own advancement. 240 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Another consideration seems to have influenced the English cabinet. France was evidently preparing herself for some new exhibition upon the theater of nations. She was pro- viding herself with a truly formidable navy, and her mili- tary arrangements were upon a scale that were significant of anything rather than unbroken peace. England was made to feel her- inferiority to her old foe, in military strength ; her ablest commanders pointed out the insecurity of her position, should the French Emperor find it necessary to visit her shores in order to give employment to his army ; and the probability of a French invasion was gravely dis- cussed. When, therefore, a French alliance became possible, it was evident that two important objects might be accom- plished : that the fleet and army of Louis Napoleon might be drawn off from English shores and their strength exhausted, or at least employed elsewhere, and that in addition to this securing herself at home, a rival might be crippled or crushed abroad. Although the secrets of cabinet councils are not disclosed, yet the actions of the British government indicate that such were the ruling motives which led to the rejection of the proposal of Nicholas after it had been under consultation since 1844, and the acceptance of the alliance with France. A secondary reason for this choice may probably be found in the fact, that France had already ^at great cost established herself in Africa, and might be dis- posed at some time, if not immediately, to dispute with her the possession of Egypt, while Eussia at Constantinople would be comparatively secure within the closed gates of the Dardanelles. The fear of the English government, that France may hereafter seize Egypt and Syria, was clearly revealed in the late debate in Parliament upon the Turkish loan. One other important fact may have influenced the councils of THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 241 England. An examination of the Eed Sea has shown, it is said, that it is not navigable for large steamers. If this is so, then Egypt will not answer the purpose of England, and she may desire a more northern seaport on the Medi- terranean, which may be connected by railway with the Euphrates and the Persian Gulf. The proposition which the Czar made to the English cabinet is a full disclosure of the main features of his policy. He was willing to surrender all claim to Egypt in behalf of England, and this of itself is conclusive upon one point, that he had no sinister designs upon western Europe, and that he desired simply a position from whence he could safely prosecute his favorite Eastern policy, and establish himself on the road to northern Asia. The right of Kussia to execute her design is, to say the least, quite as clear as that of England to her acquisitions in India, or that of France to those provinces of Africa which she has violently wrested away. But Eussia has not declared war upon Great Britain because she has spoiled the East Indian peninsula, nor upon France because of her conquest of Algiers ; yet these, but lately mortal foes, have allied themselves for an assault on Eussia because she is pursuing a scheme of national aggrandizement which, in its moral character, is certainly no worse than their own. No candid man will deny that the Eussian Emperor was right when he spoke of the dissolution of the Turkish empire as an event not only certain, but near. Nor could any one doubt that when this should occur it would surely convulse all Europe, unless the whole question could be settled by some definite previous arrangement. It is difficult, therefore, to discover anything very atrocious in the frank and open manner in which Nicholas brought the subject to the attention of the British Ministers ; and in his subsequent conversations with Sir H. Seymour, England was certainly treated in an honorable 21 242 THE EUSSSIAN EMPIRE. maBner, whatever may be said of the intentions of either government in regard to Turkey. But let it once be conceded that an unavoidable necessity of making some disposition of Turkish affairs was near at hand, and it will be difficult to show that the course of Nicholas was more open to censure than that of the other Powers who have made themselves parties to this conflict. If it be granted that a radical change was imK^inent in the Ottoman Empire, then it should be remembered that only about one-fourth of the inhabitants of that empire are Turks, and that no less than twelve millions of them are members of the Greek Church, and therefore bound by religious aflanities to Eussia, and inclined toward her also by a common Oriental origin, while between these same Greek Christians and the Eoman Catholic nations of the west, there is cherished an irreconcilable and mutual dislike. To extend the dominion of Eussia over the Turkish Empire, would be to incorporate twelve millions who are already in at least a partial sympathy with her, while with either French or English rule would be introduced a differ- ent race and a different religion — and with France, a religion intensely hostile. These circumstances should all be taken into consideration in explanation of the demands and pur- poses of Eussia. They will show that her pretensions in this Eastern question have at least as reasonable a foundation as those of her western rivals. The idea of a regeneration of the Ottoman Empire, with the Turkish element predomi- nant, is, in the opinion of the best informed in Europe, a mere dream, contrary to every analogy in the history of the world, and in the nature of things impossible. This will be dwelt upon more in detail hereafter. Bui assuming here as true, what will be proved in another chap- ter, that the dominion of the Turk is already virtually THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 243 over, then the twelve millions of Greek Christians will at once be the predominant element in the population, and their natural affinities lead them to Eussia, as the head and defender of the Greek Church. This certainly is the case with all but the higher clergy, who, from personal ambition, would dislike the control of Eussia. It may be safely asserted that an independent state, on the present territory of Turkey, composed of Greek Chris- tians, could not be maintained by all the power of western Europe. France, as a Catholic Power, could maintain no influence there, except by force of arms — the influence of the conqueror over the conquered — and England, as the ally of a Papal Power, has made herself obnoxious to the whole Greek Church, which regards this war as, in fact, a religious quarrel. The attempt to erect within the limits of Turkey an independent Christian state, considering the elements that must compose it, would necessarily end either in its speedy incorporation with Eussia or in a continual war, for the very same reasons which have originated the present struggle. The single fact that fifty millions in the Eussian Empire belong to the Greek rite, and that twelve millions in Tur- key are of the same faith, is sufficient to show how the Eastern question will be finally settled. And to prove that the demands of Eussia are by no means so preposterous and unjust as France and England would have the world believe, let it be supposed that twelve millions of evangelical Pro- testants, allied to the Americans by race and religious faith, were, for the present, held in subjection by five millions of Mexicans, and that this Mexican rule was weak and totter- ing — about to fall — would France or England be allowed to prevent these twelve millions from being incorporated with the United States ? Would this government permit these to be made an independent state even under French or 244 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Englisli dictation, that it might be interposed between us and the West India islands and South America, hold us within such limits as they should prescribe, and so preserve here the balance of power P It is quite evident that there could be but one settlement of such a question. The very existence of this Union would depend upon the continent being freed from any such foreign control. Every American would declare that the free development of this country should go on without let or hindrance from any others, whose only interest in the matter would be that of checking our too rapid advance, and keeping us to their own level of power. If the English cabinet should say, " our transatlantic cousins are becoming too powerful ; they are pressing hard on Mexico, having already absorbed some of her finest provinces ; and they will soon wrest Cuba from Spain, and so obtain control of the West Indian seas ; and they are, moreover, constructing a railway to the Pacific, which may endanger our Eastern trade ; while at the same time they are building up a man- ufacturing system which will render them independent of our workshops, and enable them to meet us in the markets of the world, and we must therefore annihilate their com- merce, blockade their ports, and effectually cripple their power" — this would, it is believed, be analagous to the reasoning which has led to the war of Russia ; and perhaps the illustration would be more complete if, in the case supposed, it should be announced that England had been forced into a war to protect Mexico and Spain, and to save the world in general from the consequences of American aggression. This, it is believed, is not an altogether inaccurate repre- sentation of the commercial phase of the Eastern war. In what has been presented there is no intention or desire to attempt more than a comparative justification of Eussia. THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 245 The idea has simply been to sliow that so far as aggressions upon other nations are concerned, Eussia is no more guilty, to say the least, than her accusers ; that she has not assaulted the western Powers, but that they have attacked her, and on the supposition that Turkey must fall, her Eastern demands are supported by reasons which can not be urged in favor of the course of tho Allies. History wUl record that this war, on the part of Eussia, was one of self-defense. CHAPTER XIX. The Religious Aspect of the Eastern War. The Eussian government treats tMs conflict as a religi- ous one, and declares that it has taken arms in defense of the national religion. The Eussian people evidently helieve this to be true, and the Eussian soldiers are fired with reli- gious enthusiasm and the love of country. These are dangerous elements to cope with, especially when an army thus excited is scientifically directed, and abundantly sup- plied with every weapon of destruction known to modem war. This is suflSciently shown by the wonderful defense of Sebastopol. But it is declared that the Eussian govern- ment has imposed upon the people, and has without cause maddened them with a fanaticism whose only purpose is to stimulate them for the conflict. The idea is contemptuously scouted that the struggle is in any sense to be regarded as a religious war. But not- withstanding these confident assertions, the facts in the case, as they will appear to any candid observer who will view the present in the light thrown over it from the past, will disclose a religious aspect to this contest as clearly marked as its commercial phase, and even more important. Eussia is guilty of no falsehood when she asserts that the war is directed against her national faith. Such are not the motives of England : as stated in the preceding chapter, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 247 she is swayed by commercial considerations almost exclu- sively, holding herself indifferent alike to the Greek Church, Eomanism, or Mohammedanism ; or rather choosing, as she has deliberately avowed, that the power of the Papacy should be revived in Europe under France, than that Eussia should not be humbled. The real character of the war can not be fully under- stood without a careful study of its religious bearings, and of the present religious aspect of Europe, and this investi- gation should include at least the outline of the history of the Greek and Latin Churches. AVhoever undertakes to explain " the Eastern question " without giving a prominent position to the relations of these churches to each other, will only deceive himself and others. It belongs in part to the quar- rel of the Ages between the East and the West. The his- tory and character of the Greek Church are comparatively little known to the mass of the American people. Far removed from the theater of its life, we have had little occasion to study its nature or its movements. With Protestantism and Eomanism only before our eyes, it has scarcely occurred to us that there is still another branch of the original Church which has not only been an important actor in the history of the past, but occupies a prominent place in the present, and must from its numbers and power, influence largely the future. We have, and with good reason, been chiefly interested in the movements of the Eoman Catholic Church, whose emissaries swarm around us, intent here as elsewhere, upon schemes for the overthrow of all power which stands opposed to Eome. We have been fully employed in defending our institutions, our liberties and the faith of our fathers from the Jesuits and priests that fill our land with their intrigues, and little thought has been bestowed upon the Greek Church, and little has been known of it aside from the facts communicated 248 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. by our missionaries, who have come in contact with it at Constantinople and at Athens. These however, are but fragments, and deeply corrupted ones, of the ancient body, while it is the Eussian Church, fifty millions strong, which has taken its place among the great religious Powers of earth, and which is now in real- ity the Greek Church. Its character must be studied not at Constantinople, nor at Athens, but at home ; for the policy of the Russian Church will in the end give direction and character to all. Because there has been persecution at Constantinople and Athens, it is ungenerous and decep- tive to assume that the Russian Church is actuated by a similar spirit, and so endeavor to arouse against her the hatred of the world. Let the Church of Russia be judged by its acts. A majority of readers will probably be better prepared to understand this portion of our subject, if their attention is first directed to some prominent facts in the history of the Greek and Latin Churches, and the Eastern and West- ern Empires. Through these the origin and true character of the war, and the actual position of Russia will more clearly appear. Although the scholar will find here only the most familiar facts, yet it is believed that those who have little leisure for the investigation of such subjects, will derive some benefit from this brief epitome of a por- tion of history. The Church of Christ was for some centuries a united body. From the regions beyond the Euphrates, westward to its utmost limits, in what is now western Europe, it was one undivided whole, its thousands of local churches belong- ing to one communion. Then also, one civil power ruled over all the theater of the old civilization, and its one capi- tal city was Rome. As was perfectly natural, the Bishops of the principal cities in the Roman Empire felt an THE ETJSSIAN EMPIRE. 249 importance proportioned to the positions which, they occu- pied, and the prelates of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome, and Constantinople, were jealous of each other's power, and struggled for the supremacy. The Bishop of Eome, located at the Capital of the Empire, possessed great advantages over his competitors, and soon secured for himself/a proud pre-eminence, though not an undis- puted one, among his jealous rivals. He early asserted for himself the Primacy in the Church, and claimed the distinction of Universal Bishop. The pre- lates of Eome neglected no acts hy which the power of the other Metropolitans of the Empire could he diminished and their own increased. They claimed nothing less than the supreme dominion of the world, and each year brought them nearer to the accomplishment of their purpose. At last, the contest was narrowed down to the Bishops of Eome and Constantinople, which latter city having been made the Capital of the Eoman Empire, by Constantino, soon rivaled and even eclipsed both the splendor and power of Eome. The Eoman Pontiff found himself confronted in the East by a most formidable rival, wielding all those advantages which belong to the metropolis of a great empire, and which Eome had hitherto exclusively enjoyed. The Bishop of Constantinople now naturally hoped to hold himself the position of Universal Pontiff, and boldly asserted his claim to exclusive dominion over the Ohurch. The proud Prelate at Eome, however, was by no means inclined to abate one tittle of his loftiest pretensions. A bitter quarrel between the two ensued, which was handed down to their successors — a contest between the East and the West, between the Latins and the Greek race. The Prelates denounced, and even excommunicated each other, and bitter hatred sprung up and was cherished by the 250 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. contending parties. Disputes of various kinds continually widened the breacli. The genius of Hildebrand conceived for the Eoman Catholic Church that stupendous scheme of universal dominion, hoth over the Church and over the governments of the world, which from his time has shaped the unvary- ing policy of the Papacy, which distinguishes its vast ambition both from the Greek Church and every other body bearing the Christian name, and which directs her every eJGfort, whether in her hour of weakness or of strength, to the subjugation of the world. As a consequence of her settled policy, the Koman Catholic Pontiff never ceased to claim authority over the Bishop of Constantinople, nor abandoned the design of finally subduing his power. It is probably sufficient for the present purpose to state results, without dwelling upon the progress of events. An entire separation was finally produced between the East and the West — between the Greeks and Latins, or Koman Catholics. Constantinople remained the actual capital of the Eoman Empire, and head of the Eastern or Greek Church, while the Pope at Eome was head of the Latin Church, the Church of the West. The Western, or Latin, portion of the Eoman Empire was overrun by the Northern Barbarians, and when out of its ruins several small king- doms sprung up in western Europe, Charlemagne united them all in one empire, of which France was the head. There was then a Greek Empire and a Greek Church, whose chief city was Constantinople, and a western Latin Empire, under the crown of France, and a western Latin church, whose head was the Pope at Eome. The world was divided between the contending interests of the Greeks and Latins. When the countries which now form portions of the Eussian Empire were converted to Christianity, they THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 251 united themselves mainly with the Greek Church, and so from the earliest times, Eussia has been allied by religious sympathies with the East, and as such has been opposed and hated by the Latin Powers and Papal Church. The constant effort of the Pope has been to bring the East into subjection to the power of Eome, and force and fraud have been alike freely employed to extend over Con- stantinople the influence of the Papacy. This hatred of the Greek Church and Empire was carried to such a height, that in the time of the Crusades, the Latin or Eoman Catholic Crusaders turned away from their attempts to recover Jerusalem from the Turks, and besieged, captured and pillaged Constantinople, with the double purpose of centering its Eastern commerce upon the Eoman Catholic cities of the western Mediterranean, and of subjecting the Greek Church to the power of the Pope. From this severe blow Constantinople did not recover. The Eastern Empire had been previously partly spoiled of its provinces — first by the Arabs, and then by the Seljukian Turks ; it grew weaker and weaker, and with the capture of Constantinople by the Ottomans, in 1453, the Greek Empire and Greek Church fell and disappeared together. The fragments of the Greek Church proper now found within the limits of the Turkish Empire are the descend- ants of the remnant which escaped the ferocity of the Mussulman conquerors. For four hundred years, the fiercest foe that Christianity ever encountered has been encamped in Europe on the ruins of the Empire and the Church which he trampled scorn- fully out in tears and blood, filling with cruelty and oppression, and withering up the beauty and fertility of some of the loveliest portions of the earth ; and now, with the shocking barbarities of a thousand years from the time of the rise of Mahommedanism ringing in the ears of all 252 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Christendom — with the blood and tears of millions of mur- dered Christians, victims of Turkish lust and fury, crying unto Grod from that fair but desolated land — American Christians are called upon to pray for the preservation of Turkey, to pray that the devastating deluge of Mohammed- anism might not ebb away from the plains of Europe. But while Constantinople was trodden under foot by the Turks, and the Eastern Empire spoiled, and while the western world was prostrate at the Papal throne, God was nursing a new power in the regions of the unknown North, which was to bring once more the Greek Church, in a most imposing form, upon the world's theater, and open before it another career of greatness. Eussia adopted, from the first, the Greek faith and worship, and of course inherited the Eastern quarrel with the Komish Church, and was cordially hated in return by the Catholic Powers of the West, espe- cially by the Pope. She looked to Constantinople, as the Catholics regarded Eome. There was Eussia's mother Church, and there was her holy city. Prom the time of the conquest of Constan- tinople by the Turks, Eussia meditated their expulsion from Europe, and the regaining of her Holy City, which, like " Holy Moscow," at home, stirred the religious sympar thies of her people. This fact is thus stated in Blackwood's Magazine, for July, 1865: " The close of the reign of Vassili HI. was marked by the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. This event made a great sensation in Eussia. ' Greece,' says Karamsin, ' was a second mother-country to us ; the Eussians always recollected with gratitude that they owed her Christianity, the rudiments of the arts, and many amenities of social life. In the town of Moscow, people spoke of Constantino- ple as in modern Europe they spoke of Paris under Louis THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 253 XIV.' It is among the annalists of that epoch that a remarkable prophecy was found, on the strength of which modern aggression on Turkey appears justifiable both to the church and state of Eussia. The annalist, after mourning over the misfortunes of Constantinople, adds : ' There remains now no orthodox empire but that of the Russians ; we see how the predictions of St. Methodius and St. Leon the Sage are accomplished, who long ago announced that the sons of Ishmael should conquer Byzantium. Perhaps we are destined also to see the accomplishment of that prophecy which promises the Eussiana that they shall triumph over the children of Ishmael, and reign over the seven hills of Constantinople.' It is worth while for us to consider, now that this prophecy, since the taking of Byzantium by the Turks, has become a fixed and ruling idea with the Eussian people, quite as much as that of restoration to Judea is to the Jews. The priests and popes have taken good care to keep it up for their own purposes, as well as those of their masters, the Czars ; and when we take the superstition of this people into consideration, it is easily seen what a pow- erful lever the real or feigned existence of such a prophecy must put into the hands of those whose object it is to move the Muscovite race." This feeling has strengthened with the increasing power of Eussia, and it evinces no unusual degree of national ambition or vanity that now, with fifty millions of Greek Christians within her own dominions, and twelve millions more in Turkey, affiliated to her by a kindred worship, and with a million of soldiers at her disposal, she should regard herself as the proper head of the Greek Church, the defender of its faith, the representative of the Eastern Empire, and as commissioned to recover and to hold Con- stantinople. These facts, though they justify no wrong which Eussia may have committed, yet serve to explain her 254 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. policy, and to show why it is that she seems determined to construct for herself, even over prostrate nations, a highway to Constantinople and the East. The following statement is also quoted from Bhchwood: " Ivan IV. was crowned by the Metropolitan, and saluted by the Byzantine title of Autocrat. Thus it seems that he wished to be recognized as the heir of the defunct Greek sovereignty, and the master de Jure, if not de facto, of Byzantium. These are important facts, because they show that the idea of the acquisition of Turkey does not merely date from the time of Peter, but has been a fixed principle of action with Eussian sovereigns ever since the fall of the Lower Empire. We can not help considering the other encroachments of Eussia on the map of Europe as in a measure incidental, brought about often by an unforeseen concurrence of circumstances, at the same time eagerly caught at by the nation as a means to this one great end, the possession of Constantinople, and the centralization of all "the Eussias and their dependencies in the great capital on the Bosphorus. This has been and is the one definite and distinct object of the ambition of the Czars, the avarice of the courtiers, and the fanaticism of the people. That Eussia or her sovereigns ever had any distinct design of conquering and absorbing the west of Europe we can hardly believe, although such would doubtless be to her a consum- mation devoutly to be wished. For instance, Germany was divided, bribed, and overawed, not with a view to immediate conquest, but with a view to silencing her protest against Eussian aggression ; and here Eussia has fuUy gained her point. Only one thing was wanted — the revival of the old antagonism between England and France, a thing which seemed the easiest of all, but turned out, contrary to all expectation, the most difficult — that Constantinople should be once again the capital of the Eastern world." THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 255 It is only necessary to beai* in mind the character of this ancient quarrel between the East and the West, between the Papacy determined to subjugate the Greek Church, and that Greek Church equally resolved upon self-defense and independence, to comprehend why Eussia would guard with most jealous watchfulness against any interference of the Eoman Catholic Powers witb Turkey, and especially when coming from France, which is now the most powerful, as well as the mostearnest defender of the Papacy in Europe ; France which to gratify the Pope trampled out the Italian Eepublic, and now with a Jesuit as chief adviser of the Emperor, makes war on Eussia in the name of civilization and liberty. The "Eastern question" then resolves itself mainly into the old contest between races and Churches, between the East and the West, between Eussia as representing the Eastern Empire and Greek Church, and the Latin Powers of western Europe, represented in France, to whom, for commercial purposes, England has for the time allied her- self. The immediate struggle previous to the war, was between France and Eussia, on the field of diplomacy at at the court of the Sultan : France, by the aid of the Jesuits was endeavoring to extend the Papal influence over Turkey, and through a Protectorate over one million of Eoman Catholics in the Ottoman empire, to obtain a pretext for interfering with its concerns at some convenient oppor- tunity. It was the old design never abandoned at Eome, of add- ing ultimately Constantinople to its dominions. To carry out this design France originated the strife concerning the Holy Places at Jerusalem, and undertook to repair for Eoman Catholic use a church which had hitherto been claimed by the Greek Church. To effect these purposes some musty claims, which had been sleeping a hundred years were hunted up and revived — by Louis Napoleon — 256 THE BUSSIAN EMPIRE. and in these questions, started by France, for such purposes, the immediate causes of the war may be found. By the custom of several generations the occupation of the Christian churches and other "Holy Places" at Jeru- salem had been divided between the Greek and Latin Churches, but Louis Napoleon by the aid of Catholic priests and Jesuits hunted up some old and neglected treaty stipu- lations which the Ottoman government had once made in favor of the Eoman Catholic Church, and then formally demanded that the "Holy Places" should be controlled strictly according to the letter of the old treaty which had been dragged for the purpose, out of its tomb. To this Eussia objected, and as Protector of the Greek Church demanded that the existing state of things, so long settled by custom, should still continue. Here was the originating point of the diflBculty, the Papal Church search- ing out forgotten records in order to revive its old quarrel with the Greek Church, and manufacture an occasion for interference with the concerns of Turkey. Eussia only asked that the course of several generations should still be pursued without disturbance. This very important point in the history of this war and the Eastern question, should not be forgotten. France, and not Eussia, was the aggressor, and it began as a religious quarrel, precisely as Eussia has declared. It was a collision between the eastern and western (iurches produced by a demand of France, the very nature of which shows every feature of Jesuit intrigue, and that it was designed as an entering wedge of difficulty. Let it be remembered, too, that France had succeeded in obtaining a protectorate over one million of Eoman Catholic subjects of the Porte, the intention of which was of course well understood by Eussia. Austria, also, another Eoman Catholic Power, had obtained from the Turkish government stipulations in THE KUSSIAN EMPIEE. 267 favor of Catholic subjects, while the rights of Eussia in regard to twelve millions of Greek Christians rested on verbal promises and customs, instead of treaty stipulations, excepting, perhaps, the treaty of Kainardji, the meaning of which was in dispute, the validity of which, as interpreted by Russia, had been acknowledged by an English minister, as previously stated. With these evidences of a settled design on the part of the Catholic Powers, and especially France, to secure exclusive advantages for themselves, and with the manifest willing- ness on the part of the Porte to yield to their demands, what was the course of Eussia? No opprobrious epithet has been spared in denouncing her conduct at this point, and French and English talent has been lavishly employed to exhibit her as worthy only of the scorn and hatred of the world. What then are the facts ? In regard to the Holy Places, Eussia simply demanded that no alteration should be made in the existing state of things, which had been peacably acquiesced in for " several generations," according to English authorities. This was so eminently reasonable that Prance did not choose to risk her reputation by refusing, and the question of the Holy Places was thus settled by the abandonment of the claims of the Papacy. But France and Austria had obtained by treaty stipula- tion, the right to a protectorate over the one million of Cath- olics in the Turkish dominions, while the right of Eussia in her protection of twelve millions of Greek Christians rested, with the exception of the disputed treaty, on a tradi- tional privilege, custom, and the verbal promise of the Porte, not upon express treaty, as did those of France. With this Eussia had been satisfied until the designs of the Papal Powers had been disclosed in the matter of the Holy Places, and until it was evident that the Eoman Catholic influence was likely to become the ruling one with the Sultan. 258 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Eassia then asked that the privileges which she had enjoyed, and which rested on custom, and promises, except- ing only the disputed treaty of Kainardji, should now he secured hy formal contract, as those of France had already heen, thus placing her rights on the same footing with the other Powers. She asked for herself no peculiar or exclusive advantages ; she demanded simply that the Greek Christians should he placed on the same condition as other Christian Powers, and that verhal promises and custom should he ratified hy assuming the form of a treaty. It has nowhere heen shown that Eussia demanded any new privileges, anything not previously enjoyed, but she only desired that existing rights should have the solemn sanction of a treaty. This point can not -he too strongly insisted upon, hecause the charge is continually made against Eussia, that after the settlement of the question of the Holy Places, she advanced entirely new pretensions, alike incompatible with the honor of the Porte and the safety of Europe. This has been brought forward on all occasions, to show that Eussia was pre-determined upon a rupture with Turkey, or upon forcing her to accept such terms as would prove her ruin. Let it therefore he remembered that the new demand of Eussia was simply to he secured hy treaty in the rights which she then possessed. She asked nothing which had not been previously granted and secured so far as customary use and verbal promise could avail, but fearing that Jesuit artifice and influence might induce the Ottoman government to change its mind, Nicholas chose to ask the security of a written document, such as the other Powers had already obtained. This request, which history must yet pronounce a most reason- able one, Turkey, advised by France and England, refused. France, England, Turkey, all were willing, perfectly so, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 2S9 to re-affirm existing treaties as Turkey construed them. But all parties were aware that existing treaties while they secured the rights desired h) Roman Catholics, did not in like manner provide for those of the Greek Church. You have our word for it, was the reply of Turkey, and with that you should be satisfied. We agree to place the Greek Christians on the same footing with others. Let us have this in due form of treaty, was the answer of Russia, and we are satisfied. But Turkey refused. We have the authority of the hest English writers for stating that the promises given to Eussia and the rights she enjoyed, did not differ from those of other Powers. " That engagement with Russia did not differ in principle from any similar promise given to any other Power." Such is the language of the Hdinlurgh Review, in speaking of the engagements entered into between the Porte and the European Powers, including Eussia, concerning the Christ- ians in Turkey. Eussia then had claimed nothing unusual, nothing which other Powers did not possess, and nothing which had not been verbally, and as she claimed, by treaty also, conceded to her already, and sanctioned by long use. What then was the point of difficulty so grave, so incapable of removal, as to produce this terrible war ? Once more let it be repeated. Turkey, by the advice of the Allies, refused to give Eussia any formal written legal security for her acknowl- edged rights, when this had already been don§ in regard to other Powers. She was willing to be bound by formal treaty in regard to the one million of Eoman Catholics, when demanded by France and Austria, but she insisted that her unsupported word was enough for Eussia, and the twelve millions of Greek Christians, and in this position she was supported by England and France. They insisted that Eussia should not have a legal and formal right to 260 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. privileges whict all parties acknowledged ; and of course, wlienever Prance could persuade or overawe the Turkish government, they could be denied altogether. It was precisely the case of a man refusing to give any written obligation for a debt which he acknowledges to be just, leaving himself the privilege of repudiating it at his pleasure. No one could blame a creditor, under such cir- cumstances, for endeavoring to secure himself, and history will justify Eussia, first, in believing that Turkey did not intend to fulfill engagements to which she refused to bind herself in due form, and second, for attempting to secure her acknowledged rights — and more especially when every movement showed that France was seeking to make it the occasion either of quarrel or of reviving her supremacy in the councils of Turkey. " If," says the Hdimhurgh Review, " the new demands of Eussia were of a nature to confer upon her in a definite and legal form, rights of Protectorate over the Christian sub- jects of the Porte, they were demands which called for the resistance of Europe." The world will be inclined to ask why? Precisely such rights of Protectorate had already been granted to France in "definite and legal form;" why then should they be refused to Eussia, particularly when for a long time she had enjoyed them without dispute, and " they did not difter in principle" from what had been for- mally secured to others ? If Eussia would be content with a mere " re-affirmatim of existing treaties," France and England would agree to such a note ; but all well knew that this settled nothing, because the very sense insisted upon by Eussia in the treaty of Kainardji, was disputed by France,- and finally by England also, when it suited her convenience, after her marriage with France. Eussia asked only a stipulation confirming her construction of this treaty, but France and THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 261 England refused to admit this construction, and conse- quently this proposal to re-affirm existing treaties was a mere specious device. The clause in the treaty of Kai- nardji is in these words : " The Sublime Porte promises constantly to protect the Christian religion and its churches." This certainly in itself is sufficiently indefinite. But when Turkey, under this general rule, enters into certain specific relations with France and Austria, she fixes thereby her interpetation of the clause, or of her general obliga-- tions to Christian Powers, and Eussia, beyond all dispute, has a right to insist upon a similar interpretation of the rule in her own case. This was her only demand, and this Turkey and the Allies refused. When the blinding vail which diplomatic art has thrown over this transaction, has been removed by time, the world will perceive that Eussia was wronged by Turkey and the Allies, and that her only course was to submit to manifest encroachment, or prepare herself for resistance. But it may be asked, what motive could have influenced France and England to persevere, at the hazard of war, in resist- ing a just demand of Eussia. The explanation is easy, and is given in few words by the Udinburgh Review. " That engagement with Eussia did not differ in principle from any simimilar promise given to any other Power. Greater danger attached to it in her case, from the alliance between the forms of Christianity in Eussia and in Tur- key." This furnishes the key to the whole. Because there were, in the Providence of God, twelve millions of Greek Christians in Turkey who could be influenced by Eussia, and only one million of Eoman Catholics that could be used by France, therefore if Eussia should possess equal rights with other Christian Powers, she would have an advantage 262 THE RUSSIAN BMPIKB. over them all ; and therefore, while Koman Catholic interests must be secured by solemn treaty, Eussia must rely upon the unsupported word of the Porte, a promise which could be repudiated at pleasure. Such, when stripped of all the wrappage of diplomatic mystification, appears to be the real state of the " Eastern question," in which the war originated, a war for which the world will yet hold France and England justly responsible. Eussia saw that she was trifled with, and with reason felt that she was insulted, and she decided upon her course accordingly. In the whole history of earth, it will be diffi- cult to discover an example where the real merits of a case have been more studiously concealed, and western Europe, and perhaps most in America have been led to believe that France and England have been forced, much against their will to enter into this war with Eussia. In one sense this is true. They were forced into a war because Nicholas would not consent, after the intrigue of Prance in regard to the Holy Places, to suffer his acknowledged rights to rest any longer upon the mere word of the Porte, or upon the lan- guage of a disputed treaty, when the similar rights of other Powers were guaranteed in due legal form. They were forced into a war, rather than permit an act of simple and manifest justice toward Eussia. From their own testimony this verdict will assuredly be rendered by history in due time. CHAPTER XX. The Papacy in its oonuection ■with the Eastern Question. " War is going to treak out between pliilosopliy and faith, between politics and religion, between Protestantism and Catholicism ; and the banner raised by France in this gigantic struggle will decide the fate of the world, of the Church, and, above all, of France herself",* This feature of the religious aspect of the Eastern question is one which demands from us, as Americans, our most serious regard. The activity and zeal of the French government in its efforts to obtain a controlling influence at Constantinople for the Eoman Catholic Church, is only a part of a vast design which Eome has conceived for regain- ing her lost ascendancy over the world. She is making one last but mighty effort to place herself at the head of uni- versal dominion. She believes herself able even yet to carry out the design of Hildebrand and the Innocents, and subject all nations to her power once more. Americans should not forget that this claim to rule the world in the name of God, and as his only and proper representative on earth, has never for one moment been abandoned by the Papal Hierarchy, nor has there been an hour in her history, since the days of Gregory °De Custiue'a Russia. (263) 264 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. the Great, when she has not hoth designed and hoped to make it good. On this point, no American should either remain indifferent, or suffer himself to be deceived. The one essential and unvarying claim of the Eoman Catholic Church is, that she is of right and by the appoint-, ment of God himself, not only the one true Church of the earth, but the supreme power of the world; that, as the vicegerent of Jesus Christ on earth she is, in the person of the Pope, the rightful sovereign of all other sovereigns, king of kings, and lord of lords ; that all out of her pale are heathen or heretics ; that all dissenting governments ought, as heretical Powers, to be subdued or exterminated ; that it is her duty to do this whenever and wherever she obtains the power ; that for this end, all means whatever are justifiable in the sight of God, and her steadfast inten- tion is to overthrow every government of earth, whether monarchial or republican, that refuses to submit to her power. The Eoman Catholic Church has never abated one iota of this demand in its widest extent, and she never will She can not surrender the very loftiest of these pretensions without abandoning all. They constitute her life. Without these demands, she would become simply one among relig- ious denominations, or a local, national church, like that of England or Eussia, instead of what she claims now to be — the one only church of God, and, as such, the sovereign of the nations. Nor is it wise to dismiss with an idle sneer either the pretensions or the power of the Eoman Catholic Church, nor blindly rely upon the boasted intelligence of the nineteenth century, nor trust implicitly in the present forms and spirit of Protestant Christianity, as affording a suificient safeguard against the designs of the Papacy, without watchful and earnest effort. Few are now ignorant of the remarkable THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 265 change whicli a few years have wrought in the attitude and spirit of the Romish Church. But a short time has passed since the Pope fled, a fugitive, from his capital, and the hopes of the friends of freedom and of Protestantism were raised to the highest pitch. It was thought that the Papal power was hrokeu forever, and the day of the world's deliverance had come. Yet in how hrief a period was despotism more firmly estahlished in Europe than before, and the very Power that claimed to be the foremost apostle of liberty, crushed out republicanism in Italy, and re-instated the Pope upon his throne. Nor has any thinking man failed to observe how, from that hour, the boldest, the most impious pretensions ever made by the Catholic Church have been revived, and doc- trines which even the Middle Ages could scarcely bear are openly proclaimed and earnestly defended in republican America. A more vigorous life, a more hopeful and aggres- sive spirit, is every where manifested by the Papal Power, and the persecuting hierarchy of the dark ages has sud- denly re-appeared upon the scene, throwing once more over the nations its haughty shadow, breathing defiance, and commanding submission. Her priests and Jesuits are abroad in every land, a mighty band animated by one spirit, and fired with one common hope of victory, and revenge for the long dishonor of their Church ; unscrupulous in the use of means, versed in every wile of diplomacy, and in every art by which the sources of public or private influence are reached, citizens nowhere, with no home, or country, and bound by no feeling of allegiance, except to the Pope and their Church alone, they are making an earnest, world-wide effort for the com- plete subjugation of the nations. The attempt which for years has been made at Jerusalem and Constantinople, 23 266 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. is tut a part, yet a very important one in the general design. The revival of the old quarrel with the Eastern Church, is one step only in a premeditated series of aggressions in the East for the purpose of humbling and crippling Russia, the representative of the Greek Church and empire, and as such, hated and feared. Not from idle curiosity, hut from settled design originating with his Jesuit advisers, did Louis Napoleon search through the forgotten records of two hundred years to find an occasion against the Greek Church, and the means of expelling it from its possessions in Jerusalem, and at the same time of striking a blow at Eussia. It must he understood that national pride, ambition, and commercial interests had also a powerful influence in this movement, but behind all these, and using these as the instruments of their working, were the leaders of the Eomish Church, stirring up national pride and ambition, in order through them to advance the interests of the Papacy. A papal influence procured from the Porte concessions in favor of Catholics, which at the same time it was induced to refuse to Eussia and twelve millions of Greek Christians, leaving them to the hare word of the Turkish governmen-t, while Eoman Catholic rights were solemnly secured by treaty. A Papal influence has secured an alliance between France and England for the crushiag of Eussia, the only formidable foe of the Papacy in Europe, and England has been led so to seek the gratification of her ambition, and to take such measures to secure her commercial supremacy, as will if possible check and limit the power of Eussia, the defender of a rival Church, and thus the whole power of Protestant England has been made available to re-establish the supremacy of the Papacy in Europe. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 267 Disguise all this as we will, these are the facts, and to these conclusions the world ere long must come ; but pos- sibly too late to avert a long train of calamities which now are threatening Europe, if not Protestantism, throughout the world. Every interest of Protestant Christianity and every interest of America, whether commercial, or religious, would be advanced by the defeat of the Allies, and the breaking up of the Anglo-French alliance. Their success would be the triumph of the Papacy in Europe, and in all the East. In England the newly awakened vigor of Eome has been manifested in equally earnest efforts to win back even this Protestant Power to her embrace and control. These attempts and the powerful influence which they have produced upon the English nation, are too well known to be dwelt upon here. Whatever may be said of the soundness of the heart of the English nation, all of which it is hoped, will prove true, the astounding fact is before the world, that England has deliberately chosen a Papal alliance in a war whose origin was a reli- gious one, that in a struggle between the Greek and Latin Churches she has espoused the cause of Rome, and coolly avows that the war, if successful, will strengthen the Papal power in Europe, and that she prefers this to the progress of Russia. She is therefore the ally of the Latin Catholic nations against the Eastern Church and empire. American Protestants may well inquire with some anxiety, what will become of English Protestantism ere this war is over ? In our own country, this new struggle for Papal supremacy is no less earnest than at Constantinople. Armies of for- eign priests and Jesuits are not permitted to roam at will in Russia, fomenting strife, and intriguing against the gov- ernment, and therefore fleets and armies, shot and shell, are employed to cripple her ; while our theory of liberty has been that Americans have not even the right to protect 268 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. themselves or their institutions, lest it should abridge the liberties of those who are endeavoring to subvert them, and therefore the emissaries of a foreign despotism, and mil- lions of emigrants, wherewith they could work, have been directed to our shores — and to them our subjugation has been for the present entrusted. A concerted attack, as carefully planned and as determined as that upon Russia, has been made upon the very life of American institutions. The very basis of American Protestant Eepublicanism, our schools and our Bible — these have been assailed by the combined talent of the Papal leaders here, aided by the whole influence of the Pope and by a liberal supply of funds from Europe. The Jesuits in America and those at Jeru- salem and Constantinople, are working in concert, with one great common end in view — the universal re-establishment of the Papal authority, and a propagandism that shall rule the world. The efforts of the Catholic bishops, priests and Jesuits here, the intrigues in the Sultan's court, and the batteries at Sebastopol, have but one general significance, though distinct commercial interests are connected with the questions in the East. Nor should it be forgotten that the present revived and threatening aspect of the Eoman Cath- olic Church is, according to the view of many intelligent students of prophecy, clearly foretold in the Word of God. They find it stated, as they think, in the prophetic record, that previous to the final destruction of the Papal power, there will be formed a new combination of the west- ern Latin nations in one new western Empire or confederacy, which shall give its full support to the authority of the Pope, as the Empire under Charlemagne once did, and that, possessed once more of the needful power, Eome will again seek to glut herself with Protestant blood. The tendency toward such a result in Europe is certainly sufficiently clear to arrest our earnest attention. Napoleon, we know, THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 269 dreamed of the restoration of a Western Empire, and was crowned with the iron crown of Charlemagne. His ambi- tion also took an Eastern direction, and he meditated upon an Eastern dominion, resting on the commerce of India. Louis Napoleon is at least the heir of his uncle's ambi- tion. France is at this moment the head and leader of the Latin (Catholic) Powers, and under her they are combined against the Greek Church and Eussia in the East, and tending toward a confederacy in the West, which shall bear up the Papal throne. The influence of Eussia over Austria, and her Sclavonic population, unfits her for a Catholic leader, and renders her position uncertain ; while France, with her bayonets at Eome, her Jesuits at Constan- tinople, and her arms at Sebastopol, has prepared herself to be the head of Catholic Empire, while, at the same time, she stands in Africa with her eye upon the East. Still another important aim of this new movement of the Eoman Catholic Church is to retain its ascendancy o\i.'r the western portions of the Sclavonic race. The Bohemians, the Storraks, the Poles and Lithuonians (all Sclavonians), at their conversion to Christianity, attached themselves to the See of Eome ; while the Servians, Bosnians, Bulgarians, and Eussians, (all Sclavonians, also,) united themselves with Constantinople and the Greek Church. The Eussians and Poles are, therefore, of one race but different religions, and the hostility of the Poles to Eussia is stimulated by Catho- lic influence, and were this withdrawn, the ties of race would gradually unite again these now separated branches of the same family. Hence the desire to wrest Poland from Eussia, and prevent this union. Let it be remembered that if Poland is not controlled by Eussia, she will be crushed by the worse despotism of the Papacy. Eoman Catholic civilization curses whatever it touches. Such being the state of Europe, and such the undeniable 270 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. position, hopes, and efforts of the Romish Church, it cer- tainly requires no far-seeing sagacity to understand the interests and dangers of the United States in this momen- tous struggle. Already, half-uttered hut most sigiaificant threats are directed against us, hoth by France and England, and he only deceives himself who supposes that we are secure. Should the Allies succeed in crippling Eussia, there is nothing more certain, in all human events, than that, the Papal power having thus been re-established and strength- ened in Europe, the Catholic Church, excited by success, would seek a quarrel with Protestant America, or in some way attempt to weaken and control us ; and why should not England lend her aid for precisely the same reasons which induce her to join now in an attack on Eussia, to repress the growing power of a manufacturing and commercial rival. No ties of blood and religious affinities will swerve her from the cold grasping pursuit of her interests. CHAPTER XXL The Relation of the Eastern Question to American Missions. The suggestions contained in the last chapter will enable one to perceive how deeply the interests of our Missions in the East are involved in the present struggle. It is much to be regretted that some of the friends of our Eastern Missions should have adopted so heartily the extreme Eng- lish view of the war, without a more calm and deliberate survey of its causes and merits. The strong sympathy which began to be manifested in England in regard to our Turk- ish missions, at the time when Eastern afiairs assumed a serious aspect, was not, perhaps, without its object. An alliance was projected between English and American Christians, which, through the religious press, might pow- erfully influence American feeling, and perhaps be followed by a union, which would bring assistance in an hour of need. England, when preparing for this contest, greatly desired at least the moral support of American sympathy. It is no longer a matter of indifference in Europe to which side American feeling inclines. The influence of the United States, even while remaining neutral, bears heavily, and her indiSerence or coldness toward the Allies in this war, renders it already more difficult to hold the enthusiasm of the people to the effective point, while Eussia is cheered and encouraged by the fact. It accorded, then, with every (271) 272 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. feature of English policy to give a warm approval to American missionary operations in tlie Turkish Empire, and so enlist Christian sympathies on both sides of the water, in favor of the course of the government. Knowing well that these missions are among the most cherished projects of a portion of the American churches, and the great influence which the society that controls them wields over the public mind, an earnest attempt was made by means of these missions to bind the two nations together. England indorsed American efforts with warm approval and promises of assistance, and, on the other hand, the friends and supporters of these missions, in America, were strongly enlisted in favor of England. Nor was this an unnatural feeling. The ties of race, language, and common religion, create necessarily strong sympathies between us and the mother country, and the more earnest Christians in the two nations have become strongly affiliated. Eussia, too, as standing at the head of the Greek Church, was associated in most minds with the persecutions of that Church in Constantinople and Greece, and in proportion as American Christians loved and honored their devoted missionaries, were they disposed to regard Eussia with dislike, and sympathize with the prevailing feeling in England. Americans have failed to give due weight to some very important discriminations which ought to be held steadily in view. The policy of the English government, in regard to this Eastern question, is a matter widely different from the views and feelings of British evangelical Christians in regard to missionary operations in Turkey. The policy of the government may be cold, grasping, and selfish, while individual Christians may cherish feelings wholly right in regard to the evangelization of the East. It does not follow, therefore, that American Christians should indorse THE RUSSIAN BMPIKE. 273 the policj' of the English Cabinet, or respond to copy and circulate the studied detraction of Eussia which loads the British journals, because many English Christians sympa- thize with the cause of American Missions. We ought still to be both just and generous towards Eussia. If English Christians take our position in regard to Missions, it is by no means necessary on this account that we should identify ourselves with the British government in an attack upon Eussia which touches at every point her interests, her reputation, and her life. We are not bound, as an independent nation, having a great stake in this contest, to be controlled by the interests or prejudices of England. As a Christian and neutral nation, we ought at least to hold ourselves aloof from a course which would needlessly alienate the friendship of a powerful people, whose good will, and even assistance, may be valuable to us in times not far remote. When the English government .shall strip the war of its present selfish aspect — when it becomes a contest for Chris- tianity, civilization, and the rights of man — it may become us to espouse her quarrel. But so long as the conflict is carried on merely for commercial supremacy, merely to cripple a rising sister state, lest she might become a pow- erful rival of England, it is diflacult to perceive why it should enlist the sympathies of the American churches, especially when it is more than doubtful whether the success of the Allies would promote, in the end, the cause of American Missions in the East. Again, the Eussian Church is not to be identified with the Gi-eek Church, either in Turkey or Greece. The per- secutions of these latter, whether at Constantinople or Athens, are not to be charged upon Eussia. Indeed, in both cases they have been instigated and aided on by Eoman Catholics, who, true to the interests of their Church, 274 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. endeavor to repress and destroy Protestantism wherever it appears. Jesuit influence has undoubtedly increased the natural hostility of the Greek Church to our missionary cause. But the Church of Eussia must be judged by its own spirit and its own acts. Adopting the Greek form of worship, its points of con- tact are with Protestantism, and not with the Papal Church. It has not shown a persecuting spirit, and all religious denominations are tolerated in Eussia. It does not follow, therefore, that if Eussia were even established at Con- stantinople, she would countenance the intolerant, persecut- ing spirit of the Greek Church in Turkey, nor that she would repress our missionary operations there, unless exasperated by a hostile spirit exhibited towards her in America. Certain as it is that Eussia must exert a largo influence in Eastern affairs — an influence which western Europe can not destroy — it is surely wise not to forfeit her friendship without a cause, nor permit ourselves to indulge in a spirit of hostility and detraction because France and England seem disposed to dest.oy not only the power but the reputation of Eussia. Let it not be forgotten that England already, in this Eastern affair, is compelled to occupy a secondary position, and that if the Eussian counterpoise to France should be removed, English influence at Constantinople may be over- borne, and France and the Papacy may wield the control- ing power ; and where then would our Missions find a protector. A course hostile to Eussia has been pursued by some of the leading religious papers, because it is imagined that the success of the Allies would secure the interests of our Turkish missions, which it is supposed would be endangered by the triumph of Eussia and the fall of the Ottoman Power. Hence the preservation of Turkey is held up to THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. 275 the American mind as the great desideratum for the United States and the world, and we are most earnestly urged to espouse the cause of the Sultan. But the preservation of the Turkish Power is a thought not seriously entertained hy any one of the parties in this great struggle. So far as that idea is still presented in Europe, it is well known to he employed simply as a cover for the real designs of the war. The most candid and ahle of the English Jour- nals already treat the proposed re-vivifying of the decaying hody of the Turkish Empire as impossihle and ahsurd. The Mohammedan dynasty has closed, so far as Europe is concerned. The three woes pronounced against the Christi- anity of the East, and which the West has also shared, have, it may he hoped, run their course. The Arah, the Turk, and the Ottoman ravaged in their turn the fairest portions of Christendom, and glutted their ferocity, and satiated their lust during all their fearful reign. Cruelty at which the soul sickens, outrage and insult which make the ears tingle and the heart hot, have characterized their whole course until their power was hroken, and " christian dog " was the only name vouchsafed to a follower of Jesus, while they dared to use the epithet. Treating the whole Christian race as fit only for slaves, they have murdered and enslaved, and filled their slave-markets and their harems with their victims, until Christian slaves were a drug in the overstocked markets. Naked Christians by thousands have been exposed in the streets of Constanti- nople ; ladies of noble birth made the slaves of the lowest menials ; heads and cars have been piled in pyramids by the gates of the Sultan's palace — an awful avenue through which ambassadors of Christian Powers must walk to an audience with the Sultan. The national ships of Turkey sail into the Golden Horn with the corpses of Christians hanging from every part of their rigging ; the heart-rending 276 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. scenes of Scio being but a specimen of Tarkisb war- fare — a modern example of what was the usual course, when time after time, the beautiful Anatolia was ravaged and crimsoned with the baptism of her children's blood, when -thousands on thousands of the fair wives and daugh- ters of a Christian Empire were subjected to vilest outrage and crowded into slave-markets and harems, their fathers, husbands and brothers murdered, and their children cir- cumcised and trained up to recruit the armies of the Pro- phet. Now, when the loveliest portions of earth have been laid waste, and trodden under foot for ages, robbed at first from Christians, and held by oppression and rapine since, a Power whose deeds have linked its name forever with whatever is ferocious in war or brutal in sensuality, a Power which has been in all its course the most terrible foe that Christianity has yet encountered, we are asked to beseech God that the barbarian encampment may not be broken up in Europe, and that the Eastern Capital, wrested once from the followers of Christ, may not be yielded back, and Christian aid and good wishes and prayers are sought for the sinking standard of Mohammed. Among all the visions of this nineteenth century, the preservation of the Ottoman Empire as a Turkish State, is probably the most absurd, and more especially when indulged by a Christian, with the prophetic record, and his- tory, and the present with its unmistakeable signs all open before him. Like a tree smitten by lightning, the Turkish Empire stands stricken with the evident curse of God, and moldering to its fall. There is no longer in it the power of a life. It is hopeless as the tree blasted to its outmost branch and lowest root. Individuals may, it is to be hoped, yet be won for God, but for Christian missions to lean on the arm of the False Prophet for support, is THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. 277 certainly an anomaly in Christian policy. Moliammedanism like the Papacy is a persecutor by nature, and it can only he restrained by the lack of power to execute its will. It would seem that no Christian should ever forget that the wasted and desolate East was once the fairest portion of Christendom, studded with prosperous cities, the home of a civilization which in wealth and splendor rivaled all that the West has produced, and that for ages a government existed at Constantinople which other States might profi- tably study as a model. Arab, Turk, and Ottoman, have successively ravaged it, not in any just quarrel, nor even with the forms of regular war, but merely as hordes of barbarian robbers rushing forth for slaughter and pillage, and the indulgence of brutal passion, maddened against the Christian name, and in the name of the False Prophet slaughtering and enslaving the followers of Jesus. Their occupation both of Christian Asia and of Europe has been that of an armed invasion ; the cruel and capricious rule of banditti, rather than the government of a regular State, it has been a military encampment foraging upon the sur- rounding regions, drying up the resources of the land, and reducing the population to beggary. Ferocious, cruel, scornful, and intolerant, so long as it had the power to be so with impunity, it has yielded only to force, as Europe has closed around it ; and quiet now, because it dares not attempt to injure, Turkey is suddenly praised for her amiable disposition, and prayers in her behalf, for her preservation as a State, are asked for in Christian lands, because the False Prophet, Christianity's most malignant foe, the persecutor of a thousand years, will now, it is thought, be found the friend and patron of Christian missions. We have been taught to thank God that Charles Martel arrested the tide of invasion in the West, and rolled back the hordes of Mohammedan plunderers, and we are 278 THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. appealed to, and justly on behalf of Poland and her Sobi- eski, because they acted in later times to break the Turkish power ; and who did not rejoice when the Ottomans were compelled to yield their possession of Greece, and take another step backward toward Asia ; and why, therefore, when Eussia is performing a similar work in another quarter, should all Europe cry out against the barbarism of the deed, and rush to arms in defense of this innocent lamb of Turkey ? Had it not been for the power and influ- ence of Eussia, Turkey might have been this day what she once was, the scourge and terror of Europe. Moreover, the sincerity of the sympathy professed in France and Eng- land for Turkey, is easily tested by their policy in the past. Where was this sympathy when Egypt was wrested from the Sultan ? Where was French and English sympathy when their cannon helped to annihilate the Turkish navy at Navarino ? How long is it since the French government threatened to force the passage of the Dardanelles, for some petty object of their own ? Who has occupied Algiers ? Who has cast an eye on Tunis and on Egypt ? And lastly, who but the French and English are treating the Turks now as if they were merely their slaves ? N"ot a drunken French or Eng- lish sailor at Constantinople, if accounts are to be relied upon, but feels at liberty to trample under foot the Turkish rule, and treat their capital as a conquered city. As has been already said, nothing is farther from the mind of any party engaged in this war than the restoration or preser- vation of the Turkish State. Nicholas was frank enough to express his opinion, and a truthful one, concerning the state of that empire, and to declare his purpose. England and France are vailing their ultimate designs by an affected regard for Turkey, by exciting the delusive hope that they are warring for human THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 279 rights, by unmeasured abuse of Russia, and by declaring that they have armed to preserve the civilization of Europe against the barbarism of the North. But the progress of events will ere leng strip this covering vail away, and Americans at least will perceive the true character of the war and the interests which they have at stake. The destruction of the Turkish Empire, then, may be regarded not only as resolved upon by man, but determined by God, as the prophetic records show, and evidently not to be avoided now, for whatever form European influence — or rather dictation — may assume, the Sultan is, from hence- forth, a puppet, the Porte a cypher ; indeed the Ottoman Power may be considered already among the things that were — a nation of the past. The true question, therefore, connected with our American Missions is, whether their interests will be better protected under the control of the Allies than if Eussia should govern the East. Considering the unwise and uncalled for spirit of bitterness and hostility which has been manifested toward Eussia by some of the friends of these Missions, and their evident and cordial sympathy with England, it would not be surprising, should this continue, if the Eussian government should, in retalia- tion, or as a measure of prudence, refuse to favor a Prot- estant Mission in any spot within its dominions. Indeed, how it could safely do otherwise does not clearly appear. It would certainly require a forbearance not often seen to induce a government to cherish a religious influence hostile to its very existence. Self-defense requires a refusal, and such a defense would savor neither of bigotry nor intolerance. Should Eussia establish her power in Turkey, and our Mis- sions be excluded, will it not be because they have leagued themselves, through the policy of leaders at home, with Eussia's deadliest foes, and have thus needlessly become parties in the quarrel ? 280 THE RUSSSIAN EMPIRE. Kussia is disposed to regard America as a friend, and turns toward her for sympathy, and if her friendship is forfeited, it will be by inconsiderate acts of our own. Our Missions might probably have been secure under the protec- tion and with the friendship of Eussia. If they should be, after what has occurred, it will only be because she is more generous than a portion of the American Churches have shown themselves toward her. What, however, will the condition of those Missions be should the Allies hereafter remain masters of the East. Let it be remembered that the religious questions connected with this war are alto- gether of secondary importance with England — that is, with the government. Merely for or against the Greek or Catholic Church — for or against Mohammedanism — Eng- land would never have armed a soldier or fired a gun. Her objects are political and commercial alone ; satisfied, as she herself declares, even if the Papal power is strengthened in Europe, provided Eussia can thereby be crippled. It is then a matter of comparative indiflference with the British government what religious influences control the East, pro- vided ulterior objects can be gained. With France, the case is widely different. In addition to the commercial interests which sway her, she is the recognized champion of the Eoman Catholic Church ; her armies at Eome are the body-guard of the Pope, and her unremitted efforts and intrigues at Constantinople in favor of Papal supremacy in the East, have brought on the pre- sent conflict, and the sacrifice already of half a million of lives. Her infiuence, moreover, in this war, is the control- ing one. England plays a secondary part, and must continue to do so. If Eussia is defeated, the settlement of the Eastern question will be dictated by France; nor wiU England object to whatever France may require or even wish, so far THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 281 as religious interests are concerned. What then would he the fate of Protestant Missions in Turkey, when, through France, the Papal authority is the ruling one at Constanti- nople? The question answers itself. Protestants are endured hy Eome while power is wanting to remove them, and not one moment longer. The idea of preserving American Missions in Turkey, after the success of the Allies, is a dream never to be real- ized. Persecution, whenever she has the power, belongs to the very nature of the Eomish Church ; there is nothing on earth more feared or cordially hated by the Jesuits and Eoman Catholic priests than American Protestantism, and it would be rooted out of Turkey could their power, by the success of France, be established there. More than this, it may be safely affirmed that England would unite with France in preventing the United States from gaining, even through our Missions, an influence in the East, which might threaten, even though remotely, the supremacy of her own commerce. American influence, in any form, would not be encouraged in Turkey, if she were under the sole control of the Western Powers, and they largely influenced or directed by the counsels of the Papacy. Even for our Mis- sions, far more may be hoped from Eussia than the Pope. Bearing in mind the established fact that new and most vigorous efibrts are being made in concert, in Europe, Asia, and America, for the restoration of the supremacy of the Church of Eome, and that in this movement, France is the leading power, has it never eiftered into the minds of those who are exciting fears concerning the persecutions of the Eussian Church, to consider what the fate of twelve mil- lions of Greek Christians in the Turkish Empire will be, when by the success of the Allies the Papal power is estab- lished there, as it is most certain in that case to be. When Eome has it in her power to gratify her hatred, and her love 24 282 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE. of power, together, will she hesitate to do so, especially where an object sought vainly for centuries is at last attained, and when she stands flushed with her victories. Eussia alone now stands between the power of the Papacy and twelve millions of Greek Christians, who abhor Rome, and who could be subdued to her authority only by force. It was truly the right of protection which Nicholas claimed for himself in behalf of these, and it was no unmeaning phrase. He demanded the right to shield twelve millions of his own faith from the intrigues and meditated aggressions of Eome. He knew perfectly the position and policy of the French government, and the designs of the Papal leaders, and had he, under the cir- cumstances, failed to insist upon the demands he made, it would have been a complete surrender of the Greek Church in Turkey, into the hands of France and Rome. Let Americans consider for a single moment some of the results, in a religious point of view, should Eussia be compelled to retire, and yield the control of the East to England and to France. As has been said, the Papal power would be re-es- tablished in Europe in such strength as it has not possessed as yet in modern times, and its policy would also control the East. Protestantism would be on all sides repressed and persecuted, and England in the end would probably be made to repent the work of her own hands, unless she too could be won, a thing not quite impossible, though we may hope improbable. What would shield Ame'rica from danger or actual aggression then ? With an army of Jesuits in her very bosom, hatching treason while they are warmed and cher- ished, in constant correspondence with foes abroad, with a large Catholic population as their instruments here, and England won, paralyzed, or from commercial considerations hostile, as she is to Eussia now, where will the United States THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE. 283 find a friend and ally then, unless it may be in that very Power which, so many are anxious to have us insult and alienate now. Kossuth, from his hatred of Eussia, and from looking at events almost exclusively from the Eevolu- tionary stand-point, contents himself with a partial view of passing events, overlooking the designs and influence of the Papacy. Granting the wonderful sagacity which has char- acterized many of his observations, no intelligent Ameri- can can doubt nevertheless, that the policy which he urges would be a fatal one for our country. American Eepublicanism will never, in all probability, be attacked by Eussia. It is altogether a mistaken view of her course, that she proposes to herself a crusade for the establishment of despotic forms of government. She might be gratified if such forms could be adopted, but not for this is she building fleets and equipping armies. But a Protestant American Eepublic the Papal Power will most assuredly assault whenever an opportunity shall offer. From any ambition of the Eussian Church there is nothing to fear — from the Papacy there is nothing to hope, if it has the ability to destroy. With French armies and influence to support the intrigues of priests and Jesuits, and England holding only a sec- ondary position, as she now does, the voice of her embas- sadors will be less potential hereafter at Constantinople than it has been, if, as has been observed, the Eussian counterbalance to France is removed ; and Sir Stratford De EedcliSe may find himself unable to protect the interests of Protestant missions as he has hitherto done. These points should at least be considered before American Christ- ians engage in a crusade against Eussia. Nothing certainly will be gained for Christianity or civilization if Eussia is held back from the Bosphorus only that the Papal power should be established at Constantinople. 284: THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. The following extract from a small but valuable work on the Greek Church, just published, will not be without its use in showing not only the designs of the Papacy and the intrigues of the Jesuits, but the treatment which Protest- ant Missions would receive, should Eoman Catholic France gain the ascendancy in the East. Let it be hoped that American Christians may be seasonably wise. The author speaks of the Catholic Church as follows : " Their paramount dread has respect to the encroach- ments of Protestant influence in the East. Long ago the Jesuits wrote : ' With regard to the nobles in particular, it is necessary above all things to inculcate on them, making it a case of concience, that they should have no connection with the heretics in Poland or in Lithuania, but on the con- trary faithfully assist the Catholics in eradicating them. This advice is, in our opinion, of the greatest importance, because until the heretics shall be exterminated in our country, no perfect concord and union between the Greek and Catholic Ohurches may be expected to take place in it' We may fairly act on this hint. As Protestants, we are declared to he barriers to the union of Eome and Greece ; let us see to it, that by our activity and prayerfulness we really prove such. Low as the Eastern Church is fallen, let us not leave her to sink into a lower depth, but putting forth a friendly hand, and strengthening the agencies that are already at work in her behalf, let us seek to raise her to those heights of gospel-knowledge, gospel-liberty, and gospel-blessedness, to which she is as yet a stranger." CHAPTER XXII. The Eussian Chnroh. In a religious point of view, the contest in the East lies between the Eussian Church on the one hand, and the Eoman Catholic on the other. The two leading Powers in the conflict head these two great divisions of nominal, if not real Christianity. Protestantism as a religious interest does not as yet enter into the war. England has armed for national aggrandizement, or to speak with greater precision, to prevent what she deems the undue expansion of a rival Power, which might lessen her comparative importance, and perhaps diminish her actual strength. She will not wage war to establish the Protestant religion in the East, much less the American type of Protestantism. If she gains her commercial ends she wQl rest content. The character of the Russian Church then becomes an exceedingly interesting subject of inquiry. Without understanding the nature of that religion which is the faith of fifty millions of Eussians, we can form no correct judgment upon the influence which Eussia would exert upon Turkey and the East, should she gain the ascen- dancy there. If the world is called upon to choose between the Papacy and the Eussian Church, as ruler of the East, we ought to understand the distinctive features of each. As has been already remarked, the Eussian Church though (285) 286 THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. adopting the Greek rite, and constituting indeed the Greek Church of modern times, must not be confounded either ■with the Greek Church in Turkey, or in Greece. The latter have shown a persecuting spirit which the Eussian Church has not manifested. The three divisions doubtless sympathize with each other to a certain degree, but the Church of Eussia will eventually control and give character to the others, unless the Allies succeed in forcing her back and repressing her growth. Many, perhaps most in America, confounding the Greek with the Eussian Church, charge upon the latter the spirit of persecution which assailed our missionaries in Turkey and Greece, and are therefore led to suppose that the Papal Church and that of Eussia are of similar character ; and thousands unjustly imagine that both are equally bigoted, persecuting and corrupt. England endeavors to persuade the world that civilization has less to fear from the Papacy than from the Church of Eussia. This opinion most certainly has no foundation in truth ; but yet it is often expressed. It is important, therefore, for Americans to make themselves acquainted with the facta connected with this question, and form for themselves an independent judgment. With the character of the Eoman Catholic Church, its spirit, its aims, and its doctrines, the United States have been made familiar ; and a nation that has been goaded to an almost universal uprising against its insolent demands, and its plots against Eepublican liberty, will have very little confidence that liberty will be pro- moted through its influence either in Europe or the East. Indeed one of the most cogent reasons why Americans should be sparing of sympathy with the Allies in the present aspect and aims of this war is, that just in proportion as success attends them, will the Papacy be strengthened, and in that exact ratio, also, must the cause of human freedom THE EtJSSIAN EMPIRE. 287 be weakened in Europe, for the Papacy and despotism are natural and inseparable friends and supporters of eacli other. The characteristics of the Eussian Church are less known to the people of the United States. Eussia has not emptied her population by millions upon our shores, nor sought to colonize our territories for religious ends ; and no bands of priests or Jesuits have been ordered on from St. Petersburg as spies upon our proceedings, and to subvert, if possible, our institutions. We lack, then, those means of judging Eussia which are unfortunately so abundant in the case of Eome. Still the doctrines of the Church of Eussia are sufficiently well known, and her practice, history has recorded. It will be found that in essential doctrines there are almost no points of comparison with the errors of Eomanism. As a religious system, the distinction between it and the Papacy is broad and palpable, as a comparative exhibition of their theories will show, and from this com- parison what the nations have to fear from each, may be clearly seen. The Eoman Catholic claims to be the one only true Church — the one universal Church, whose dominion, of right, and by the authority of God, extends over all the world, that there neither is, nor can be, salvation for any without her pale, and that all who reject her authority and refuse her ordinances, are heretics, to be punished whenever and wherever she has the power, and are to be regarded as in rebellion against God. Nor is this a claim to spiritual dominion, or in matters of faith only. She claims, as the vicegerent of Jesus Christ on earth, to wield, in his name, supreme power in all things, and to exercise a rightful control over all governments and rulers of the earth. This involves not only the right, but the duty, to sup- press all Protestant or other states, whether republics or 288 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. monarchies, that refuse submissioa to her will, and this supposed duty she has constantly endeavored to perform, either hy force or intrigue, and hence her unwearied efforts to subvert the government of the United States, her war upon the Bible, her assault upon our schools, her efforts to control the ballot box. Hence, also, her intrigues at Jeru- salem and Constantinople, and the war with Eussia, her mighty European antagonist. These claims are among the essential ones of the Papacy, never abandoned, never even abated. Eeligious toleration is with her a thing unknown. She endures where she must, and cmshes where she can. To establish these claims, to compel the nations to acknowledge her authority as supreme over all things on earth, she has slain fifty millions of people, in war, at the stake, in the dungeons of the Inqui- sition, and by every variety of outrage and torture. Between such a Church, claiming the right of universal dominion, and a mere national establishment like the Church of England, local only in its character and claims, its jurisdiction confined within its territorial limits, there is a distinction broad and essential. The one demands the obedience of the world, of all nations — threatening eternal damnation to all who refuse, and interposing everywhere, and by all means, to enforce its claims, and disturbing thereby the peace of earth. The authority of the other extends over a single people only, and asserts no right to interfere with the conscience or worship of sister states, and no commission from God to subdue to its own faith the sur- rounding nations. The English Church does not pretend that it may right- fully interfere with religious worship in the United States in order to establish here its own rights, even if it had the power. But the I^apal Church not only asserts the right, but endeavors to obtain the power, and declares that it only THE RUSSIAN BMPIEB. 289 waits until the power is gained, and that then religious liberty shall be put down in this country, and the people be compelled to adopt her forms and creed, or be punished at her pleasure as heretics. The Russian Church is simply a national establishment like the English Church ; like that, it is local only, claiming no jurisdiction beyond its own territories — ^no commission from God to exercise uni- versal dominion, and to go forth to bring all nations into subjection to itself, and in the name of God. It claims no right to be the troubler of the world, no authority over governments ; it pretends not to be the ruler of princes, the governor of kingdoms. The claim of the Eussian Church is national only ; that of Eome is universal, and the comparative danger to the world from each is therefore easily estimated. The Eussian Church will be simply co-extensive with the Empire. It will not rule the world, unless Eussia should conquer all nations — a result which no one apprehends. Again, the Eomish Church claims absolute infallibility, claims to speak and decide with the unerring wisdom of God himself, in the language of the Scriptures, " showing " herself " to be God." Such a Church, from the necessity of its nature and demands, must be a persecuting Church. Persecution — the putting down of error — with such a hier- archy assumes the form of duty, and heretics are destroyed for the glory of God and the safety of the world. The Eussian Church makes no such claim and asserts no such power ; it is simply the national religion of Eussia, holding its due position in connection with the civil powers. The Eussian Church wields no such instrument of power and corruption as the Eomish Confessional. No more sub- tle or efficient engine of despotism was ever contrived by wicked ingenuity, than this has proved to be in the hands of the Eoman Catholic Priesthood. 25 290 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. Possessing themselves by this means, not only of the his- tory of human actions, but even of the unuttered thought or desire, and pronouncing judgment upon all in the name of Grod, it lays the immortal soul bound, helpless, and exposed, even to the heart's most secret chambers, at the feet of a fellow creature who has usurped the prerogatives of God. The Church of Kome has in this manner sub- verted the virtue of thousands, who but for her priests might have remained innocent, has destroyed the purity and peace of households, trampling in secret upon the holi- est domestic ties, and has managed to guide the policy of Courts by its knowledge of State secrets obtained at the confessional. It has furnished a power almost sufficient of itself for the control of every nation where it has been established, and is essential to a perfect spiritual despotism. The Church of Eussia teaches the duty of confession, but then this confession may be either specific or general, at the option of the one who confesses ; and consequently, a practice which, as conducted by Kome is almost omnipotent for evil, is in Eussia incapable of being thus perverted, and can neither be used for purposes of corruption or oppression. The Church of Eome has in all places and time opposed with her utmost strength the circulation of the Scriptures among the people, knowing well that despotism is secure only in proportion to the ignorance of those whom it oppresses. Hence its persevering attacks upon the Bible and the free schools of America. Eussia permits the cir- culation of the Word of God among her people, and such was the affinity of the Eussian Church for Protestant prin- ciples and effort, that in the reign of Alexander, a Eussian Bible Society co-operated with the British Association for the printing and distribution of the Scriptures. Nicholas, whose policy was more exclusively national, and vrho seemed to forsee from afar the gathering of that storm of THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. 291 hostility in England and France which, burst with such fury before his death on Russia, evidently feared an influence which he well knew might be used for political purposes, and therefore discouraged and broke off the connection with the British Bible Society, and suspended altogether the work which had been begun. To ascribe this to the intol- erant spirit of the Eussian Church seems altogether a mistake, nor is there any evidence that it originated in any hostility to the circulation of the Scriptures, which has always been allowed. Nicholas was a keen and most sagacious observer of the tendency of the affairs of Europe. He felt the necessity of protecting his country at all points, and he was not willing to expose himself to any peril which might arise from a foreign influence of any sort established within his dominions, and by which the power of the national church might be diminished. Doubt- less he intended to use this national Church for State pur- poses ; and viewed merely in the light of worldly policy, his sagacity has been clearly shown by the result. He was enabled to concentrate the whole religious sentiment of the Empire upon the defense of the nation, the moment he was attacked ; Russia's breastworks of united hearts burning with religious enthusiasm are more impregnable than her granite walls, her frowning artillery, or her sparkling lines of bayonets. A church that favors the circulation of the Bible, however it may be entangled in superstitious observances, holds nevertheless within it a living germ, and there is reason- able hope of its recovery. Again, the Russian Church does not believe in Purgatory, nor in the sale of Indulgences, and consequently does not possess one of the chief means of robbery and delusion so freely and profitably employed by the Church of Rome. Nor does it prescribe celibacy for the clergy, and this of itself presents a feature which 292 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. in comparison with the Eoman Catholic Church, should com- mend it to the world's favorable regard. Language is incapable of describing the wretchedness, and sin, and delu- sion which have been caused in the Papal Church by " for- bidding to marry." It is a mournful characteristic of her apostacy. The Eussian Church is not entirely free from the error, but compared with Eome, it is of small importance. The lower orders of the clergy are all married, while the bishops and the highest officers of the church remain in a state of celibacy. These superior ecclesiastics are derived from the one only order of monks existing in Eussia, which might rather be called the cloistered clergy. The system of monasteries and convents has little or no influence in the Eussian State, for they have no rich endowments, and are merely establishments supported by a revenue from the government ; consequently there can be no such pious rob- bery, no such accumulation of land, or hoarding of millions of treasure, as has been accomplished by the similar estab- lishments in countries governed by Eome. The industry and wealth of the country is not devoured in Eussia by swarms of monks, friars and priests. There are in the Eussian Church two orders of the clergy, one constituting the only order of monks in the Empire, from whose ranks the higher dignitaries of the Church are taken; but these and their establishments being without independent ecclesiastical revenues, have no means of oppressing the people, or of making their power formidable. Women are not allowed to enter nunneries until they are forty years of age ; the men may become monks at the age of thirty ; and thus the Eussian Church has wisely guarded against the corruptions which have stained all the history of Eomanism. The intolerance of the Papacy is not found in the Church THE EtrSSIAH EMPIRE. 293 of Eussia. The Eussian clergy will oflBciate in Protestant houses for worship, and will also permit their own churches to be used by Protestant ministers. They are tolerant toward all other denominations, and do not pretend to con- fine salvation to their own Church. They do not refuse to administer the consolations of religion to dying Protestants, and they permit Protestants to be buried in their ceme- teries. Attempts have been made to represent the Emperor of EuBsia as only an Eastern Pope, to be as truly feared and shunned as the Pope himself at Eome. It would be equally reasonable to excite similar prejudices against the Sovereign of England, who is the head of the English Church, as the Czar is the head of the Church of Eussia. Such are the manifestations which distinguish the Eussian from the Eoman Catholic Church. The difierence is radical and essential. In principle, they are utterly unlike. One aims at a despoJ;ism universal and exclusive. For the attainment of such an end, the whole system has been most cunningly devised, and adhered to with a constancy which has almost insured its success. Its steadfast aim is to rule the world — to subject all nations to its control. Therefore its interference is everywhere felt, its tools and spies are in every land, the disturbers of the world's peace. The Church of Eussia, on the contrary, is the Church of a single nation, having, however, twelve millions in Turkey, and some also in Greece, who are in sympathy with its wor- ship ; and while it is clogged, debased, and hindered by a thousand frivolous and superstitious observances, it has, nevertheless, not one essential element of a spiritual des- potism, and it rejects every great distinctive error of the Eoman Catholic Church. With a creed orthodox in its essential teachings, and with the Word of God circulated 294 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. among the people, it can not be regarded as beyond the reach of reformation. It has a deep, strong hold on the affections of the Russian nation, and as a body rising rapidly to a prominent position among nations, through the swift progress and expansion of the mighty state of which it is the religious basis and life, it is worthy of a careful study and candid judgment. It would reflect no credit upon the generosity or independ- ence of the American people, if, in regard to the Russian Church, we either become the mere echo of English preju- dices or interested statements, or if we fail to make the proper distinction between the Greek Church in Turkey, from which our missionaries have suffered, and the Church of the Russian Empire. A country where the Word of God is circulated, where a tract distribution is carried regularly on, by which four million tracts have been already distributed, should not be treated by Protestants with cold suspicion, much less should American Christians permit the "war interest" in England to excite in them a spirit of hostility against its Church, which evidently might be largely influenced by American friendship. CHAPTER XXIII. The Religious Influence of Russia upon tte East. The observations which have been made upon the Eoman Catholic and Enssian Churches, will naturally suggest the inquiry, what would be the character of the religious influ- ence which Eussia would exert upon the East, should her power be established there ? Before attempting a direct reply to this question, there are some preliminary consid- erations which deserve attention. Americans are yet in a position to weigh candidly the character and claims of Eussia, and they can not fail to perceive that if she were fitted in a religious point of view, to give Christianity to the regions around and to the East of the Hellespont, the Euxine and the Caspian, then in other respects she is better prepared for this mission than any nation of Europe, and unless some great change should occur in European politics, America is the only nation that could co-operate with her in that work. Erom this co-opera- tion we shall of course exclude ourselves, if we needlessly assume a hostile position, and identify ourselves with those who have aimed this blow at her life. In the religious aspect of this question it can not be denied that Eussia has beyond comparison a larger interest in the population of the East than any other Power, and that she wields over them already an influence greatly 296 THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. surpassing that of any other nation. Twelve millions of Greek Christians in Turkey sympathize with her in her faith and general policy, and regard her as their head. The population of Greece is similarly situated, though from position largely under European control. Eussia has stretched the lines of her attachments to the foot of the Caucasus, and fastens them upon a Christian population there. She has commercial relations and polit- ical influence through all Persia and even heyond, in China and northern Asia in general. Her facilities for spreading a Christian civilization through all these vast regions are greater already than those of all the earth beside. She is the only Power of earth that can by expansion incorporate these territories under one government. They would become merely colonial dependencies of France and Eng- land, not integral parts of their home governments. Not so with Eussia. These provinces if annexed to her dominions, would become incorporated with her, a part of herself, as the Louisiana purchase and Texas are now integral parts of the United States. Those countries now ruled by a few millions of Turkish masters, treating the Christian population as a degraded caste, would then be as much a part of Eussia as the provinces around Moscow, and one social, political, and religious structure would be extended over the whole. There are, as has been said, twelve millions of Greek Christians in Turkey, and only one million of Eoman Catholics. Allowing both churches to be on an equal footing in purity and spiritual life (which they are not), which is then in the most favorable position for spreading Christianity in the East? France with her one million of Catholics, and twelve millions of Greeks, who hate and would oppose her, or Eussia with twelve millions to sympathize with and THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. 297 assist her ? This of course is upon the supposition that they could be spiritually prepared to spread the Gospel of Christ. The oriental character of the Russian nation, and the religious affinities which connect her with the Christian population of the East, designate her as the proper agent for recovering that now-wasted land, and making it once more what it was, during the hest days of the Eastern Empire. That the breaches are to he restored, the old highways rebuilt, and prosperity and the Gospel once more revisit western Asia to the expulsion of Mohammedanism and its wasting misrule, the student of prophecy can scarcely doubt, but opinions differ widely as to the agencies which God will probably employ in producing the glorious result. American Christians have fondly hoped that this work has been committed to the American, or at least to Protest- ant missions. Doubtless they have accomplished much. What has been thus done in the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice and Christian enterprise, will not be swept entirely away, whatever changes may occur, and whoever may rule at Constantinople. Still, in any event that now seems possible. Protestantism must enter the East as a protected, and not as a ruling element, because French or Eussian influence will predom- inate, and between these two, as controlling Powers, the choice of the world must lie. If, therefore, some Power should hold the East that would tolerate the presence and efforts of Protestant Christians, it is the utmost that could be expected while political affairs remain unchanged. We know that the Roman Catholic Church knows nothing of toleration, and from France and the Pope there is absolutely nothing to hope. If, therefore, Protestant efforts are to be tolerated at all in these regions, hereafter, it must be through the friendship of Russia, while 298 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. by her the main religious influence will he exerted, whether it be good or evil. It has been already shown that the Eussian Church has yet a living germ, has a little strength. The distinctive errors of the Papacy do not attach to her. She is not what most Protestants believe the Papal Church to be — an apos- tate and aiiti-Christian body. On the other hand, she is far from being what she should be. Her spiritual life and power are overborne and well nigh smothered, by idle or superstitious ceremonies, there is a lack of apprehension of spiritual truth, and ceremony is in great degree substituted for the religion of the heart. But let it be supposed that England, instead of sending against her fleets and armies, instead of joining a Papal crusade, had striven to main- tain the friendly spirit which existed in the time of Alex- ander, when even the government co-operated with the British Bible Society, might we not have seen, ere this, a spiritual revolution begun in Eussia ? Might there not have been an arousing of that Eastern Church by a contact with the life of Protestantism, and a casting aside of dead forms to assume the garments of a living holiness? A tract publication and distribution is even now going on quite actively in Eussia, and these tracts, and the books published and circulated, are of a character to elevate the tone of piety, and quicken and strengthen the spiritual life. There seems to be no bar to the introduction of Prot- estant Christian literature of this description, for it is said that the censorship of the government is exercised in a candid and liberal spirit in regard to this religious effort. Who shall say that important changes might not thus have been wrought ere this in Eussia. Could she not thus have been enlightened, liberalized, advanced in civilization, and prepared, by the reception of THE KTJSSIAN EMPIRE. 299 a new life herself, to spread the Gospel of Jesus tlirougtout the East ? Such a Christian intercourse might have led to a harmonious and righteous settlement of those questions which have since plunged Europe into a terrible coniiict, ■whose end as yet no man can see. And if England by her present policy, has lost this opportunity of doing good to a sister state, and of conferring a precious boon on Europe and the East, why should not America, instead of indulging in needless hostility against Eussia, endeavor rather to cul- tivate with her a friendly alliance, and, as the foremost Protestant nation of earth, strive to infuse, by the help of God, a new life and a new spirit into that mighty people of the North ? Then, should Eussia succeed in establishing herself in Turkey, the American churches may help to pre- pare her to Christianize the East, and share with her the, labor and the honor of the work. Invectives of the most bitter kind have been heaped upon Nicholas, because of the proposition which he made to England. Would there have been more dishonor in accepting that offer, and thereby securing the peace of Europe, than in engaging in this bloody war, in order, not to save, but, in conjunction with France, to obtain the exclusive control of Turkey ? Leaving the question of right, of moral principle to be discussed elsewhere, let it be supposed that England had accepted the offer of the Emperor of Eussia, and that even now the fall of the Turkish Empire were passed, the Czar ruling over Constantinople, and England established in Egypt, with her railroad or ship-canal, or both, across the Isthmus of Suez, opening to Europe once more this old highway to India. At the same time, let it be imagined that Eussia had perfected one Eastward route, by railroad, through Siberia, across her vast mineral regions, to the head of navigation on the Amoor, thus uniting St. Peters- burgh and Moscovr with the Pacific ; and another Asiatic 300 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. highway, ty the Caspian, the Aral, and the connecting waters : would Europe and the world suffer more from this arrangement than from this sanguinary war for much more questionable ends ? Could Eussia, by fi-iendly association with such a Protestant Power as either England or America, be made to sympathise with the spirit of evangelical reli- gion, she could effect more for the recovery of the East than aU Christendom beside. Such an opportunity as was never presented before is now offered to the American government and American churches to cultivate with that power friendly relations, not as against others, but such as are proper to establish with all. Would not this advance the general cause of liberty and religion more than estrangement and a causeless hostility ? CHAPTER XXIV. The Condition of tlie Tiirkish Empire and the Kast, if subjected to France and England. Only about one-fourth part of tlie population of the Ottoman Empire are Turks, and these as masters, hold the remaining three-fourths in subjection, treating them as an inferior caste, just in proportion as they are not restrained by a fear of European Powers. A very large proportion of this subject class, perhaps fourteen millions, bear the Christian name. This fact alone would be suffici- ent to show that the days of Turkish domination are num- bered. These millions of Christians could not be compelled much longer to endure the broken yoke of the Musselman, and the Emperor of Eussia only presented a most obvious fact to the English Cabinet, when he intimated that it would be wise to make some proper provision for the approaching change. It is now however urged, both in England and by those who sympathize with England here, that although the power of the Sultan may be annihilated and Turkey proper disappear, stiU on the territory of the Porte, a Christian State may be established, which, under the protection of the Western Powers, may give a Christian civilization to the East, while barbarism and oppression would be the result of the occupation of Eussia. Thus it (301) 302 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. is declared that this war is one of Christian civilization against the harharous fanaticism of the North. This opinion sways many Christian minds in this country, who dream of free Christian States, perhaps Eepuhlics, dotting all the East, under the protection of England. It is not very difficult, certainly not impossible, to form an opinion of what the result of French and English domi- nion would be if extended over the East. Their position and wants, together with their past conduct and present policy, surely afford the data for an accurate judgment of the future. No one certainly is credulous enough to suppose that either of these Powers is carrying on war merely to deliver the oppressed, or to promote in any way the general wel- fare of mankind, unless at the same time their own inter- ests are in some way to be advanced, or their own ambition to be gratified. To build upon Eastern soil such a nation or nations as France and England now are, rivals of them- selves in wealth, civilization and power, to restore in short, to the East, its old prosperity, and infuse an independent life into States to be erected there : this is not in all their thoughts. Nay, more, such a result is not only contrary to every feature of their policy, but for no purpose would both Eng- land and France put their fleets and armies in motion sooner, than to forbid and prevent the interposition between themselves and eastern and northern Asia, of powerful and independent States. Such a nation as the United States, if one could arise there, would be attacked by the western Powers, for far more urgent reasons than have moved them to the war on Eussia. In order to predict the results of French and English rule in these regions, it is only neces- sary to study these governments as they are, and in the light of their history. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 303 In the very outset of such an investigation, a fact is pre- sented whose importance settles all. Neither France nor England can hold any territory outside of their present home limits except as colonial dependencies, and this deter- mines of course the policy of the government in regard to them. Neither of these Powers desire, or would ever permit independent, self-developing communities in the East, but dependencies only, in fact if TWt in form, from which tribute could be in some manner gathered for the government and country at home. The object of these now Allied Powers is to manufacture for all other nations, and to control for themselves the commerce of the world. What they require then is raw material for their mills, and markets for their products. Let it be remembered, that the rule of France or Eng- land over the East must be essentially that of a foreign Power, whatever the relation might be. There are no affinities of race or religion which might produce or cement a union, but, on the contrary, there are violent antipathies, especially in regard to France, which are not to be removed, or even controlled, except by the arm of power. The con- nection between races thus politically united can be of one kind only — that of masters and dependents. In similar cases, then, what have been the results ? What is the effect of English dominion upon the one hundred and fifty millions which she governs in the East already ? Turkey and the adjacent regions may learn a lesson from British India. From the Merchant's Magazine, than which there is no better authority, either here or in Europe, the following statistical information has been derived, which will show how India stands related to Great Britain, and how she is affected by her rule : " During the last fifteen years, there has been accruing from this effeminate people the vast sum of £340,760,000, 304 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. of whicli sum but £5,000,000 have beeu spent in pub- lic improvements. Its revenue in India is twenty-seven millions pounds, of whieli but sixty thousand pounds are spent for the education of children. Its military expendi- tures, in 1839, were eight millions pounds ; in 1852, twelve millions pounds, or about forty-six per cent, of the whole revenue. The taxes on the lands amount to twelve mil- lions pounds annually, averaging from sixty to ninety per cent, of the whole production of the soil. Wages of a laborer from six to eight cents a day. Salt is not allowed to be manufactured, and every pound consumed pays tAree- fourihs of a fenny, tax." In addition to other articles, India can produce more opium than Europe consumes, and therefore England sends a fleet and army to China, and says, " You must buy from me so much opium each year, or I shall lay your commercial towns in ashes." China replied that this poison was ruining her subjects, body and soul, and that she had no need of opium, indeed, would be in every respect happier and more pros- perous without it. England's answer was, " I must realize a certain sum from my opium ; it can not be done unless you buy, and buy you must. Here am I, with shotted guns and matches lighted." This is a sample of the colonial policy of England, and this is the prosperity and civilization which she confers upon her present possessions in the East. Such, modified only by circumstances, is the governmental scheme for colonies. Colonial policy, as a whole, may be regarded as a system designed to convey to the coffers of the home or ruling country the largest possible amount of treasure, with the least possible expenditure. England needs colonies to raise her raw material and grain for her workmen, and for these ehe wishes to pay with her manufactured products, at prices secured by a monopoly of the trade. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 303 This would be the governing principle of her policy, as well as of France, if they should gain control of Turkey, and the regions around the Euxine and the Caspian. It would be there, as in India, a system of oppression and exhausting demands. These countries would be allowed to produce nothing which could be supplied by the ruling race. Turkey would possess neither manufactures nor an inde- pendent commerce, and consequently neither a high state of civilization nor wealth. She would be confined to agri- cultural labor, with wages at the minimum rate, to be paid for by inferior goods at such prices as can be maintained where competition is not allowed. Even now, England absorbs thirty-seven per cent, of the whole commerce of Turkey, and she derives from thence one fourth part of all the grain that is imported for her operatives. Hence her anxiety concerning the occupancy of the Danubian pro- vinces. The term colonial policy is used here because, as has been stated already, whatever external political form the relation between the East and western Powers might assume, it would be virtually one of colonial dependency, because this is absolutely required by the commercial interests involved. Lamartine has declared that England would sacrifice all Europe to her commerce, and the remark finds its reason in her history. If any are disposed to believe that India should not be cited as a fair example of her policy, let him consult our own colonial history, and observe the systematic and oppressive course pursued by the Mother country to repress manufactures and commerce here, loading us with restrictions and prohibitions, and discouraging every descrip- tion of industrial efl:brt which looked either to independent existence, or to the production of anything which England could make or buy for us with her goods, and grasping the 26 306 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. profits of our carrying trade by compelling a re-shipment in England of our exports to foreign countries. What an able writer has said in regard to France and her relations to the East, her designs upon Turkey, illustrates with entire accuracy the policy of these western Powers. Having stated that up to 1842, France desired the decay and dis- memherment of Turkey, he proceeds : " The question recurs, Why has she changed her policy, and why to-day does she help to rivet the chains by which twelve naillions of Christians are made the slaves of a single Turk ? We answer at once, it is not the holy principles of justice, honor, and right, but the desire of commercial supremacy that leads her to attempt to stifle the cry of millions for the blessings of civilization, manufactures and commerce. " To prove this, let us examine the nature of the trade with Turkey, and also its amount. By these tables (the details are omitted here) it will be seen at once that the trade of Turkey gives employment to a ninth part of the mercantile marine of France"; that it consumes her manu- factures to the amount of twenty-seven millions francs, and above all, furnishes her with a raw commodity that is the basis of her manufactures, and upon the supply of which depends the prosperity of her cities and people. In addi- tion to this, the increase of her manufactures is diminish- ing her capability of producing grain enough to feed them, and the failure of a single crop of grain might precipitate the nation into a revolution. " The care of its present rulers, who are never too firmly seated, is to provide labor and food for the people. Now, the raw material and provisions must come from countries where manufactures have no hold, and all are producers. Prior to 1830, and even to 1840, Eussia was one of the nations which could supply her, and in all probabitity would THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 307 for years to come, to any extent in case of emergency. But Russia prohibited her manufactures in order to encourage her own, and a single stroke of the Czar's pen could drive her peasants into rebellion." Here, let it be remarked, is the true cause of this war, aside from its religious features and the Papal ambition. Eussia had been to England and France only as a huge agricultural colony, supplying them with grain and raw- commodities, and receiving in return their goods. Tired of this dependent life, which the Eussian statesmen, and more especially the comprehensive mind of Nicholas saw, could never result in a real civilization, it was determined to build up for Eussia a manufacturing and commercial system of her own. If she succeeds, she will not only consume her own raw commodities and her grain at home, but with her manufac- tures she will meet France and England in the markets of the world. To prevent this independent growth, to repress the expanding life and civilization of a sister nation, France and England have taken up arms. It is a war whose design is to hold Eussia in a dependent and semi-barbarous state, as a mere producer of raw commodities, and Eussia is fighting for independence and the right of self-develop- ment ; while Jesuitism has taken advantage of commercial interests to involve the world, and crush if possible the great rival of the Papacy. The writer already quoted goes on to say : " Turkey alone could be made to subserve her ends. She would receive her manufactures at three per cent., and pay for them in that raw commodity so necessary to France, and then in addition to this, the rich fields of Moldavia and Wallachia were loaded with grain waiting to be borne to a hungry people. As Lebartinu remarks, Turkey ia a necessity to the existence of France. 308 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. " Let civilization with its magic power once be felt upon her soil, and a Christian population would make the whole nation resound with the sound of industry and manufac- tures ; she would become the consumer of her own products and raw material, and as a direct result, diminish the power of France." Speaking of the present war he proceeds as follows, it would be well if every American would listen to his words : " The war they (the Allies) are now waging is not to save Turkey, but to cripple and destroy the commercial prosperity of Eussia. They have combined to set bounds to the progress of a nation that first opened to them and their merchant-fleets the whole commerce of the Black Sea, and which poured out the blood of her children like water in order to wring from the barbarous Turk that great boon to trade and commerce. Both are leagued together that they may monopolize the commerce of Europe and destroy the com- merce and manufactures of Eussia. If they succeed in this case to whom, let us inquire, will they next prescribe the limits of thpir possessions and the amount of their trade ? Who appointed them to set limits to the progress of nations and the amount of their commerce ? Por we must never forget that if France and England possess the right to set bounds to the expansion of Eussia, they possess also the same right in regard to us. Are we told that they are warring to preserve the integrity of an Empire ? " Wlio but these Powers robbed Turkey of Greece, and threatened by force of arms to prevent Eussia from aiding the Sultan in bringing Mohammed Ali under subjection, and thus save a flourishing State to the Empire ? Hear the official organ of the British government upon this topic of the integrity of Turkey : ' To maintain the integrity of the Ottoman Empire in the sense sometimes attributed to the phrase, can never be a political duty, for the simple THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. 309 reason that it is a political impossibility. Europe has heen maintaining this fabric for nearly a century ; and how has it been maintained ? " ' Half its dominions have been lost. Algiers, Egypt, Greece, the Archipelago, and Bessarabia, were once portions of the Ottoman Empire. To what governments do they pertain now? What jvxlice did Turkey receive at the hands of Europe when the Porte was excluded from the provisions of 1815? when the Greek insurgents were protected by the Allies against their legitimate mother ? when the Sultan was compelled by the five Powers not only to pardon a rebellious vassal that had threatened the very throne of Ottoman, but to confirm this rebel in the heredi- tary possession of his Pachalic? In every instance of intervention which has occurred since the decline of the Turkish Empire, the interposing States have enforced con- clusions theoretically irreconcilable with the rights of an independent monarchy. Nor could it possibly be otherwise. " ' The plain truth is that a dominion so universally ruinous and unnatural could not really be maintained in its integ- rity ; nor can all the Powers of Europe do more than miti- gate the successive symptoms of decay, and avert "hj prvdmt concert the connequences of a violent catastrophe.' Such is the testimony of an organ that controls the public opinion of England, and speaks the sentiments of its ministry." This was its language while England was considering the proposition of Nicholas, ere it was thought that a more profitable connection could be formed with France, and while England thought equally with the Emperor of Eussia, that the consequences of the sudden fall of Turkey ought to be averted by "prudent concert," the very course Nicholas proposed. "What," continues this writer, "was the declaration afterward? They asserted that they were sick of talking 310 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. about upholding Turkey, and they were warring against Eussia to prevent her from reaching the Bosphorus. At- tempt to disguise the fact as we may, it is a war in behalf of barbarism, at the expense of civilization, and incited by a nation that has robbed India of every right she ever pos- sessed, destroyed her manufactures, starved her people, and plundered her treasures ; the other power robbed Algiers from the Empire, obtained by means of fraud its ablest defender, and to crown their claim to honor, burned in caves the men who dared to defend their native soil. [The man who was guilty of that savage act is now commander-in- chief of the armies of France and Mngland, Pellissier.J These are the powers that set themselves up as the dispen- sers of justice to oppressed European Empires. Both arm to prevent Eussia from occupying a principality ; but they uttered not a single whisper when she absorbed a whole nation. But Poland did not border on the Mediterranean. " When France occupied Algiers, she said it was but a counterpoise to England's Malta. Now, the two Powers combine to forever exclude Eussia from that sea to which she has the same right as they. The entente cordiale exist- ing between them is dangerous to every commercial nation ; for it is based upon an understanding that no nation that they consider capable of being their rival in commerce and trade shall extend its power beyond the limits they fix. To-day the United States may feel indifferent as to the result of the contest, but it affects our own security and prosperity as a commercial nation. Let us remember that for years England claimed the right to exclude us from the East India trade. But she then lacked allies. To-day we have obtained a foothold for our manufactures even in Per- sia, where she sends yearly a million pounds worth. If she can check Eussia in her march to the ocean, then she can THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 311 summon us to leave the Persian Gulf, for now she has an ally as grasping as herself. " She can impress our seamen and search our vessels, for she has declared, by her agent, and that lately, since this war commenced, that while she assented to the declaration of Denmark's and Sweden's neutrality, she did not relin- quish her right of search, nor retract her former definition as to the rights of neutrals. [These demands caused the war of 1812.] No American can be indifferent to the result of this war. It affects us as an expansive, acquiring and commercial people ; it afiects us as a liberty-loving and independent nation ; for if it succeeds in drying up the streams of a mighty nation's manufactures and trade, it will check in it the development of civilization, the intelli- gence of the masses, and their approach to independence." No more truthful words than these have been spoken in America even, concerning this selfish and ungenerous war. How plain, in this light, appears Lord Clarendon's declara- tion, that the Alliance between France and England was intended to control the affairs of both hemispheres ; how significant the threats borne occasionally from France and England, that fleets shall winter in the West Indian seas, and that any vagaries of ours will be duly corrected, such as a disposition to possess ourselves of Cuba, or any other scheme not approved of by the self-appointed regulating Powers. Before dismissing this part of the subject, it may not be amiss to add to what has already been said concerning the preservation of the Turkish Empire, the opinion of the Edinhurgh Review, in 1836, before opinions and policy had been warped by a French Alliance : " Our fears and jealousies of Kussia have been stimulated beyond the reasonable pitch, [nineteen years ago,] while in order to afford an imaginary counterpoise, we have been 312 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. called upon to exert our utmost energies in preserving the Turkisli Empire. To encourage us in so Quixotic an enterprise, every effort has been made to paint the Turks aa employed in throwing off the weight of centuries of bigotry and mismanagement, and ready to assist us ably and zeal- ously by reforming their institutions. " We can not hesitate to express our conviction that of all delusions, it is one of the greatest to expect that the Turkish Empire can or will be long maintained in its pre- sent shape, bolstered up, as it is, by foreign support." Now, England calls on all the world to execrate the name and memory of Nicholas, because, in 1844, he made the same declaration to England, and invited her, as a matter of precaution, to provide for the result — a suggestion which she then received with smiles, and did not reject until 1853. The Review, of 1836, proceeds as follows: "History offers no one instance of an Empire which, after its strength and sinews have moldered away, has recovered them again by the mere quiet process of internal improvement. Nor need we stop to show how absolute a barrier the Moham- medan religion presents between the Turks and European civilization; how utterly impossible it is for a state not Christian to enter on equal terms into the civil common- wealth of Christendom. But apart from such general considerations, no one who has seriously observed the national character and peculiar policy of the Turks can imagine the possibility of an Empire possessed of European strength and concentration, composed of them alone or in conjunction with subject nations. They do not build, but destroy. They show no wish to adorn the soil which they inhabit, or connect in any way the existence of the present generation with posterity. Their object in this world seems to be mere animal exist- ence, as completely as that of the beasts of the field." THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 313 From what Las been presented, two conclusions seem to be inevitable : first, that the Turkish Empire, as stceh, can not be maintained, and that its preservation forms no part of the policy of the Allied Powers, except as a mere depend- ency of their own ; and, second, that whatever change may occur in the form of the government, the settled policy of France and England requires that the lands of Turkey should form merely a vast plantation, worked for the benefit of its masters. It may well be asked, therefore, and not without some anxiety, what benefit will the world at large receive, and how will the interests of the United States be affected, if the colonial policy of the Allied Powers is extended over Turkey, and if their fleets should control the Mediterranean and the Black Sea? If the yoke of the Ottoman Power could be broken off from the Christian population of the Empire, and they be not only permitted, but encouraged, to enter upon an independent career, and all the resources of that glorious land conld be made available by the power of a true Christian civilization ; then, indeed, there might be reason for rejoicing if the march of Eussia could be arrested. But in the present condition of Europe this can not be. England and France have chosen to terminate that arrange- ment by which the Porte might have tottered on yet longer in a state of merely nominal independence, and the only question now remaining is, by whom shall Turkey hereafter be exclusively controlled — by the East or the West? Another inquiry may be added : will it be better for other nations, and for Turkey, that it should become virtvaUy a colony of the Western Powers, or that it should be incor- porated with Eussia ? Between these two alternatives there seems now no middle ground. 27 CHAPTER XXV. The Historical Mission of Russia, and the Influence which she would exert upon the East. The history of the progress of the Russian Empire, the direction which her growth has taken, her present resources, and her topographical position and relation to Europe and Asia, show conclusively" that the Allies will he unahle materially to cripple her power, far less to arrest her pro- gress and force her hackward within narrower limits. Her growth is by the sure operation of causes which are perma- nent, and which this war can not remove. Two years' exertion of the combined strength of France and England, with the most formidable armament which the world ever saw, so far from crushing or humbling the Empire of the North, has not touched her in any vital part, nor exhausted her resources. On the contrary, she has gained a reputa- tion and confidence in her skill and powers, which has far more than compensated for her losses, and of which even defeat can not now deprive her. The defense of Sebastopol is beyond all doubt the great military achievement of our times, and even should it now fall, the honor of Eussia wiU remain untarnished, and it would scarcely dim the glory of the heroic struggle. Our troops were driven at last from Bunker Hill, but still the moral effect of that brief combat settled the fate of the (314) THE RUSSIAN BMPISB. 315 war, and rendered America unconquerable forever. A spirit was born there which never quailed under any subse- quent disaster, for the memory of Bunker Hill still remained. Eussia has gained at Sebastopol a great historic fact, of whose influence nothing can deprive her. The effect of that single siege, upon the national mind, is worth the cost of the war. She will feel its inspiriting power not alone in camp and city, but in her remotest rural districts, and among the snows of Siberia. A thrill has vibrated through the Empire, from the Baltic to the far Pacific. Eussia has suddenly been entrusted with a great military reputation, which she is henceforth to watch over and keep. The invasion of her country by Napoleon did not gain for her the military glory to which she was justly entitled. The world, ignorant in a great degree of the facts, regarded her defense then as exhibiting little more than the sullen energy of a nation in its despair, determined to perish amid the ruin of their homes, rather than yield to their foe. But at Sebastopol the case is widely different. It is a vast gladiatorial show, with the world ranged around as spectators. Swift sailing steamers, the telegraph and the printing-press spreading descriptions whose vividness pre- sent to all the actual scene, have made all people virtually spectators of the fray. On both sides preparations had been long going on upon the most gigantic scale, especially in Eussia and France. The power of the nineteenth century, concentrated and wielded by the three greatest nations of earth, was to be used in a life struggle for national supre- macy, in a conflict of religions and races. Strictly speak- ing, modern Eussia had not measured her strength against western Europe. It was to be on both sides an experiment of a very fearful character, by whose results the remote fjiture would be shaped for Europe, perhaps for all the 316 THE EtJSSIAN EMPIKB world. England and France went forth to the great battle, confident, boastful, scornful, with pride in the heart, and insult on the tongue, jesting upon the weakness, the cow- ardice, tlie barbarism of their foe. The result has been that with the eye of the world upon them, England and France have been not only matched, but over-matched. The boasted science of Christendom has been superseded by the superior genius of Eussia. The so-called barbarians, who it was said were like the Chinese, destitute of all inven- tion, mere helpless, servile copyists of others, savages awkwardly arraying themselves in the cast-off garments of civilization, have suddenly by one master stroke of genius, directed by a perfect science and consummate skill, exploded the old art of war in sieges, and have accomplished at a blow what the highest military authorities had demonstra- ted to be impossible. Scientific engineers only sneered as they looked on the Kussian preparations around Sebastopol, and when they found their own batteries, constructed " according to book," silenced and knocked into rubbish in three hours of the first bombardment, they comprehended nothing of this new conception, they only turned to the " best authors," and found that it was impossible. The soldiers that were described as mere machines, with- out intelligence, without resources, enterprise or active courage, have displayed a fertility and novelty of invention which France and England have not equalled yet, and an active bravery incessantly on the alert, which the best Allied soldiers have not surpassed. The Power which the world had been taught to regard as an empty boaster, deal- ing chiefly in shams and falsehoods, has calmly and in a simple, truthful manner, informed the world of the state of things, covering no disaster, and denying no fact, and no success of the foe — merely telling the world that she was doing her be^t against a skillful and powerful adversary THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. 317 ■who fought with bravery, but that she still believed she should triumph in the end. Comparatively, the Allies have lost reputation before the world, and confidence in themSelves, while in both these particulars, Eussia has gained steadily and rapidly from the day that the first shot was fired against Sebastopol. She stands now within these yet impregnable walls elevated by a consciousness of superiority in the whole conduct of war, except in the personal prowess and bravery of the indi- vidual soldier. With a lofty courtesy contrasting so beau- tifully with the insulting detraction of her adversaries, she withholds no proper encomium to the gallantry of her ene- mies, and the self-styled civilized may well sit down at the feet of the despised barbarian, to learn both the science and the generous chivalry of war. What a page in history, written over with shameful and humiliating scenes, the boasted civilization of western Europe is now preparing, checked and baffled in the one great enterprise of the war, and sending the two great fleets of earth on petty piratical expeditions that any com- mon rover of the seas would have scorned, and committing outrages that depraved humanity has seldom excelled, cry- ing out meanwhile against their barbarous foe. Through two summers the huge Allied fleets have been like two gigantic cowards looking at Cronstadt from a safe distance,* gaining "another brilliant victory" over some defenseless village, or some wretched sloop or flat-boat loaded with stones, and burning whatever of private property could be found within reach, and demolishing as the one great feat of the first expedition, a fortress of which very few had ever heard the name, in one of whose forts the garrison capitulated, the force amounting to " thirty-two mm," and throwing some shells from safe distances into Sweaborg as the sole exploit of the second. 318 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. In all these events the Allies have been rapidly losing moral power, their self-respect, and that of the world, while Eussia has as rapidly gained. Sebastopol may pos- sibly be captured, though it seems not probable, but even if it falls it is a triumph for Eussia of which nothing can deprive her, and a defeat for France and England, which no future success can retrieve. Sebastopol is henceforth a spell-word, a war-cry for Eussia, its memory a national power, such a source of life as the stirring old memories of England have been to her, such as the Eevolutionary battle- fields have been to us. Should the Allies succeed now in destroying Sebastopol let them remember that they have newly fortified the heart of Eussia, and that the experiment has been worth to her more than a million of men in arms. If Eussia has not been heretofore a formidable foe, let Europe beware of her now. What then will her influence be' when, as is very likely to be the case, her sway shall be extended over the East ? It has been shown already that the Allied Powers, should they succeed, can only hold Turkey and the adjacent regions in a state of colonial dependency, a field to be reaped like India and Algiers, rather than to be culti- vated for the benefit of the rightful owners. It was shown that they could not be incorporated, and must therefore remain colonies only, in fact, whatever the nominal relation might be, and that nothing is less desired or less likely to be permitted even, than the springing up of a powerful independent State on the territory of Turkey. But by Eussia these countries would be assimilated to her- self and made part of her own body, an integral portion of the Empire. Three-fourths of the population of Turkey in Europe are said to be Selavonian. This union would be accomplished not probably by sudden conquest, but by a gradual change, working no violent alteration in the THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 319 structure of society. This miglit have been the process hut for the present war. The future now can scarcely he foreseen. Constantinople itself may now become the seat of conflict, ere the struggle closes. The national policy of the Empire would of course be extended over the East. That policy is the exact opposite of what the colonial system of the Western Powers would he. The Kussian policy is one of self-development, and would he applied by the stimulus of her system of home manufactures to the unfold- ing of the latent or half-wasted resources of these rich but neglected territories. Twelve millions of the inhabitants are already assimilated to her in religious feeling, and she would approach them not as a conqueror but a deliverer. The position and the necessities of France and England, as has been stated in another chapter, would not allow the establishment of manufactures in Turkey more than in India. They need her grain and raw material only, while the profits of manufacturing they must reserve to them- selves — a policy so well illustrated by England in our own colonial history. The same reasons would also prevent all independent commerce, and allow only a carrying trade, to be conducted, of course, so as to give exclusive employment to the French and English commercial marine. But Russia would make that East the chief seat of her national commerce. It is for this very purpose that she covets its control. Such a basis for her commerce is her one national necessity. She can not only center upon the Black Sea and the Dardanelles the trade of the East, without injury to her northern provinces and cities, but the interests of the Empire require that this should be done. She would from necessity restore to the East its ancient commercial activity. Constantinople would become the great business mart of the nation, and once more an Eastern emporium of trade would receive the wealth, of the Indies, and hand 320 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. it over to Europe. Even with tlie present system, and with the present condition of Eussia, this would work out the recovery of Western Asia from its exhausted and still wasting condition. But the future of Kussia must not he altogether meas- ured by her present. She has entered upon a career of civilization in which, for a long period, she can know no pause. Her manufacturing system is changing swiftly the condition and prospects of her population ; a more extended commerce will elevate and refine, while it quickens and enriches, and this very war in which she is engaged will im- part unto her people a higher life, and will lead the nation through its crimson flood to the beginning of a new and a better era. A war which, in the belief of the people, is one in self-defense, and in behalf of religion and home, exalts the general tone of the national mind, in spite of the demor- alizing power of camp and field. ' By all these influences, Eussia will be prepared to impart to the East a better civilization than that which she now possesses herself. If in this manner the vast resources of that old seat of empires around the Hellespont, the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and the Cas- pian, could be once more unfolded for the use of man, and flourishing modern cities spring up on the ruins of those ancient ones which once studded that beautiful land, would it not be unspeakably better for the world than the con- tinuance of the stupid yet crushing oppression of the Turk, -fce endeavor to reinvigorate a doomed and dying despotism, or the degrading and exhausting vassalage of a mere colo- nial life ? The question then naturally arises, is not Eussia the only Power capable of giving a Christian civilization to the East ? Is not this her appointed mission ? Has she not been steadily working forward toward this result, manifestly THE EITSSIAN EMPIRE. 321 for a hundred years? Would not a map of the world, with her position and progress marked, at once suggest the thought that she alone, by position and the direction of her growth, is being prepared for, and indeed has been commissioned for, this great end? The prosperity of the East can only be restored by building anew the foundations of that commerce and indus- trial art which produced her former greatness. In the present condition of Europe, and while its existing dynas- ties remain, the East can not revive itself or become independent. It must be recovered under the protection of some great Power. France and England can only make it a dependency and hold it in a subordinate position. Eussia will incorporate it with her Empire, and feed it with her own life. It has been shown already that she alone can give to the Orient the Christian religion. France has nothing but the Papacy to bestow, and twelve millions of Greek Christians will not receive that ; Eng- land, holding in this war only the secondary position with which she is compelled, for want of troops, to content her- self, can not protect Protestantism hereafter, even as she has formerly done, and it would seem, therefore, that the only remaining hope is that the Eussian Church, having already affinities with Protestantism, might he brought into friendly relations and co-operation with American Christian- ity, and thus be quickened into a new spiritual life, by a heavenly baptism, and be made, through the mighty power of God, the means of planting once more the Gospel on the theater of its earliest triumphs. Certainly there is more hope in this direction than in the supremacy of the Eoman Catholic Church. In such a career, how swiftly the despotic features of the Eussian government would be changed, between the joint influences of a spiritual religion, a rational republicanism, 322 THE BUSSIAN EMPIRE. and the liberalizing power of commerce and art. It ■would not become a democracy, but it may become a monarchy, based on true religious principles, and administered for the good of the people. The affinities of the wide Orient are with Eussia rather than with western Europe. The points of contact present themselves to the Greek faith and the Sclavonic race rather than to the French or Saxons. The ties of race and the power of religious faith are dissolving all others, even poli- tical ones. Separations and new combinations are going on under these influences, which are working now with an activity unknown before in modem times, and the ultimate results are already beginning to appear. The Latin races are drawing once more into closer union on the basis of the Papacy, with France apparently as the future head of some form of Eoman Catholic confederacy. The Sclavonians in like manner are beginning to feel the attraction of raice, which tends to bring them out from the other families of men, and concentrate them upon Eussia and the Greek rite. Such a movement, unless interrupted by force, would inevitably unite Turkey with the Empire of the Czar, for three-fourths of the population of Turkey in Europe are Sclavonians. France and England are attempting an unnatural relation which can only be main- tained by force and subjugation. The fact that there are eighty millions of Sclavonians, and fifty millions of these are in Eussia, and that they constitute the nation's life, and the prospective union with them of some thirty millions more of the same race, and that a new type of civilization is being shaped by them, which in a few years is to express the thought of one hundred millions of people, and be the instrument of a great nation's working, this is a very grave fact, not to be sneered away, or even reasoned out THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE. 323 of existence, and which will not vanish because English Journalists choose to call it a barbarism. Western Europe seems to suppose that the only way of dealing with this new power claiming now large place among the forces of earth, is to send against it fleets, armies, shot and shell, and all the horrid machinery of war, by which to repress and hatter its strength away. The only result of this seems likely to be, not alone to rouse the indignation of Kussia, and convince her that she is truly the first military power of Europe and may safely defy the world, but by exciting the spirit of religion and patriotism, immeasurably increase her power, and then to compact that strength and render it doubly effective. The rising Sclavonian civilization will yet remain, speak- ing to the world with a hundred millions of voices, and in spite of all opposition going forth to its mission, with such powers at its disposal, such an array of means and resources as before earth has never seen. With this power the world has to do, in spite of protests, and armies, and sieges, or bloody fields. In its character and aims all nations have a very deep and very solemn interest. It is evidently a liv- ing thing, and apparently not doomed to speedy decay or sudden death. Beyond all dispute it must largely influ- ence the future of the world. Who shall now be bold enough to say that it has no blessings in store for human- ity, no great gifts to bestow in its future career ? It has its historic mission, its place and business in work- ing out the great problem of human life, and its post evidently can not be a secondary one, with one-seventh of the habitable globe in its possession, and a hundred mil- lions of people almost within its grasp even now. The great interests of humanity would seem to require that this important and inevitable experiment of a new form of national life should be made under the most favorable 324 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. drcumstances, and with such support as other Christians may have it in their power to give. Certainly it should be regarded as a great calamity to mankind if other nations banding together their strength, should in the spirit of sel- fish rivalry cripple this rising nation, and trample down its light and life. We can measure somewhat, now, the loss which the world would have incurred, had England succeeded in her two attempts to repress the growth of America, and hold this nation in subjection. It is the difference between an enslaved colony and this free Kepublic with its advancing civilization and power. In a similar manner we may con- sider what the nations would lose, if France and England now should be able to dictate to Eussia the manner and limits of her growth. By whom have they been commis- sioned to send their commands abroad over the world, and say to each young, expanding people, these are the limits we prescribe for you, and if you pass them, here are our fleets and armies. Eussia has invaded no territory of theirs, has not even threatened them. But by the same means which they and other nations constantly employ, (bad enough certainly with all) she was expanding herself in a way, sanctioned at least by common practice as legitimate, and the Allies say, you are growing too fast, and you will soon be too strong, and therefore we will deprive you of your fortresses, and if possible burn your fleets, and cut off certain portions of your territory, and bring you down to such dimensions as we think proper — and then casting their eyes over the water, similar things are suggested in significant hints to the United States. Would not the success of Eussia, the forcing back the Turk from Christian territory won by robbery, and the revival of the commerce and industry of the East under THE BUSSIAN EMPIKE. 325 her rule be better for the world, and far less dangerous to our own country, than the dictatorship of these self-elected "regulators" of nations? The policy of these Powers is that of an armed interference with the affairs of all, both East and West, to which if Bussia bows, America also must submit, or fight. The whole aspect of Eussia is that of a great power pre- paring itself for national action on a gigantic scale, each part of which corresponds to the greatness of the whole. Her territory, her army, her system of fortifications, her arsenals, the plan of her navy, not yet completed, her schools, her scheme of domestic and foreign policy, her inter- nal communications by canals and railways, and her plans of aggrandizement, all these have the true proportions of a colossal power, a vastness which is at present without a parallel in the world. Such a national structure is not the conception or the work of a people whose only characteristics are ignorance and barbarism. To all the calumniators of Eussia, she herself, as she stands before the world exhibiting what she has done and what she designs, is by far the most effectual answer. Western Europe has been arrested before the line of her defenses, both in the Crimea and iu the Baltic, baffled by her superior military science, and overmatched by the genius of her commanders, driven to the poor expe^- dient of magnifying petty plundering into glorious military exploits in order to cover their shame from the eyes of the people at home, compelled to learn from an enemy they affected to despise, not only the art of war, but lessons in truthfulness and courtesy. It is scornfully insisted upon that Eussia has no inven- tion, has originated nothing, has never exhibited a feature of genius. But there stands Eussia her.self, the creation of Eussian mind. . Surely it is something to have invented 326 THE ETISSIAN EMPIRE. Eussia. In all her vastness, and life, and power, she. is but the manifestation of Eussian thought. The defenses of Sebastopol are an invention not likely to he forgotten, and Eussia presents the first engineer of her age in her Todtlehen, over whose reported death England was civilized enough to rejoice and publicly congratulate, as she cheered at the death of Nicholas. Does this Power then hold out no great promise to the world ? She is, it is true, a giant much encumbered yet, working against disadvantages, with a load of despotic forms and usages that shackle and impede her, with much of the spirit of despotism yet in her. Many things about her are still crude and unformed, and her people are not yet highly cultivated or fitted for the noblest forms of civil- ization. Are the masses of England educated; are the peasants of France enlightened? Are the people yet well- informed in any country of Europe? Have not other nations passed through in their progress just that condition in which Eussia now is, and from which she is emerging? Was England never despotic, or badly governed — ^was she born mature and fully equipped like Minerva ? Should not the world generously recognize the large promise there is in Eussia, and ask whether it is not possible that she is des- tined to play a chief part not only in the afiTairs of Europe, but in the civilization of the East ? The Turk crushed and despoiled the mother Church of Eussia, and possessed himself of those fair regions which were her early inheritance and of that city which her children deemed holy, and which in the eye and heart of Eussia was the world's metropolis. Does it not seem at least fitting that the Greek Church of modern times, and the representative of the Eastern Empire, should be the instrument of retribution, and gain back from Mohammed- anism the spoils of its robbery ? Thus far she has been THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 327 the chief agent in the drying up of the Ottoman deluge, and who shall say that it is not her appropriate mission ? If she executes this mission in the spirit of selfish ambi- tion, if she inflicts wrong and outrage, if she ruthlessly spoils the weak, then to her, also, will come an hour of retribution, when what she metes to others shall be meas- ured back to her. No one can now predict what blessings may be in store for the world in that yet imfolded germ of Sclavonian civilization. Poland and Bohemia have already given indications of what the race is capable. No one could have foreseen what was hidden between the close- folded leaves of British life when Caesar visited the now wondrous island. Like the Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Bomans, the Sclaves must now have a civilization and a career. They may produce yet a literature, a science, and an art, political and social institutions, bearing the impress of their own peculiar mental structure, and which may add rich treasures to the common stock of civilization. They may under the guidance of the Holy Spirit exhibit some higher form of Christian life, for we may not suppose that even Protest- antism has exhausted aU the excellencies of the Gospel, or has shown the utmost that it can do for man. The attempt of England and France to crush out the life of this rising Power, is evidently a war against the interests of humanity, for their own aggrandisement, a blow at civilization itself, and at national freedom every- where. CHAPTER XXVI. The Despotism of Russia. Since the commencement of the present war, unwearied pains have been taken to spread throughout the civilized world the idea that the government of Bussia is merely a heartless, crushing, military despotism, with no redeeming quality, no element of progress, cherishing no regard for the people, and no desire for their advancement; and therefore this war is declared to be one of civilization against barbarism, of humanity against the one great foe of liberty and man. This accusation is certainly a very grave one, and deserves our serious regard. If such is the character of Kussia, and if her growth is but a prolonged crusade against human rights, and happiness, and hopes ; if, moreover, the Powers which have assaulted her are the firm friends of popular freedom, and have taken up arms to establish it, then have they a right to expect American sympathy, and it ought to be freely bestowed. But they who remember how our own country has been villified in the same quarter, will be dis- posed to regard with some suspicion similar charges against Eussia, while the idea that the Allies have engaged in a contest for the defense of popular rights is already aban- doned by most. Again, nothing can be more ungenerous, not to say absurd, than to rake up from the records of other (323) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 329 ages whatever can be discovered there, of ignorance, bar- barity or tyranny, and present it as a picture of Russia as she is at present. The true question is, whether Eussia, in spite of all crimes of the past, or errors in her government and general policy, is sincerely endeavoring, and with good hope of suc- cess, to establish a form of civilization by which the Scla- vonic races may be elevated, and which, to say the very least, will not retard the general progress of man? Let it be granted that the Emperor of Russia possesses unlimited power. That does not of itself demonstrate that the government is despotic and cruel, regardless of the welfare of its subjects. The true question is how is this power actually employed ? Is the Czar only a tyrant, crushing the proper energies of his people merely that he may rule supreme, or is he the exponent of the nation's will, the representative of a national sentiment, the recog- nized defender of a nation's faith, the guardian of a nation's resources and honor, a chieftain to direct a nation's power. Doubtless the truth lies between these two suppositions, but then all the reliable evidence in the case shows that it coincides far more nearly with the last supposition than with the first. Nothing is more deceitful than names. A mon- archy may be liberal, a democracy may bo a despotism of the most hateful character, and even in a constitutional mon- archy, intelligence and merit may be constantly trampled under foot by a hereditary and incompetent nobility, absorbing both the honor and wealth of a country. Notwithstanding all the aspersions which have been cast upon the Northern Empire, it is nevertheless true that there is no state in Europe where talent is so certainly recognized and employed, where the ablest man so surely fills the most important post, where the road to preferment 28 330 THE RUSSSIAN EMPIRE. is SO freely opened to merit as in Eussia, and that govern- ment is not, in the proper sense, a despotism, where an unimpeded ascent is opened from the very lowest to the highest positions in society. The candid and philosophic Erman presents the following view of the structure and working of the Eussian system, which should he carefully studied by those who have been led to think of it only as an engine of tyranny^ " If we were to endeavor to classify the inhabitants of the capital, according to those circumstances of life which are pervading and essential, we certainly should not adopt the official distribution of the population into fifteen classes. The nation, in truth, fall naturally into a few leading groups, which remind us of the division of organic bodies in natural history, into Artificial Systems and Natural Families. Grouped in this manner, the inhabitants of the capital come under the following heads : " 1. The numerous class of persons engaged in the service of the state, and enjoying, consequently, high .privileges, and who, collectively and exclusively, are en- titled and bound to wear the state uniform (Mundir.) " 2. Individuals who enjoy high privileges, not for their own services, but owing to their relationship or connection with the first class. Considerable estates, and a sort of hereditary nobility, distinguish this class, which is not, however, very numerous. " 3. Foreigners, chiefly merchants, who, from a sentiment of hospitality converted into a maxim of state, are treated with more consideration than is strictly due, according to the popular mode of thinking, to their occupations and employments. " 4. Eussian merchants and handicraftsmen, partly free, partly in servitude. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 331 " 5. Eussians engaged in trades and manual arts, at their own choice and on their own account, or in the service of others, and who have the lowest amount of privilege. These also are either freemen or serfs ; but this circumstance is here, as in the case of the fourth class, of little outward value, and is hardly to be detected in the actual relations of life. The clergy do not constitute a particular group, but, according to circumstances, belong either to the official class or to the people, and seem to form a mean between both. " In the modern language of St. Petersburgh, one con- stantly hears a distinction of the greatest importance con- veyed in the inquiry which is habitually made respecting individuals of the educated class, Is he a plain coat or a uniform ? However one may be surprised and shocked at first at the unusual value thus set on an outward decora- tion, and at the abrupt line which severs the members of the same community, yet the system grows more compre- hensible, and less offensive, when we fix our attention on its actual working. " In truth, though the Russian official is sharply and completely separated from the rest of the people by his uniform, yet the aristocracy, thus created, is possibly less odious than that of other countries ; for its internal organ- ization is extremely simple ; all who belong to the order are on a perfectly equal footing ; in the privileged class there is no peculiarly favored caste. Again, within this wide circle of privileged equals, personal ability and agree- ableness of manners are duly appreciated. The way in which the interests of the individual are involved with the public service gives rise to an " esprit du corps" and, besides, entrance into the most favored class in the nation seems to be as easy as it is desirable ; thus the public servants in Russia form in truth a class of nobility which may be called 332 THE EUSSIAN EMPIRE. an order of merit, which has maintained itself in greater purity here than in other states, because Peter I. bestowed the offices and employments which had formerly been held for personal services to the autocrat only as rewards for faithful service to the state, " Every kind of public service carries with it some per- sonal immunities, and only a certain advancement in official rank is required to make them hereditary. Thus, for example, the acquisition of landed property and of serfs attached it is reserved for a certain rank (the eighth of the artificial classes), but as hereditary succession is inseparable from these, there thus arises hereditary nobility. It is remarkable that in society in St. Petersburgh, where there is a constant rivalry between the official and hereditary nobles, the former always have the upper hand. Here the love of rank or office is spoken of always as a peculiar and noble passion, while one not actuated by the thirst for honors is described by the word Nedorosl (undeveloped), a term applied in old times to those who from immaturity or bodily defect, were unfit to bear arms. " The mutual relation of the official and the hereditary ranks in St. Petersburgh seems to be very distinctly marked, if it be only admitted that a foreigner here can really get an insight into the social system. But the stranger is sure to feel immediately the cautious reserve with which the natives converse with him ; and he soon discovers that the prompt attention and civility which he experiences in society must be ascribed to the desire to conceal the repugnance felt towards every thing foreign, which it would be inhos- pitable to avow. Among themselves, the Kussians of the upper classes are bound together by a feeling of kindred, in consequence of which they never feel quite at ease but in purely national circles. " These peculiarities must not be ascribed to the influence THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 333 of despotism, nor to any wisli to conceal from strangers the backwardness of the country. They originate in a positive homogeneousness of disposition which unites the Eussians as one people, and makes them involuntarily shrink from contact with a foreigner as from something heterogeneous. It can not be doubted that in feeling and moral sentiments, the Kussians differ fundamentally from the people of western Europe ; and they themselves say that a stranger must obrusyety, that is, become russi- Jied, before he can properly appreciate their national char- acter. " With respect to the intellectual cultivation of the class here referred to, it is impossible to make a general estimate of it, or to describe it in terms universally applicable, for in this very respect are found the widest differences in the same rank of life. Naval oflBcers, civilians engaged in the administration of state, and philosophers by profession, members of the Aeademj^ and other public institutions, all belong to the privileged class, and meet together as equals. It were more to the purpose, and more capable of being done briefly, to explain what they understand by social refine- ment. Here the national circle is characterized by an unusual degree of dexterity in the manifold arts of society ; by a correct and practised sense of outward propriety, and an extraordinary faculty of quick comprehension, and of lively repartee often combined with great felicity of expres- sion. On this point, previous travelers all agreed, though they differ most unaccountably on many others. They are obviously in the wrong, however, when they ascribe these social gifts to the influence of French manners. The social refinement of the Eussians is altogether of home growth, founded in the moral temperament of the nation, and plainly indicated in the structure of the language." 334 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Eussia, then, under the external forms of its Imperial government cherishes a true and most important democra- tic element, and has succeeded, in a degree surpassing any other State in Europe, in making merit the basis of rank, and the condition of power. The same result is aimed at as in free America — to place in office the ablest man — and if the system is liable to abuse through the almost unre- strained will of one man, it must also be remembered that the popular mind makes many and most egregious mistakes in the selection of its office bearers. Eussia depends not upon a hereditary and imbecile aris- tocracy for the operations of her government, but draws continually fresh life and power from the people at large, regarding not birth or wealth in its selection, but elevating merit only, and having constantly at it disposal the intel- lectual strength of the nation. The stimulus which is thus infused into the whole mass of Russian society, reach- ing to even the lowest circles, may thus be readily conceived. An order of merit, an aristocracy of talent is thus estab- lished, to counteract the paralyzing influence of the hered- itary nobility ; and though the man who wins rank by merit retains it as hereditary in his family, yet that fam- ily is in turn open to the free competition of those who continually rise from below. A man may hold rank as an empty title, but office and power are bestowed upon those alone who are thought to possess fitness and capacity. The liberalizing influence of such a feature as a nobility of merit can scarcely be esti- mated, because of the degree to which that word " despot- ism " has blinded the judgment to the actual facts. If that government is really the most democratic which opens freely the door of preferment to actual merit, if that is most liberal which selects widely from the people those who appear most capable, and allows among its officers only THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 335 that official distinction which has heen honestly won by service performed, then Kussia is far more liberal and democratic than England, which so bitterly condemns her as despotic and barbarous. The Emperor of Eussia need not hesitate to compare his system with that of England, and let them both be judged by their fruits. England and Eussia have confronted each other at Sebastopol, and there the world has had a fair opportunity of observing the effi- ciency of the two governments as they appear in action, and the sympathy of each with merit, aside from birth and and rank. Eussia in her hour of peril sought for her ablest man. The government asked not how many epaulettes were on his shoulders, or how many stars shone on his bosom, but whether he had courage, skill, daring, invention — in short, whether he could defend Sebastopol. Such a man was found in a mere captain of engineers, and over the heads of all titled and noble ones he was placed in command of the defensive works of the belear- guered fortress, and in two weeks a barrier was erected that France and England could neither cross nor force — and the whole aspect of modern war was changed. Nor was this the single example of the operation of the system. The whole defense, by the reluctant confession of the Allies themselves, has exhibited not tlie forced working: of mere human machines which had been anticipated, but the most intense intellectual activity, that has manifested itself in a fertility of resource, a novelty of invention, a skill in the use of means, and a judgment to direct the right thing at the right time, which has never been sur- passed. It demonstrates the efficiency of that scheme which avails itself of capacity wherever found, even in the ranks, and elevates it to the fitting position, and bestows the 336 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. proper reward. Such a government reaches democratic results under the forms of an Empire. England, on the contrary, boasts of her Constitutional liberty, of a govei'nment regarding the welfare of the people, and calls upon the world to aid in crippling the tyranny of Eussia, and invokes the sympathy of the nations on behalf of these down-trodden millions. England called for her men of rank, of titles, epaulets and stars, she placed men in the ranks and kept them there, whatever their merit; she put Twbhs in office whatever their incapacity, and one titled imbecile was only displaced to make room for another equally helpless, and so incapacity and mis- management have marked every fatal step of her enter- prise, and under it the finest army that England has ever equipped, has miserably and fruitlessly perished. Which then of these two systems should be denominated a despotism : that which by entrusting the conduct of affairs to the ablest men wherever they can be found, which excites and brings into requisition the whole talent of a country, forming a noble order based upon merit only, or that which represses and crushes all merit under a weight of titled shams and decorated imbecilities ? In true democracy ; in opening paths by which the people may rise ; in her appre- ciation and reward of real merit, however humble its posi- tion ; in her disregard of baubles on a man's coat, or the names of his ancestors, Eussia is far in advance of Eng- land, and approximates in this respect the spirit and prac- tice of America. It is not entirely a misnomer to call Bussia a Democracy governed by an Emperor — England a Constitutional Mon- archy, under the despotism of an aristocracy. Another liberalizing influence in the Eusssian system, of a most important character, tending strongly to the elevation of the people, is that municipal system which THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 337 embraces so large a portion of the rural population. Sheltered within these small municipalities the germs of rational freedom are planted thick throughout the Empire, and they contain the safeguard of the present, and the promise for the future. This system must be studied in order to understand the condition of the Eussian peas- antry, which has been so widely and utterly misrepresented. The attention of the reader is invited to the following accounts of these rural communities, the first condensed by the London Quarterly from Baron Haxthausen's notes : " The great feature of the rural system is that every head of a peasant-family is a member of a commune, and aa such has a right to a portion of land. These village com- munities, which are found in their most perfect state on the domains of the crown, have a very regular though com- plicated organization. At the head of each village is the starosta, who presides over a council called the ten — because, says the Baron, every ten families are entitled to nominate a councilor; but we think it more likely, both from the distinctness of the title and its application, and from the fluctuating number of members which must have attended such a system as the Baron supposes, that the council itself consisted originally of ten persons and no more. These officers are all elected annually by the peasants : their duty is to divide the obrok, which is levied upon the com- munity collectively, among the individual members accord- ing to their ability ; and to distribute any lands which may escheat to them by the death of the occupiers ; they also form a court for the settlement of local disputes, and the punishment of minor offenses — in short, there is perfect self-government as regards internal matters. Several of these villages form a district under an officer styled a starchina, who, with asaessors, holds a superior court and 29 338 THE EUSSIAK EMPIRE. levies the recruits required for the army ; he is elected by deputies sent from the villages within his jurisdiction. A number of these starchinates again form a vohst, under a functionary, also elective, who, with his assessors, presides over a court possessing higher as well as wider authority. We think it is impossible not at once to be struck with the resemblance of this system to that of frankpledge, com- monly said to have been founded by Alfred. Our old tithing was generally co-extensive with the modern parish, and is said to have been so called as containing ten freeholders ; whether this is exactly correct or not, may be doubtful, but certain it is that here, as in Eussia, the number ten had something to do with the arrangement, and the per- sons, whether ten in fact, or more or fewer, were sureties or free-pledges to the king for the good behavior of each other. They annually elected a president called the tithing- man or headborough, who therefore answered to the Kussian starosta. Ten of these Tithings formed a Hundred under its bailiff, who, like the starchina. held his hundred-court for the trial of causes. Many of these hundreds together formed a shire, having, like the volost, its higher or county court under the Shirereeve, who was formerly, as mentioned in a statute of of Edward the First's reign (and exactly as now in Eussia), chosen by the inhabitants. " The condition of the Crown peasants has been very much improved, under Nicholas, by the establishment of the ministry of domains — the Eussian ' Woods and For- ests ' — but said to be more economical in its stewardship than ours — a question too delicate for journalistic decision. Its duty embraces a rigid care of all the Imperial estates — but more especially the protection of the poor from the extortion of the employes — and this function certainly seems to be so discharged that the Crown villages are everywhere the envy of those belonging to private persons. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 339 All the peasants are free to go where they like ; and any man leaving his village to exercise a trade pays no higher trihute than his share would have heen at home as an unskilled lahorer ; whereas the nobles generalUy charge the out-living mechanic according to their estimate of his earnings. It is even asserted that the Emperor has heen considering seriously a plan for the entire abolition of the obrok and the substitution of a rent on all Crown lands. Meantime the ministry of domains has a sort of museum of geology, agriculture, and manufactures, at its office in each province ; and in many villages it has established ele- mentary schools for the peasants. The ' Autocrat's ' hand is everywhere felt indeed — or at least everywhere wished for. By stringent laws — whereon no man in that region dares to exercise his talent for quibbling, or any other tricks of evasion — ^he has prevented the manufacturers from exercising over their people that tyranny which the Man- chester school have imported with their cotton from the latitude of Louisiana. The sanitary condition of the work- shops is matter of most strict surveillance — the truck system forbidden — and every master forced to provide a hospital, a a physician, and a school. The Baron adds, that some of the nobles also treat their serfs with great indulgence- — for instance, M. Scheremetjew glories in the wealth of those belonging to him — some of whom have acquired (in his name, as they can not hold them by law) six or seven hun- dred serfs, nor does he charge them a higher tribute than the poorest. " In some parts the soil is cultivated by quite a different class from any we have hitherto spoken of ; they go by the name of Polowniki, are perfectly free, and seem to stand to the owners of the land in nearly the same relation that our tenantrfarmers do. Their existence as a distinct class may be traced to a very remote period — some antiquaries say 340 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. even so far back as the eleventh century — an ukase in 1725 declared that, not being serfs, they might go where they liked, subject to certain regulations ; and their condition was further regulated by an order of the Minister of the Interior, in 1827. Their present tenure seems to be nearly as follows : the rent consists of half the harvest — ^the ten- ant finding the stock, as also the labor in the erection of farm-buildings, for which the landlord provides the mate- rials ; the length of the leases varies from six to twenty years, but either party contemplating an actual dissolution of the connection must give a year's notice before the expiration of the expressed period." The English reviewer finds a parallel to this system, as is seen, in the rural institutions of England in the time of Alfred, which were the germs of the British Constitution, and why, therefore, do they not contain also a guaranty of the future of Eussia ? The American reader will at once perceive a strong resemblance in these " communes " to those New England municipalities, the townships, which were the nurseries of our intelligence and our liberties. The elevat- ing principle of self-government is imbedded in both, and that is a principle not only of life but of power. The second extract is from a writer in Harper's Maga- zine, professing to give the very words of an intelligent Eussian, explaining the process by which emancipation is going swiftly forward, and the condition of the crown serfs, which class must shortly embrace all who are in the king- dom. The speaker is describing the dawn of freedom for the serfs : " A reaction commenced at the beginning of the present century ; and since that time a system of emancipation has been silently operating in Eussia, to which the world can THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 341 show no parallel. In the first year of the century, Alex- ander made it a fundamental law of the empire that no more grants of serfs should he made to any individual whatever. In the meantime, the extravagance and profli- gacy of the nobles had passed all hounds. They became popularly known as Velmoje — ' those who say and it is done.' Their expenditures outran their income, and they were forced to mortgage their estates. Institutions were estab- lished by the Emperor for lending money to these spend- thrifts, at a high rate of interest, secured by mortgages upon their lands and the serfs pertaining to thom. As these mortgages ran out the crown took possession of the estates, and the serfs became peasants of the crown. In the fifteen years just past, the numbers of the peasants of the crown has increased by a million and a half, notwithstand- ing the numerous emancipations that have taken place, while the number of serfs has increased but half a million. The two classes are now just about equal in numbers; but it is estimated that fully half of the serfs are mortgaged to the state beyond hope of redemption. These must all, within a few years, fall into the possession of the crown." " But will they gain any thing by the transfer ? Will they not still be serfs?" " They will gain much. Instead of being subjected to the caprice of individuals, their condition is fixed by general laws and principles, which, in intention at least, operate in their favor. The best evidence that can be offered of the superior condition of the crown peasants is the eagerness of the serfs to pass into their number. It happens not unfrequently that when the government offers for an estate a price less than the proprietors are willing to accept, the serfs join together and pay the difference, in order that they may pass into the hands of the state. Even if the 342 THE ETJSSIAN EMPIRE. system of emancipation goes on without acceleration, tne serfs will be wholly absorbed by the state within the space of two or three generations. " The crown peasants are grouped into communities of two or three thousand souls. The use of the soil belongs to these communities as a mass, the fee simple of it being nominally vested in the crown, and each peasant is charged an annual obrok, or rent, of ten or twelve rubles. The whole community is chargeable with the payment of the obrok and capitation tax of each of its members. Each commune has a sort of elective assembly, presided over by the starishina, or mayor, which meets at regular periods, and has charge of all the internal affairs of the body. It apportions to each family its due proportion of the land, collects the taxes, has charge of the distribution of the recruits among the several families, punishes all petty ^ ^ offenses, and has jurisdiction over all disputes arising among the members of the commune. In a word, there is proba- bly no body of people who have so entire a control of all their local affairs, with so little interference from the supe- rior authorities, as do the Eussian peasants of the crown. It is true, that in the general affairs of the empire they have no voice ; but in all that concerns their every day life they are untrammeled. The government exercises no control over the movements of the peasants. Any one of them who wishes to leave the place of his birth can do so by obtaining permission of the commune, and this can not be refused if he is able to make provision for the perform- ance of his communal duties. Provided with a certificate from his commune, the whole empire is open before him, without let or hindrance. It is from this class chiefly that the artisans who flock in such numbers every summer to St. Petersburgh and Moscow are drawn. They carry on the THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 343 whole of the extensive interior commerce of the empire, and find ample space for the exercise of their wonderful mechanical faculty. "Thus, within certain narrow limits, the Eussian crown peasant is an ahsolute freeman. He is, to be sure, subject to many extortions from rapacious and unprincipled govern- ment employes ; but the occasions upon which he comes in contact with these are so few, compared with those in which the serf of the noble is exposed to the exactions of his owner and overseers, that his condition is looked upon with desire by the serfs. This is not the hopeless longing with which the slave contemplates the state of his master, or the poor laborer of other lands regards the lot of those above him. No impassable barrier separates the two classes. The serf knows that in the natural course of things he or his children will pass into the class of the peasants of the crown ; and the crown peasant knows that it is the Czar that has raised him from the condition of the serf." These statements will enable us to form a more accurate judgment concerning what is called " Eussian despotism," and all may see who will that a noble future is already opening before her. In connection with the despotism of Eussia, England has also raised loud outries against her barbarity in the conduct of the war. The charge should crimson every English cheek with shame. Did not England know perfectly that if Eussian soldiers murdered the wounded on the field at Balaklava or Inkermann, it was because the Turks had been allowed to bayonet at pleasure the wounded Eussians, at the Alma? Were the English authorities deceived in regard to the true character of the affair at Hango ? Did they not know that their own sailors had provoked retal- iation ? 344 THE ETJSSIAN BMPIBE. Mr. Punch has horrified his readers with a representa- tion of "Kussian savages waiting for a flag of truce ;" will he he good enough to exercise his skill and wit upon some of the scenes at Kertch and Bomarsund ? Will he be pleased to present that English cutter taking sound- ings so cunningly under cover of a flag of truce f Will he hear, and record, and illustrate the indignation that swells even through Europe at the piratical character which the Allies have given to the war. Another powerful agency in liberalizing the spirit of the Eussian government, is found in that system of manufac- tures and commerce which she is so assiduously endeavor- ing to establish, and which France and England are as earnestly striving to repress and destroy, and thus far are making war upon civilization themselves. A barbarous despotism would be quite unlikely in the first place, to conceive such a system, nor could it long exist beneath its influence, when once in successful operation. A commer- cial and manufacturing state becomes of necessity a highly civilized one, and intelligence and wealth sweep away at last the despotic features of the throne. Just in proportion as the Empire succeeds in its new career will the influence of the people in the government increase. Nicholas himself shaped the whole policy of his reign toward the liberalizing of his institutions and the elevation of his people, and he died regretting that he had been unable to accomplish more. The emancipation of twenty millions of government serfs, which the late emperor had so far accomplished that they considered them- selves virtually free, was a vast step toward a complete change in the condition of the lower peasantry, and that change is certain now to come. Already, as seen by the quotation from Erman, their condition differs but little from that of the freeman. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 345 The condition of the Eussian serf may be more clearly seen from the following quotation, De Custine's Eussia, pp. 408, 417. " The Eussian peasants are the principal commercial agents in this prodigious market. (Nishnei Novgorod.) Nevertheless, the law forbids the serf to ask, or the free- men to grant him a credit of more than five rubles. And yet they deal with some of these people, on the strength of their word only, for from two hundred thousand to jSve hundred thousand francs ; and the dates for payment are very distant. " A serf may now become the proprietor even of lands, in the name of his lord, without the latter daring to violate the moral guarantee by which he is bound to his wealthy slave. To despoil this man of the fruit of his labor and industry would be an abuse of power which the most tyran- nical boyar dare not permit himself under the reign of the Emperor Nicholas : but who shall assure me that he dare not do so under another sovereign ? Who shall assure me even, that in spite of the return to equity which forms the glorious characteristic of the present reign, there may yet be no avaricious and needy lords, who, without openly rob- bing their vassals, know how skillfully, and by turns, to employ threats and kindness, in order gradually to extract from the hands of the slave a portion of the wealth which they dare not carry away at one swoop ? It is difficult to believe in the duration of such relations between the mas- ter and the serf, and yet the institutions which produce this social singularity are stable." Thus it appears that Eussia is in the midst of a revolu- tion, every step of which is in the direction of a larger and better liberty, and though there are many defects and fla- grant abuses to mourn over, there is rich promise for the 346 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. future, and her rulers are earnest in the cause of improve- ment. England ridiculed the inefficiency of the commissariat of Eussia, decried her medical department as worthless, and congratulated herself upom her inability to move with promptness, or to sustain large bodies of troops — and then on the first trial proved herself inferior in every one of these particulars to the adversary whom she despised — proved in short, the superior efficiency of the government of the Czar, so that British ministers in defending their mistakes, offered the mortifying apology that it had not been supposed that bodies of troops could have been moved with such celerity from Odessa to Sehastopol ; so that by the confession of England, a constitutional monarchy, under "red tape," is no match for Eussian despotism, when it avails itself of the talent and energy of the people. The progress of the country toward a more humane and enlightened policy is also shown by abolishing the punish- ment of the knout, which was done several years since, by the Emperor Nicholas, while for some time previous it had been reduced within narrow limits and strict control, and this national reproach has therefore been removed. Much indignation has been excited, but with less cause, in regard to the treatment of criminals exiled to Siberia. This subject has been but imperfectly understood by most, and it has been surrounded with many imaginary horrors. Cruelties of a revolting character are undoubtedly often practised upon the criminals, before they reach their desti- nation, hai'dships are endured upon their march, under which many sink, but if this system could be fairly com- pared with the whole practice of others in regard to their criminals, it would be found not to deserve the unmeasured condemnation with which it has been visited, nor to exhibit THE RUSSIAN EMPIEE. 347 an excessive inhumanity on the part of the Eussian govern- ment, beyond that of the other states of Europe. It must be remembered that capital punishment is exceedingly rare in Eussia, and that this exile to Siberia is its substitute, though it is not confined by any means to that class of offenses by which life is elsewhere forfeited. The following account of the criminal system of Eussia was condensed by the London Quarterly Review, from " Hax- thausen's Notes on Eussia," and was published before the war: " Political offenders, who are merely to be kept under surveillance, live, to all appearances in the ease of freedom, at Wologda ; those whose sins are of a deeper dye become Mnles — that is, go to Siberia. The Exiles are removed to their destination in convoys of one hundred or two hundred under charge of an escort, and until the number is complete they are kept in a comfortable prison, well lighted and warmed. While en, route they experience much kindness from the Eussian peasants, who send them presents of their best food at every resting-place ; and in large towns the excess of such contributions over what they can consume, is so great that it is sold to buy them better clothing. Before starting, the convicts are inspected by a surgeon, and those who are unable to walk are put in carriages— of the others, every two men carry a chain of four or five lbs. weight. They only walk fifteen miles a day, and every third day, they rest. Wives are allowed and expected to accompany their husbands. The journey lasts seven months. In the Asiatic part of it the comforts are not on the same scale, and there is often great mortality ; between 1823 and 1832 it amounted to about one-fifth, and the average number of exiles was ten thousand a-year. On arrival, the worst subjects are sent to the mines ; and in former times, they hardly ever again saw daylight, but by the present 348 THE 3TJSSIAN EMPIKE. Emperor's regulation they are not kept underground more than eight hours a-day, and on Sunday all have undisturbed freedom. Those of a less heinous stamp are employed on public works for some time, and then allowed to become colonists. The least serious offenders are at once settled as colonists in Southern Siberia, and thenceforth may be considered as quite free, except that they can not quit their location. In such a soil and climate, with industry, they may within two or three years find themselves established in good houses of their own, amid fields supplying every want of a rising family. It is asserted that the young people reared in these abodes turn out, on the whole, of most respectable character, and are associated with accord- ingly on the kindest terms by neighbors of other classes — especially the peasants of native Siberian race, who, by the way, are all entirely free, and many of them very rich. The only drawback to this paradise arises from the recent and rapidly-increasing production of gold, which is said to have already done considerable harm to morals ; let us hope that the Arcadian simplicity of Van Diemen's Land will escape the similar pollution threatened it by the vicinity of Port Phillip. " A model prison at Odessa is described as greatly more successful than any we know of nearer home — ^it contains, we are told, seven hundred criminals, who all work at differ- ent trades, their earnings being either applied to promoting their comfort while in durance, or given them to start in an honest life with, on their emancipation. On entering the prison they wear a chain, but on good behavior — ^very generally within three months — they walk the streets without it ; they are allowed to go out to work for private individuals, under the direction of one of the best<:onducted prisoners, and are constantly employed to put out fires, yet have scarcely ever been accused of stealing on such occasions. THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 349 After ten years a full pardon is very often granted — in fact, not one-tentli of the whole number are detained beyond that period, and on its expiry many obtain small offices under government." This is abundantly confirmed by the statements of Erman, as the following quotation will show : " Among the various tales circulated in Western Europe respecting Siberia, may be reckoned the statement that the exiles of this or some other description are obliged to hunt the sable or other fur animals. But, in truth, it is only in the Uralian mines and those of Nerchinsk, and in certain manufactories, that persons condemned to forced labor are ever seen, and several of the rioters whom we saw here in Beresov had already served a year of punishment in Nerchinsk. All the rest, and the great majority of the Kussian delinquents, are condemned only to settle abroad ; and, if they belong to the laboring classes, to support them- selves; yet with this consolation, that instead of being serfs as heretofore, they become in all respects as free as the peasants of western Europe. Political offenders, how- ever, who belong, in Russia, as elsewhere, generally to the upper classes, or those not used to manual labor, are allowed to settle only in the towns of Siberia, because the support allowed them by the goverment can thus reach them more easily. " I have often heard Eussians who were intelligent and reflecting men, mention as a paradox which hardly admits of an explanation, that the peasants condemned to become settlers, all, without exception, and in a very short time, change their habits, and lead an exemplary life ; yet it is certain that the sense of the benefit conferred on them by the gift of personal freedom is the sole cause of this con- version. Banishment subservient to colonization, instead of close imprisonment, is, indeed, an excellent feature in the 350 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. Eussian code ; and though the sutstitution of forced labor in mines for the punishment of death may be traced back to Grecian examples, yet the improving of the oifender's condition by bestowing on him personal freedom, is an original as well as an admirable addition of a Eussian legislator." The authority of these statements is not to be disputed, and they show conclusively that whatever the condition of Eussia once was, her criminal system, under the enlight- ened direction of Nicholas, was so modified as to compare favorably with that of any other state of Europe, and per- haps surpasses any in the number which it reforms and restores to society and to usefulness. CHAPTER XXVII. The Western Aspect of tlie Eastern Question. " The Alliance with France does not regard the East exclusively, but has reference to affairs in both hemi- spheres."* " Our transatlantic cousins will become a trifle less inso- lent and overbearing, when they find that the fleet which ' summers ' in the Baltic can, without cost or effort, ' winter ' in the Gulf of Mexico, and our statesmen will not again need to speak with ' bated breath ' in the cause of humanity and justice, from a dread lest the spirit of the country will not, or the energies of the country can not, bear them out in assuming a loftier tone." f " When Eussia is settled, France may safely abate her army, and England her navy ; but neither must disarm. If they do, not only will other Powers cease to respect them, but they will cease to respect each other. We must still he able to say 'No ' to our lively young brother across the Atlantic, if he wants Cuba without paying for it, or takes any other little vagary into his head." | " Sentiment expressed by Lord Clarendon, and indorsed in France. ■\ North British Seview, Novem'ber, 1854, written when England thought Sebastopol had already fallen, or might be regarded as captured. I Blackwood, November, 1854. (351V 352 THE KTTSSIAN EMPIRE. "England and France together are strong enough to bind nearly all the world over to keep the peace." * These are certainly significant hints, illustrating the spirit and designs of England, and they come from high authority. They should be considered in connection with some facts equally important. England has recently declared that she does not relinquish her right to search our ships. The exercise of this assumed right produced the war of 1812. She has hitherto, in this war, respected the rights of neutrals ; but she is already growing restive because the blockade, which at such expense she maintains in the Baltic, has not diminished materially the exports of Eussia, while it has greatly enhanced the price which Eng- land pays for such Kussian produce as her necessities demand. The trade of Eussia, in 1854, as stated by the Economist, being about equal to that of 1853, and England pays her bills, not as formerly, with her goods, but in specie, with which the Emperor carries on the war. The following extracts from the Economist and the Press, place this matter in a somewhat unexpected light : " There is a fact in connection with the war with Eussia, as affecting the commercial interests of that country, and through them, the internal prosperity of the people, so staggering that it requires peculiar notice, and the more so in the particular conjuncture in which we now stand, or are likely very soon to stand, in the arduous contest in which we are engaged. That the exchange at St. Peters- burg upon London should have risen nearly to jiar, from the discount of about 20 per cent., at which it stood some time since, is a fact which points to important conclusions, and which indicates a state of internal affairs in Russia hy no means likely to aid the effoi'ts of our armies and our navies. * Blackwood, November 1854, THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 353 The exchange at St. Petersburg had, under the first influ- ences of the war, fallen to 3 2d. per rouble. Latterly it has gradually risen, and is now exactly at par, or 38d. the rouble, notwithstanding that in the meantime an enormous forced issue of paper mxmey has been made. A further rise of a single penny, or even less, will so far turn the exchange in favor of St. Petersburg, that, spite of all effort or all law, gold will he drained from the vaults of Threadneedle-street to replenish the bullion reserves in tJie fortresses of St. Peter's and St. Paul's in the Russian Capital. " Let us first understand the real causes of this phenom- enon. They may be stated in a few words. Eussia imports of British products only to about the amount of £1,200,000 a-year. But we import of Eussian produce to an annual value of not less than six or seven millions sterling. This large balance in favor of Eussia has hitherto been settled by the indirect trade of the country. The shipments of British manufactures to the United States, to the foreign West India Islands, and to South America, have in reality been partly paid for by cotton shipped from New Orleans to St. Petersburg, by sugar from Havana, and by coffee from Eio Janeiro. Bills drawn in these various markets upon St. Petersburg, for shipments of their produce, have been remitted to this country in payment for Manchester, Leeds, and Shefiield goods, negotiated upon the Eoyal Exchange, and have formed the medium by which remit- tances for the tallow, hemp, grain and copper of Eussia have been made. " So far, all was simple and plain. But let us now examine the course wiich we have pursued, not without good reasons, and we will even say upon the whole {! ! .') the best for our interests up to this point. When war was declared, a strict blockade was no doubt established on the 30 354 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE coast of Eussia. Direct exports and imports were equally prevented. But by the policy which we adopted, an indi- rect route for the export of Eussian produce through Ger- many was still left open. Memel became the port of shipment in place of St. Petersburg, Eiga and Eevel ; and the result has been as we ventured to predict many mouths since, that, although the trade of Eussia has been carried on at a great cost, and although that must have been deeply injurious to the actual producer, yet the actual quantities of Russian produce exported in 1854 have fallen very little, if at all, short of those of former years. " The result then has been, that, while exports from Russia have been made nearly to the same extent as usual, the imports have been greatly curtailed, and thus the means which we have hitherto employed to pay the balance due to Russia have been to a great extent cut off; and the indirect effect of this has been that those tropical markets for our manufactures have in some degree suffered by the lessened demand for their products. " The orders in Council, as finally issued, settled the principle (or something very like it), that ' free bottoms make free goods.' Bond fde Eussian property is, of course, lawful prize : but ' neutral' States are a sort of fumigators, and remove the infection. Eussian goods, by passing through Prussian hands, are purified and pass free to Eng- land, and vice versd. " The advantages to us of the first half of this left-handed bargain have been lately proclaimed in the Invalide Russe. It has been crowing with too much truth over the fact — one of the few favorable facts it has had to chronicle for some months past — that England receives as much Eussian produce as ever, only she pays a double price for it. The trade returns for the eight months ending September 5, 1852, 1853, 1853. 1854. ewt. cwt. 563,925 638,553 452,794 410,411 364,583 369,052 THE KUSSIAN BMPIKE. 355 and 1854, give our imports of the main articles as fol- lows : — 1852. ewt. Hemp, - - - 580,491 Hides, (untanned), - 311,710 TaUow, - 375,936 " In every respect, so far as we can discover, our imports of essentially Eussian produce are, on the whole, larger this year than they have ever been before. Even of corn, the returns stand thus : — 1852. 1853. 1854. qrs, grs. grs. Wheat, - - - 1,679,230 3,302,452 3,072,246 Barley, - - 443,689 666,093 495,217 Oats, - - - 670,727 619,731 834,035 " We had been fondly dreaming that the corn of Eussia was rotting on Odessa wharves, that its finances were des- perate, and its war carried on by the help of worthless paper roubles. No such thing. Our exports to Eussia have been nil, except of the precious metals." In consequence of this state of things, a party in Eng- land is already loudly demanding the enforcement of a stricter blockade — in other words, to suppress, by force, the trade of Eussia with neutral nations. A motion was intro- duced in Parliament, a short time since, looking to this object, but it was then rejected. There is great reason to fear that a change of policy wiU take place when England feels more heavily the pressure of the war, and perceives that her adversary is not materially injured. One of the most powerful of the English periodicals holds the following language : " The interests of commerce and the usual intercourse of nations must give way for a time to the imperious neces- sities of war. We must have no more ' shilly-shallying,' no more habbling about peace and humanity, and the superior 356 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. civilizatiou of our age, which admits of the operations of war without disturbing the commerce of the world." In the extracts quoted above from the JSeonomist and the Press, is seen how utterly mistaken are the views of those who represent Bussia as paralyzed in her commerce, and on tlie verge of ruin — who have estimated the value of grain usually exported, and have then set down the amount as so much absolute loss to Eussia, presuming that none of it could reach a market. England, it would seem by her own showing, is suffering more from this blockade than Eussia, inasmuch as Eussia sells as largely as before, and England pays the additional price which her blockade occasions. She has blockaded her own ports, so that no goods can be exported to Eussia, and therefore pays for her imports in specie. This mortifying result prompts her to consider the only remedy, viz : the armed invasion of the rights of neutrals, and the denial of the principle that free ships make free goods. This princi- ple once more adopted, as in her necessity it is likely to be, and then will come again the exercise of the right of search, our ships wiU once more be condemned in her admi- ralty courts, and what but war could follow this ? These things are sufficient to show that the Eastern question has indeed a Western aspect of a very serious character. The interest of the United States in the struggle is second only to that of Eussia, and to a great degree is evidently identical with hers. " When Eussia is settled," what remains but to settle the United States also, inasmuch, as the Mirth British suggests, the Allied fleets can spend their summers in the Baltic and their winters with us. Let those whose sympathies have flowed so freely for the Allies consider the tremendous stake which our country has in this contest. It is quite natural, and entirely right, that American Christians should cultivate the most friendly THE KUSSIAN EMPIRE. 357 feelings with our fellow ChriBtians in England, and that we should be grateful for the kindness with which her public servants have regarded our missionary efforts in Turkey, and that we should feel a deep interest in her as our mother country and as a Protestant nation, and it would be an act not only of folly but of wickedness to excite against her a causeless hostility. But it would manifest still greater infatuation if we should suffer these things to mislead us in regard to the actual character of this war, or close our eyes to the mani- fest designs of the Allies, or fail to perceive the selfish, arrogant spirit that rules their policy. Let Americans be careful, lest by a misplaced sympathy they not only sustain a wrong, but endanger their own country. It was natural that Americans, in the beginning of this conflict, should cheer on France and England with their sympathies and their prayers, for then it appeared to be what they so loudly declared it was, a war of freedom against despotism, of civilization against barbarism ; and it was expected that the yoke of enslaved nations would be broken. But can it be expected that Americans should still feel deeply interested in their success when it is so clearly shown by testimony and by actions, that this assault upon Kussia has been prompted by no generous motive whatever, by no hatred of despotism, no desire for the deliverance of the oppressed, no kind regard even for tottering Turkey — but simply with the unrighteous design of checking the growth and hindering the prosperity of a neighboring nation, which might dispute with them their commercial supremacy, mingled, on the part of France, with the per- sonal ambition and personal pique of her sovereign, and the intention of restoring supremacy to the Catholic Church ; and when, moreover, it is virtually declared that so soon as 858 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Eussia is " settled," the affairs of the western hemisphere will receive attention. The fact will not much longer be concealed from the world, that the true question involved in this war is whether France and England shall be the joint dictators of the world, domineering over all oceans with their navies, and prescrib- ing limits to the growth of nations ; whether they shall be permitted to say to Eussia, "You shall advance no further Eastward," or to the United States, " Tou shall neither have the Sandwich Islands, nor Cuba, nor Mexico, and you, and all other Powers, shall dwell within the limits which we think proper to allow." This is the real signiiicance of the Eastern war, to which the United States wiU do well to give heed in time. It becomes us to consider in due season whether we are prepared to submit to such dictation, or whether we shall claim and exercise, at all hazards, the right of unrestricted development. The batteries of Cronstadt and Sebastopol are ranged in front of American as well as Eussian rights, and the interest of the United States in the preservation of the Eussian navy is second only to that of Eussia her- self. The last war for American independence is yet to come, if Eussia can be humbled. The United States and Eussia sustain almost precisely the same general relations to France and England, and to the main objects of their Alliance. Both are animated by a' vigorous life, seeking on all sides room for its expansion. Both are already formidable, and promise an overshadowing greatness in the future. Both are seeking commercial and manufacturing importance, and threaten to rival older states. Each is advancing at a rate unknown to other nations. Both are regarded with intense hostility by the Papal THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 359 Church, and her priests and Jesuits are equally laboring for the overthrow of each. Both are seeking to secure for themselves a share of the commerce of the East, and meet alike the opposition of France and England. Both are seeking for themselves a theater of national life outside of the sphere of Western Europe, and Western Europe inter- feres with both. Both claim the right of making an experiment for themselves in a civilization of their own, and have been met, each iu its turn, not only with sneers, but hostility ; and both stand confronted by the Anglo-French Alliance — the one in the Baltic and at Sebastopol, the other in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Sandwich Islands, and in Central America, ready to say "No" to our progress when " Russia is settled." It is declared by many that the commercial relations between the United States and England will absolutely prevent a collision, and that they will, on the contrary, bind the two nations more closely to each other. Before we give implicit confidence to these assertions, it would be well to look carefully at the character and tendency of pass- ing events. One of the most prominent questions before the British public is, how England can be rendered inde- pendent of the American cotton-fields. By unwearied effort she has pushed her experiments to a successful issue. It no longer remains a matter of doubt that cotton of the best quality can be raised in any quantity, both in India and Australia. In India every preparation is being made to give to its culture a rapid expansion, and railroads are being carried from the seaports to the cotton-lands. Capital, suitable lands, machinery and cheap labor, are all at the disposal of Great Britain, and a revolution will be speedily wrought in the production of cotton, which will compel our own 360 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. planters to depend upon home market, and upon countries whicn can not produce cotton for themselves. " One event is then certain : our own manufactures must he stimulated to a more vigorous life in order to consume ■what England hereafter may refuse to receive, nor is it impossible that as the manufacturing system of Russia is enlarged and perfected, she may yet receive American cot- ton in exchange for those Eastern products which her trade with Northern Asia will procure. If England succeeds, as she will, in producing her own cotton, it will work perhaps now unthought-of revolutions in the commerce and political relations of the world. Is it altogether impossible that the future may see Enssia and America forced into an alliance for self-defense against that other alliance already formed for the purpose of ruling the world? Will American Protestantism and the Eussian Church yet be leagued against the aggressions of the Papacy ; will the united navies of these Powers yet achieve for commerce the freedom of the seas ; will America in friendly intercourse with Eussia help to liberalize her insti- tutions by the power of a living Gospel, and thus aid her to give Christianity and civilization back to the wasted prov- inces and down-trodden populations of the East ; will they, mutually sustaining each other in the right of free expan- sion, give at last to the world and history two new forms of civilization, the Sclavonic and the American? Specu- lation is perhaps vain, but it would be well for Americans at least to consider the signs of the times. CHAPTER XXVIII. Why do not the Americans Sympathise with the Allies? Much surprise has been manifested in England, because America not only expresses little interest in the success of England and France, but evidently cherishes a growing sympathy with Eussia. This is indeed true, and it is a fact which casts an ominous shadow far into the future, and deserves a serious consideration, both here and in Europe. America has not been moved by any sudden caprice, nor do her feelings in regard to England belong merely to the present hour. They are deep-seated ; their origin lies, to a great extent, far back in the past: they grew slowly through long years of wrong, deliberately inflicted and keenly felt, and they will not suddenly pass away. The wounds which we have received at the hands of England have not healed, and she is not forgiven, because she has neither repented nor offered reparation. Her past injustice and scorn are all unatoned for, and therefore not forgotten. Two wars have only postponed the final reckoning, and it depends upon herself alone whether blood again shall flow. It is a mournful fact, which no man who knows the American heart will dispute, and which it would be well for England to ponder, that a war with no other nation could so arouse, unite and enlist in its behalf all American hearts, as a conflict with herself, provoked by any new aggression 31 (361) 362 THE KUSSSIAN EMPIRE. on her part. Nor is this because of cherished and active hatred in the American mind that watches and waits for its revenge — for America desires no quarrel with England, nor will she seek one ; but the wrongs and outrages of other days are still freshly remembered, because the taunts, and sneers, and hints at meditated interference and aggression, which are so often heard, prove that the British govern- ment cherishes its ancient spirit stilL America is estranged from England, because there are such things as memory and history. It is not because we have waged two wars with Great Britain — for the remem- brance of the mere strife of the battle-field stirs no ran- corous feeling — and no desire is cherished simply to avenge blood with blood. The causes which led to these wars, the manner in which they were conducted, the tone and bearing of England, then and now — these have sunk deep into the American heart. The solemn indictment, with its twenty- six separate counts, preferred against the English govern- ment by the representatives of thirteen colonies, containing a true history of our earlier wrongs and sufferings at her hands, is annually read in the ears of the American people, and is graven on their hearts, because England has offered no reparation — unless that may be called so which was forced from her by arms. America has not forgotten the cruel insults offered to her in her weakness, previous to the last war, because England has not asked to be forgiven. America remembers that, previous to the war of 1812, England had insultingly impressed more than six thowsanid of our seamen, and it is not forgotten — ^because to this day she asserts the same claims in regard to the right of search which led to those outrages, and the second war. The exciting, the hiring, the letting loose those hordes of sav- ages upon the women and children of our defenceless fron- tiers, is a thing not to pass suddenly from the memory of THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 363 America. The earth has not wholly covered the mangled forms of our murdered ones. We can not forget, if we would, the visit of Cockhurn's fleet to the shores of the Chesapeake, hurning and plunder- ing defenceless villages and dwellings ; and American women, violated in open day by British sailors, speak yet from their graves to the American heart, and especially when Bomarsund and Kertch bear testimony that England has not yet abandoned this inhuman method of waging war. The English government has never shown itself either a cordial friend to America, or a generous enemy. The tone of her press, with some honorable exceptions, has been supercilious and scornful; she meets us at all points, not with kindness and encouragement, but with coldness or opposition, and her arrogant spirit breaks out in schemes for " regulating " our concerns, and setting limits to our growth. Still America does not dwell upon these things as the French are said to do on the memory of Waterloo, with the desire to wipe its stain away with blood. There is no desire to make any aggression upon England, to invade any of her rights, or to impede her prosperity; and often above all rises the love of kindred, and an admiration of the much which is truly great and noble in British character and insti- tutions ; but there is an abiding sense of many and most grievous wrongs, persisted in while there was power, and nnrepented of even to the present hour ; mingled, too, with the belief that they would be repeated should opportunity present. England has an important work to do before she can win the love or sympathy of America. She must change both her spirit and her policy before cordiality can be restored ; but if this is forbidden by her pride, she must be content to reap such a harvest as in an evil hour may spring from such a sowing. Here an 364 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. important discrimination must be made between English.- men, and tbe English government and its policy. Against individual Englishmen Americans cherish no ill •will ; they are freely welcomed, and loved according as they are worthy ; they are not excluded from the heart because they are not Americans — we love them as our kindred, as our own. It is England as embodied in her policy as shown in her national acts, which has thrown the shadow over the American soul. It can not be removed until that policy is changed. If England chooses to ally herself with European pow- ers, to hinder our progress and thwart our plans in the Western hemisphere, if she will stoop to such miserable instruments even as a Mosquito King to cover her designs, if she threatens us with her Baltic fleet and with a settle- ment so soon as "Eussia is settled," if she considers herself commissioned to correct what she pleases to call our " vaga- ries," if in conjunction with France and Spain she forms secret treaties with St. Domingo after helping to annul one which had been concluded with us, so as to exclude us from the West Indies, and if this policy is persevered in, then there can be but one ultimate result — a war that will settle many important questions forever. There is a "Western Question," no less important than the Eastern one, and if France and England have found a Eussia in the East, they will also find an America here ; neither revengeful nor quarrelsome, but unalterably de- termined to submit to no interference from Europe. While such things are meditated or threatened, a preparation for self defence is much more rational than sympathy with the Allies. America remembers with gratitude the France which aided her in her hour of need, but France now is the ally of the Power she then opposed, and equally with England and in union with her, opposes us at every salient THE KTJSSIAN EMPIRE. 365 point of our progress, while with her this policy is dictated by the personal feeling of her Emperor, and by the hostile and ambitious spirit of the Eoman Catholic church. Still, notwithstanding these things, Americans would desire the success of the Allies if they could even hope that such a victory would improve the condition of Europe, or advance in any manner the cause of popular rights, of a rational and solid freedom. But not only is there no design on the part of the Allies to deliver Italy or Spain, Poland or Hungary, but the ruling powers in England and France are no less hostile to any form of popular liberty than Eus- sia herself, and nothing is farther from their design than to set any portion of the people of Europe free. The tendency is in the opposite direction, toward the re-establishment of the Papal despotism, over every Cath- olic country of the Continent, with such liberties for the people as that Church has been accustomed to grant, while a regard for her own safety and her commercial interests will compel England to acquiesce. England is harnessed to the Papal car under the guidance of France ; and when will she be released, and where is the goal ? England, as the European champion of Protestantism and popular rights, might cause us to forget the past and draw us to her side ; but as the ally of a new Papal combi- nation which threatens the West as well as the East, she will compel us not alone to withhold our sympathies, but to look to our defences. CHAPTER XXIX. Eussia and America, their Future Relations to each other and the World. Those in Europe who desire to enlist America in the present struggle, would alarm us with the idea that if Russia is successful in this war, she will force all Europe into a crusade against the United States; and some too among us, filled with the same thoughts, declare that she is the only foe that we have to fear in our future progress. It is difficult to perceive how such opinions can he enter- tained by any who have studied attentively the national policy of Eussia. The mistake arises from the assumption that the controlling purpose of this nation is to crush free institutions every where, and establish in their stead des- potic governments. This is neither the design nor the mission of Eussia. To regard her merely as the propa- gandist of despotism, the foe of human liberty, is to mis- conceive her altogether. Her national aims are not necessarily connected with forms of government. She intends to establish the great Sclavonian race upon a territorial theatre suitable for the growth of a civilization of their, own, and she considers the preservation of her monarchical government and institu- tions as essential to her success, and hence her watchful jealousy of the revolutionary spirit of Europe, which she (306) THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 367 regards not only as democratic, but as atheistic in its char- acter, as it showed itself to be originally in France. She is also, as has been said, watchful, and she has reason to be, against the Papacy as the deadly foe of her Church, and the nation as its supporter. The policy of the Russian government, the direction of the nation's growth, and the limits which she proposes for herself, would not necessarily bring her into collision with Western Europe, far less with America. England and France have gone beyond their true national spheres of action, and have invaded hers; and yet they spread through the world the cry that they have been forced into a war in self-defence, on behalf of the rights of man. Russia may overwhelm them with a greatness acquired by a growth as legitimate as that of other powerful nations, but she will not make upon them aggressive war, though she may be compelled to wage long and bloody war, such as she is now carrying on, in self-defense. Russia will never attack America because we have chosen a Republican form of government. There is no more proba- bility of such an assault than that the Congress of the United States will declare war upon her because she acknowledges the Czar. The shaping of the affairs of nations is toward no such ends as these. A calm survey of the state of the world will be very likely to convince us, that danger will approach us from quite the opposite quarter, and that the future is far more likely to behold America and Russia as allies than as foes. The present policy of western Europe will no more admit of an alliance with the United States than with Russia herself, and the reasons for this are obvious and clear: First western Europe is now, and for the present must be, directed by the Papal Power, in a struggle for religious supremacy, and Russia in the East and the United States 368 THE KTJSSIAN EMPIKE. in the West, are the two great antagonists of the Eomish Church ; and a Protestant Eepublic is as cordially hated by the Papacy as even Imperial Eussia. Second, two forms of national life prevail in Christendom that are the antago- nisms of each other, and can not be made to harmonize. One is represented by England and France, and the other by the United States and Eussia. One is the growth and expansion of a central life over contiguous territory, and the other is the colonial or provincial system, which seeks to lay the remotest portions of the globe under contribution for the benefit of a distant and foreign center. One assimilates all that it touches, like the United States, and makes a common law and equal privilege co-extensive with the limits of dominion and population ; the other, like Great Britain and France, exhausts the distant and subjected province to increase the wealth and luxury of the masters at home. This is a necessary and unalterable condition of their power. At home they have reached the limit of growth in territory, and nearly so in population, but they may still increase their wealth, luxury, and power, if through their armies and their fleets they can force the other portions of the globe into the condition of colonies, dependent upon, and tributary to them. Eussia and the United States are the only two nations of earth that are capable of indefinite enlargement by a growth which extends itself over adjacent and comparatively unoccupied territo- ries, uniting all that they embrace in one political organi- zation. In front of the march of both these nations lie rich and almost boundless possessions, held either by dynasties tot- tering to their fall, or by communities and races incapable of national development. Before Eussia lies the wasted and almost empty, yet glorious East, destitute of civilization and Christianity. Before the United States is a Western THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. 369 world, whose almost fabulous fertility the East can not rival, a double continent, whose vast area south of the Union is occupied mostly by those who will never bless it with rational liberty, or a Protestant civilization. But by the growth of Eussia in the East, and the progress of the United States in the West, the great colonial scheme which France and England are endeavoring to extend in both hemi- spheres is in danger of being straitened and limited. On the one hand, Eussia threatens to expand over Turkey, the Euxine, the Hellespont, and the Caspian, with a frontier still advancing Eastward ; on the other, the United States seem likely to overgrow the even now vanishing Mexico, and where the southern boundary of the Union may become stationary can scarcely be predicted at present. The system of France and England comes into collision with Eussia on the shores of the Black Sea and the Helles- pont, and for precisely similar reasons they propose to meet us in the West Indies and Central America. Eussia would incorporate Turkey — the Allies would hold those countries of the East as colonies. The United States meditate the extension of the Eepublic southward. France, England, and Spain would arrest our progress, and retain as tribu- taries the territories that we might annex and bless with a Protestant faith and free institutions. Eussia deems her mission to be to give Christianity and civilization to the East, through the instrumentality of eighty millions of Sclavonians. The United States regard it as their " manifest destiny " to extend the influence of Protestant Eepublicanism over these western continents, through the Anglo-Saxon race ; to fill all these lands with the power and glory of a distinctive American civilization. The East is the future theater of Sslavonian life — the West belongs to America. The two Powers will not come into hostile collision, but they may 370 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. yet meet in peace in the Chinese seas, and co-operate in extending commerce, civilization and Christianity there. Two things must come to an end before the world can have either liberty or permanent peace : the power of the Eoman Catholic Church, and the commercial despotism which England, by the aid of France, would establish on the seas. Two questions are before the world : Shall the Papacy once more be permitted to rule the nations? shall France and England prescribe limits to the growth of Eussia and America? To the last of these questions Sebastopol is giving an answer not easily to be forgotten ; but the Allies have pro- vided a far more decisive one themselves, by the operations of their Baltic fleets. The experiments which they have lately made will probably effect as complete a revolution in naval war as the genius of Eussia has wrought in the defense of fortifications. France and England, in the Baltic and the Sea of Azoff, have broken the right arm of their power, and the terror of their mighty navies is gone for- ever. By that single experiment with light vessels, they have made America more than the equal of them both. They have demonstrated that the most effective ships of war are precisely those with which the United States can cover the ocean, almost without effort, and in whose constrnction and management she stands without a rival. The Allies boast much that they have proved the small importance of stone walled fortifications, but unfortunately for their naval supremacy hereafter, they have also demonstrated the utter worthlessness of those unwieldly leviathans that form their navies, and henceforth naval warfare must assume a new character, and the worthlessness and insecurity of war-ships may yet be in direct proportion to their bulk. The Eussian three deckers sunk in the harbor of Sebaa- THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 371 topol or anchored within the walls of Cronstadt, have been quite as useful, and far less expensive, than those of the French and English at sea. They have made an imposing but empty show, while the actual service has been performed by light steamers, scarce large enough to be the tenders of a line of battle ship. The all-important fact thus brought out for the consideration of the world is, that the huge ships which constitute the present great navies of the world may be regarded as obsolete, may indeed in the calcula- tion of naval strength, be left almost entirely out of the account. For nothing is more certain than that a swift, active little steamer, large enough to mount even but a single heavy gun of longest range, might be a most dangerous antagonist to the hugest liner that floats. For the construc- tion and equipment of small, swift steamers, both Eussia and America possess unlimited resources, and the lesson which has been taught in the Baltic and Euxine by the Allies will ere long be practiced against themselves. Rus- sia need not long deplore the want of a navy, or trained seamen. She can build as many war steamers of small or medium size as her necessities may demand, and she will need on board of them not so much seamen as gunners, and these she can supply. This experiment has clearly shown the capabilities of the TJuited States, and has really placed us in the first rank of the naval Powers of the world, and if England, as she threatens now, should exercise again her so-called rights of search, these capabilities may be tested. In the change which steam and heavy guns are effecting in naval warfare, England and France combined will not be able to rule the seas. America has little cause to fear their navies ; she has but to arm her steamers. The plundering expeditions of the Baltic and the Sea of AzofF, can not be 372 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. repeated here, and perhaps the " Transatlantic cousins" may yet have a word to say about the wintering of the Baltic fleets in the Gulf of Mexico. America can darken the whole Gulf, and line her coasts, if need he, with steamers that would be very perplexing, even to such ships as the Agamemnon, and Napoleon; and the " interminable forests" of Eussia will some day be found afloat. CHAPTER XXX. The Success of the Allies would Destroy all Present Hope for the " Nationalities." At the commencement of the war, a vast majority of the friends of free institutions, hoth in Europe and America, helieved that if Eussia could be humbled and forced back- ward, a signal, perhaps a decisive, triumph would thus be won for the cause of popular rights, and the deliverance of the oppressed nations would speedily come. The Allies were thought to be sincere when they raised the battle cry, "Liberty against despotism — civilization against barbar- ism." But the delusion is swiftly passing away, and it is not unlikely that the most ardent friends of democracy in Europe may ere long sigh for the success of Eussia, as their only hope. The warning just given to America by Kossuth, in regard to the "right of search," is indicative perhaps of a new vision of the future ; for he knows full well that just in proportion as that warning is heeded, will America be placed in opposition to~the Allies, and by the side of Eussia. There is, indeed, reason for the United States to be watchful and prepared, when motions for a strict blockade are made in Parliament, when it is strongly supported by powerful journals, and when public meetings " enthusiastically" cheer the proposition to enforce again the " old English right of 374 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKB. Bearch " as the surest method of terminating speedily the war. The war, on the part of the Allies, is emphatically one against freedom every where, on land and sea. It is against the liherty of Eussia and America to develope without hin- drance their national life, against the freedom of commerce, and against the establishment of civil or religious freedom in Europe. France and England are no less determined to maintain and perpetuate the despotic governments of west- ern Europe, and prevent the ascendancy of the popular element, than they are to cripple and repress Bussia, if possible. Preedom for the people is not in all their thoughts. The character of this Western Alliance is too clear now to be mistaken longer. It is essentially a union of the Latin nations, with France at their head — a Eoman Catho- lic combination, to which England, in an evil hour, has attached herself, and whose leaders now show an intention to force into it the small Protestant Powers of the North — in short, to treat as enemies those who will not join them. It promises, indeed, to produce a true world-battle in the end. The success of this movement would of course give once more, as has been already stated, the supremacy to the Papal Church over all of western Europe, and this result England could not prevent. Where then would be one remaining ray of hope for the friends of free institutions ? The Catholic Church, if once more restored to power, would be in practice what she has ever been in theory — the un- swerving friend of despotism, and the enemy of human rights. The civil and ecclesiastical tyrannies would, as of old, support each other, and trample out the light of intel- ligence and freedom together. If this is accomplished, the deliverance of the populations THE B0SSIAN EMPIKB. 375 of Europe must be indefinitely postponed. The double- headed despotism of Church and State will then rule through their dark and bloody day, until one wide uprising of the wrathful people shall hurl Europe into chaos and unbelief again — to be recovered, alas ! when and how ? Let it be supposed on the other hand that England and France are broken and thrown back from their invasion of Russia, she meanwhile, being made to feel that the sym- pathies of the people and especially of Americans are with her ; then this blow would fall on dynasties, not on liberty ; it would smite on the thrones and aristocracies of Westera Europe, and not on the people and their cause. Then with the pressure of despotic power removed, and the scepter of spiritual tyranny broken, the deliverance of the nations into the light and freedom of popular institu- tions might come. Against the people of Europe united in the defence of rational liberty, Eussia would have neither the design nor the ability to make war. In any war which the people of Europe might wage with an aggressive des- potism, they would find America by their side. Nor is the progress of Russia Eastward, or the working out of her national policy, incompatible with the constitutional free- dom of Western Europe, or with the growth and prosperity of our American Republic. The true despotism which threatens the power of the world dwells not in Russia, but in Western Europe, with the Papal Church as the ecclesiastical center of power. Rus- sia is free from spiritual despotism on the one hand, nor does she desire on the other to establish a tyranny upon the seas, or to reduce all lands to the condition of colonial territories. She contains within herself the elements of salutary change, which will inevitably liberalize the form and working of her institutions. A few years of progress, and of friendly intercourse with a people really free, and 376 THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. the transforming power of commerce and manufactures will place the people of Eussia in a position where they can not be led into an aggressive war upon free institutions. Her order of nobility, based on merit, between the peas- antry and the birth-right aristocracy, is the basis of a true middle class that will in the end become the safe-guard of freedom. Her serfs will be soon emancipated ; her municipalities are true germs of more popular institutions ; and rational freedom based upon the religious sentiment may yet be established in Eussia without the shock of revolution. Her national aim is not to impose upon others her own form of government, but to unite and elevate the Sclavonian race. Institutions are but an instrument for the accomplishment of her purposes. They will be modified by changing cir- cumstances, and the more rapidly in proportion as she succeeds in her new career of self-cultivation, as the mul- tiplication of her manufactures stimulates mental activity at home, and as the extension of her commerce increases her intercourse with the world. But it is said that if Eus- sia is not checked she will throw over the world the dark shadow of her barbarism. This is simply to mislead by the power of odious epithets. The Sclavonian civilization, so far from being a barbar- ism, is rising above the horizon with rich promise to the world. The race that has constructed a Eussia, faulty in some points though the structure is, aided by the Poles and other branches of the Sclavonian family, as they most certainly will be, will yet spread over the East, in a sphere of their own, a civilization worthy of the nineteenth cen- tury. Which nation at this moment really deserves the epithet barbarian : Eussia who has calmly and heroically breasted the most terrific assault of modern times, await- ing within her defences the attack of her invaders, or THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. 377 France and England, visiting with conflagration, and plun- der, and brutal outrage, everj peaceful village on her shores that they can reach with their boats? Should Eussia even succeed to the farthest stretch of her ambition, have the "nationalities" more to fear from her then, than from a Papal Empire lording it over Eu- rope ? Will America have more reason to dread her even then, than that Power which has twice made war upon her liberties already, which oppressed and insulted her while she could, which meditates aggression still, and which studies opposition and repression at every point of our pro- gress ? America and Eussia will give new forms of civiliza- tion to the world, of a higher order than any which Europe has yet produced, or will be capable of until the Papal Power is broken. They will find that in Eoman Catholic Europe they have a common foe to meet, and they will have common interests to defend. If England chooses the friendship of France and the Papacy, if she assumes the office of Dictator for the nations, she must be content without the aid or friend- ship of America. But if she disengages herself from that ill-starred alli- ance, and gives her strength in earnest to the cause of human freedom, confining herself meanwhile within her appropriate sphere of action, her " Trans-Atlantic Cousins" will forget the past, and become her steadfast friends. If otherwise, that Anglo-French alliance rnay produce another, that will test her utmost strength both by land and sea. There is danger that cheers for the " right of search " may be answered by the roar of shotted guns. 32 CHAPTER XXXI. Sebastopol and the Future. , This work was commenced early in 1855, and now, at the close of the second campaign of the war, it affords gratifi- cation to the author to know that his original conception of its causes and character, as well as the general spirit and aims of the hook stand supported by the events which have occurred up to the present hour. The evacuation of south- ern Sebastopol, under the circumstances in which it occurred, has fixed no stain upon the honor of Eussia. The prestige of her heroic defense remains unimpaired, and she stands as yet on more than equal terms with her foes. The world is made to ring with shouts of triumph at the success of the Allied arms, and yet the real victory remains with Bussia. The truth of this assertion will readily appear from a candid consideration of the facts. The two most powerful fleets, and the two best appelated armies of our times, combining the science, skill and strength of the two great nations of western Europe, the work, at least on the part of France, of years of special preparation, appeared suddenly before a single Eussian fortress, at the extremity of her empire, to which troops and supplies could be for- warded only with extreme difficulty, because the naval superiority of France and England enabled them to shut (378) THE EtJSSIAN BMPIBE. 379 tile Eussian fleet in harbor, and completely to command the sea. The Allies were in direct communication with all the resources which their respective countries could supply, with ahuhdant means of cheap and rapid transport. Nothing was wanting which France and England, and indeed all western Europe, could furnish. With this combined army of selected troops, the very elite of the two countries, they sat down before that fortress, bringing to their aid whatever skill and science could suggest, and then ranging their formidable fleets before its walls, commenced such a joint attack by land and sea as had not been witnessed in modern times. Let it not be forgotten that the whole military power of France and England had been concentrated and brought to bear upon this single point of the defenses of Russia, and tha,t to fail in reducing the fortress in the ordinary manner, and in the usual time, especially when it was accessible both to fleets and armies, was in itself a signal defeat, a forced acknowledgment both of the skill and courage of the Eus- sian garrison. Not only was the first bombardment, long and obstinate as it was, a complete failure — not only did those formidable fleets never venture before the forts again — ^but at the set- ting in of winter, the defenses of the town remained abso^ lutely intact, and indeed were rendered, by the science of the Eussian engineers and the laborious courage of the soldiers, far stronger than at first. France and England fought there with every possible advantage so far as the supply of men and warlike stores was concerned; and the sea and railway brought soldiers guns, ammunition — what- ever was needed — to the very trenches; and, moreover, they were the besiegers, which alone, in modern warfare, has been considered as decisive of the issue of the contest. 380 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. Eussia, excluded from the sea, was compelled to meet this tremendous attack by drawing her resources from an immense distance, and transporting them across a difficult country — an achievement which the Allied governments declared at first impossible, but which became practicable to the perseverance and energy of the Emperor and his officers, and the patient endurance of his troops. With an almost overwhelming advantage in favor of the attack, Bussia has accomplished what has not been done before in modern war. For almost a full year she held France and England at bay, baifling every attempt, or causing every inch of ground gained by her foes to be drenched in the best blood of two kingdoms. Finally, after a bombardment whose fire surpassed, probably, every similar effi)rt made at any time by an attacking force, an assault was made in which the Allies were hurled back from every point but one, and were six times repulsed from the Malakoff itself, and then the Ens- sian garrison was withdrawn from the southern side of the city in such perfect order as to lose scarce a hundred men in the passage, and southern Sebastopol shared the fate of Smolensko and Moscow, its fortifications were blown up, the ships in the harbor were sunk, and the Allies had nothing before them, when the Eussians were gone, but heaps of bloody ruins. Ten thousand or more of their own soldiers had been slain in the combat, and southern Sebastopol lay unsur- rendered, a mass of fragments, merely evacuated, but not yet captured, for it lies commanded by the guns of the forts and bristling batteries on the north side of the harbor, and whether it can be occupied until these are reduced is an undecided question. It is claimed by the Eussians that the north side is stronger than the south was, and if so, then Sebastopol is yet to be taken. In regard to the present THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 381 position of the Kussian army, a writer' of high authority in the London Morning Herald gives the following deeply interesting account. He was attached to the English army in the Crimea, and therefore writes from personal observa- tion, and certainly with no disposition to present in too strong a light the defenses of Eussia. He says that after the battle of Inkerman the Allies were so much reduced that it was doubtful whether they would be able to keep the field until the arrival of rein- forcements, and that during the winter the siege was virtu- ally raised. This is now a well known fact. The garrison of Sebastopol being thus left to itself was by no means idle, and was able to perform an important work which this writer thus describes : — " They were enabled to complete and perfect a line of earthworks stretching on the north side from the Belbek to the valley of Inkerman, and above all to throw up the tremendous works which cover the road leading to the north side by Traktir Bridge and Makenzie's farm. They were able also to fortify the rocky pass which leads from Bak- tcheserai to Sebastopol, and to cover with new batteries and earthworks, the whole ridge of the heights of Alma. Thus they secured themselves from any movement of the Allies toward the north side, from any advance upon Baktcheserai by way of Kertch, and from any attempts of the Turks from Eupatoria. " With these defenses the Allies will now have to cope, in their advance upon the n/yrth side. " Your readers, I presume, are already well acquainted with the fact that the plain of Balaklava is inclosed by a steep, precipitous ridge of chalk cliffs, which vary from five hundred to one thousand feet in height, and stretch almost from the water's edge at the head of the harbor of Sebas- topol across the plain to the bridge of Traktir. The heights 382 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. thus far run due north and south ; at Traktir Bridge, they fall hack a little, and, turning at a right angle run east and west for about three miles, when they again form an angle, and trend away to the south to Yalta. The second angle where they turn to the south, is Makenzie's farm. The space inclosed in the angle which Makenzie's farm denominates is a level waste, productive of nothing appa- rently hut large stones. Crossing Traktir, the road wends across the waste I have mentioned, and under the heights. Every part of this road, I need not say, is commanded hy Eussian redoubts and batteries on the summit of the cliffs. To take these heights from the front would be utterly impossible, they are too steep to be scaled by any but expert climbers. They could only be turned, and that could only be accomplished by forcing the Makenzie road. " This famous road is distant from Traktir Bridge about two miles. Formerly all communication with the north side of Sebastopol by this route was shut out by the cliffs, and it was only about fifteen years ago, that the Eussian troops were employed in cutting the Makenzie road. It commences at the foot and in the center of the chain of cliffs that runs east and west from the bridge to the farm. It is cut in the face of the difF, a path about twelve feet wide and stretching upward from the plain in a perfectly straight line into the angle in which Makenzie's farm is situated. Therefore, in ascending the road (which is so steep as to be almost useless for purposes of ordinary traffic) the cliffs tower above on the left hand, while on the right is a sheer descent to the plain below, varying in depth from one hundred to six hundred feet. It is this road which the Eussians covered with redoubts and batteries during the winter. Cut across it are no less than eight batteries, each one rising above the other at a distance of about two hun- dred yards apart. THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 383 "When the road reaches the top of the ridge a whole mass of guns, from the heights on the left, and the heights of Makenzie's farm in front, bear fuU upon it. Any army- attempting to force this road must march from Traktir Bridge, with its left flank exposed to such a ' mitraille ' as would annihilate even bronze troops, to the foot of the Makenzie road a distance of two miles without returning a shot. Then while the main body stands under this fire, the storming columns (which can only go twelve abreast at the most) must advance up the Makenzie road against the works I have already mentioned. There is no other way of turning these formidable heights, or gaining the north side of Sebastopol from Balaklava, by land. " Now, do your readers think that in the face of these obstacles, the ' march' round to the north side will be under- taken in the off-hand style our military critics at home seem to expect? Or do they think that the Allies will try to force their way by this route at all? I certainly doubt that they will, and give the Allied commanders credit for possessing more judgment than ever to attempt it ; for though the troops that took the south side of Sebas- topol might dare anything, yet I think that even Pelissier will pause before attacking the Makenzie road. In such an attack we might be unsuccessful, and we mitst be pre- pared to hse half our army?' The author closes with the opinion that any movement on the north side is impossible at this late season, and that the campaign must be com- menced in the spring by a new hatth of the Alma, whose heights are now much more strongly fortified than before. Such is the north side of Sebastopol, while the Eussian forts and bastions, as has already been stated, still command the harbor, and the south side. The most important part of the celebrated fortress is still held by the Eussians, and is thus defended. 884 THE SUSSIAN EMPIRE. But events can not be anticipated. These northern de- fences may perhaps be captured, the whole Crimea may be temporarily lost to Eussia, but this will not compel her to a humbling peace. It will touch her pride, but not the sources of her life or the foundations of her power. The tide of her growth may be checked or even rolled back, but the next swell will prove a " flood " that will sweep beyond all previous limits. The East is the inheritance of Eussia, and she wUl ultimately come to the possession- She grows at the rate of about a million and a half a year, and her resources, almost untouched as yet, are inexhaust- ible for centuries. The Allies and their friends are shouting and illumi- nating and marching in gay processions in honor of victory, and it is well thus to veil realities from view. But how stands the account in the light of an impartial judgment? After a struggle protracted by the science, skill, and courage of the Eussians beyond all former precedent, when circumstances are considered, one half of a fortress has been evacuated, having first been laid in ruins by its de- fenders ; but to efifect this, the reduction of part of one of the remote defences of the Empire, the whole power of France and England has been employed for a year, and it has cost them, as is said, one thousand million of dollars and more than one hundred thousand of the finest troops of Western Europe. They boast of having found seventy millions sterling worth of cannon and other military stores in Sebastopol. Can they afibrd to make many such purchases of cannon ? At this cost and with such results, how long can France and England continue this war? If Eussia retires within her interior defences, who will follow her, and how long can France and England shut her in? Should they succeed THE RUSSIAN EMPIKE. 385 in capturing the Crimea, who will hold it, and how will it he secured ? The "running sore" that the French Emperor hoasted of having opened for draining the life of Eussia will be transferred to the side of France and England. Can France and England afford the cost of retaining the Cri- mea ? Will they agree concerning the ownership and mode of occupation? Eussia's line of communication with Asia is all unbroken. She stretches around the Black Sea, and her armies lie to the emtward of Constantinople, and Seb- astopol is not the only port of the Euxine. Eussia has indeed lost her Black Sea ileet. But have not the experi- ments with light steamers with guns of long range demon- strated that she does not need such another, and also, that the navy which she does require can be speedily equipped when the opportunity comes? In fact, Eussia has already been engaged in constructing a new fleet, while that in the harbor of Sebastopol was about to be destroyed. The dock-yards at Nikolaieff are, and have been, in full operation, and it will soon be per- ceived that Eussia's naval power in the East was not confined to — did not even center at — Sebastopol. A revolution in naval warfare seems inevitable, and it is by no means certain that even the naval power of Eussia is permanently crippled. The heavy ships of the Allies have been as useless as those of Eussia are beneath the waves. It is yet too early to decide with confidence that the Czar must remain without a navy in the Eastern waters. The evacuation of the southern side of Sebastopol has changed the aspect of the contest favorably for the Eussians, unless the Allies are strong enough to defeat the Eussian army in the field, and cut off its final retreat, for the north side commands the south side, and the harbor. New batteries a 3 386 THE RUSSIAN EMPIBE. and defenses of all kinds are being erected, while the North Star Fort alone is a most formidable work. It may prove that the new position of the Kussians is stronger than the first, and certainly it can not be attacked until the army in the field can be destroyed. A short time will decide whether this can be done. One fact however is important. The choicest troops of France and England sleep under the walls of Sebastopol — the elite of Eussia's soldiers, the Grenadiers and the Guards, have not yet been in the Crimea. Should they reach the scene before a general action, the Allies will probably need all their prowess. These near events, though they ghoM prove disastrous to Eussia, and even compel the evacuation of the entire Crimea, will but slightly affect the remoter future. The retreat of Eussia is often more fatal to her foes than her attack. If she abandons the Crimea, she will leave it a waste ; and if the Allies occupy it, it will be their turn to defend. The attack on Sebastopol may, and probably will, prove in the end the most disastrous undertaking ever planned by the Western Powers, because it has been written on the burning heart of Russia, and its memory wiU wait there, even a century, if need be, for the hour of vengeance. Henceforth, France, England, and Turkey are safe only till Eussia's hour of strength and retribution shall come-^ as come it must, and will. The present may, perhaps, belong to the Allies, but let them beware of the future. Eussian soldiers stood in Paris after the burning of Moscow. The opinion so confidently asserted that the Czar would be at once compelled to sue for peace, because his army had been compelled to evacuate and blow up a part of even the formidable Sebastopol, is simply absurd. Lieutenant Gen* eral Sir George Brown, who commanded in the Crimea THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. 387 during the siege, declares that " Eussia is the most gigan- tic military power ever seen on earth," and that her artillery has never been equaled. Such a nation, counting seventy million people, is not to be crushed, or even humbled, thus. Taking into consideration the whole course of the conflict, since the landing of the Allied armies in the Crimea, and she has not failed to exact blood for blood. She knows full well that such successes as France and England have gained will exhaust them in the end, and she can afford to stand on the defensive and wait her time. Sebastopol is not yet taken. She can not be driven from the north side, if she chooses to hold it, except by such another siege as the southern portion has cost already, and her guns yet command the harbor. If she is beaten in a pitched battle, and forced back to Perekop, then her army is at a point where very soon the Moscow railway will sup- ply troops and stores more easily than her adversaries can obtain them even by sea. The world may be assured that France and England will strike no blow at Eussia which will not be returned, and Sebastopol will yet be avenged. The occupation of Constantinople by the Czar may pos- sibly be hastened by the very war designed to prevent it, for Eussia is now unshackled by any obligation, and no necessity of respecting the wishes of the rest of Europe exists now, and the moment she obtains the power, she will make the East her own. That moment may, and may not be remote, but it will come. Eussia is capable both of eifort and endurance, which neither France nor England can make or bear, and unless she can be annihilated, she will conquer in the end. Disasters will only force her in upon her centers to prepare for the recoil ; and neither danger nor suffering has ever shaken the constancy of the people, or destroyed the morale of her army. The retreat from the southern side of Sebastopol, after 388 THE RUSSIAN EMPIEB. that terrible conflict, was in perfect order, showing neither panic nor discouragement. Whatever stores were needed had been removed ; the whole had been foreseen and pro- vided for, and laying dead more than ten thousand of their foes by a final blow, (twenty thousand, as stated by good authority, were killed and wounded), they blew up their defenses and retired, as at Borodino, to a new position, where the enemy did not dare to foUow. They suflered heavily themselves, but they were not dispirited, and it may safely be predicted that any victory gained over them during the future progress of the war, will cost at least its value. To hold Russia permanently back by the strength of armies, is beyond the power of her adversaries, and to re-construct the "nationalities" as a living barrier, is to revolutionize Europe and overturn its thrones. A cage for the Eussian bear is a difficult thing to construct. One of the most important results of the war, thus far, is one whose importance is not yet fully perceived, viz : it has disclosed the fact that England is no longer a great military power. France has succeeded in displaying her weakness before the eyes of the world, and she has done it with evident satisfaction. England alone at Sebastopol would have been crushed at a blow. She has yet strong hearts and hands, it is hoped, for the defense of her own territory, but she can no more carry on a great war abroad. She has become a satellite of France, and already, as pre- dicted in preceding pages, the Eoman Catholic Church is the ascendant power in Western Europe, and France is the champion of the Papacy. Protestantism, at this moment, exerts scarce an influence in the councils of Europe, and two Powers only of earth prevent now the universal re-establishment of Eomanism in its most hateful forms — Eussia in the East, and Protestant America in the West ; and these two nations will be drawn THE R,USSIAN EMPIRE. 389 into closer relations ty a consciousness of common interests and a common danger. Since the late success of the Allies, the London Times declares that the French Alliance may last long enough to settle the Western Turkish Qmstion. Such expressions are not lightly made. They indicate the real designs of France and England, and if they do not attempt an interposition in our affairs, it will only be because they haye not the power to insure success. But any triumph which France and England may gain in the East or the West will be from necessity of short duration. The future hastens. Ere the close of the cen- tury, the natural progress of Eussia and America will give to each a hundred million of people, while the other Powers of Europe must remain nearly stationary in population. The Eoman Catholic confederacy, now forming under France, has its doom already written on the prophetic pages, and the two ruling Powers of the not remote future, the American and Sclavonian races, are just now stepping upon the arena of national life, and two new forms of civilization must hereafter occupy the attention of the world. Against the expanding life of these two rising nations, France and England have chosen to array themselves, and they must abide the issue. As has been said, Kussia and America represent one great system of national life — that of self-protection and home development. France and England are endeavoring to impose upon both the exact opposite, a policy which would subject all nations to a state of dependency on their capital and their workshops, leaving in their treasuries the profits both of manufactures and of commerce. Between these systems there is a perfect antagonism, and they will from necessity, if France and England retain their present spirit, be brought into collision in both hemispheres. 390 THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE. The whole policy of the Allies will constrain them to repress American growth, if they have the power. Kussia and America are the only two Powers of earth that have before them an expanding future, and they will be drawn together by common general interests, and by a sense of common danger. The feeling of estrangement in regard to the Allies, and of sympathy with Eussia, growing daily stronger, and deepened by the hints and threats of England, is a true foreshadowing of the future. The Gulf of Mexico and the adjacent waters, are the " Black Sea" of the West, and France and England are determined that we shall neither control it, nor obtain its Sebastopol, even by honor- able purchase. Will America submit to the Dictatorship ? THE END. ^^^^^^ILSTACH,^^^^ « ^ 25 IVEST FOtTRTH STREET, CINCIINNATI. -» Printers, Binders, Publishers, Stationers, AND MANUFACTUEEES OF PAGED BLANK BOOKS, ETC. SEAI.ERS IN SCIENTIFIC, SCHOOL, MISCELLANEOUS, MUSIC, HTMlSr & BLANK BOOKS, WHOLESALE AND EETAIL. MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS &. CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. The American Eclectic Dispensatory — By JOHN KING-, M. D., Professor in the Cincinnati Eclectic Med- ical Institute. One Volume, large Octavo, 1396 pages. The second edition is just ready, and the prospect is that further editions will soon be demanded, so great is the growing interest felt in the principles of the American Eefoem Peachtioners oi' Medicim:. Good Ou) School Authoeiiy. — The "American Jmmal of Phar- macy," speaks of the work as follows : " We have taken some pains to give it a careful examination, although pressed for time. >> o o The numerous Plants which are brought forward, as Eclectic Eeme- dies, embrace many of undoubted value. * " <* The work embodies a large number of facts of a therapeutical character, which deserve to be studied. Many of these are capable of being adopted by Phy- sicians, especially by COUNTRY PHYSICIAJSS, who have the ad- vantage of more easily getting the Plants. * » » The attention which is now being given by the Eclectics, in classifying and arrang- ing facts and observations relative to American Plants, will certainly be attended with excellent results, s o o " The galenical preparations, extracts, syrups, tinctures, etc., peculiar to this Dispensatory, are mostly well-constructed prepara- tions, containing the virtues of the ingredients used ; and we have no doubt that many of them are valuable agents. An account of one of these we have copied. _ " It would afford us much pleasure to extract a number of the ar- ticles from the Eclectic Dishensatoet, that would give a better idea of the peculiar views and opinions of this set of practitioners ; but the length of this article acinonishes us to stop ; yet we cannot close without adjudging to Dr. Knso the merit of giving perspicuity and order to the vast mass of material collected under the name of Bo- tanical Medicine, and for his determination to oppose the wholesale quackery of Eclectic Chemical Institutes. The Eclectics have opened a wide field for the rational Therapeutist, and the organic Chemist ; and we hope that Physicians and Apothecaries will not be repelled by a Mse pride, or an unjust feeling of contempt, from reaping the har- vest which will accrue to observation and experiment." We add another extract or two : — " This volume is one which, in our opinion, the whole Medical Profession should be proud of. The work, comprising a much larger amount of knowledge than any other, relating to the indigenous Materia Medica — to results of American research in Organic Chem- istry, etc., seems to be emphatically an American work, and as such, is better adapted to our condition, and more applicable to the real wants of the Physicians of this country. " No one can fail to see, from an examination of this volume, that the medical resources of this country are being fast developed and systematized. Beside the remedies usually treated of in like works, this book contains an accurate description of about one hundred and fifty which are new, and many of which science hereby has rescued from blundering empiricism. About Ttirty, active or concentrated MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS &, CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. Medicinal Principles are treated of. These hold similar relations to the crude articles, from which they are derired, that Quinine holds to Peruvian Bark, and for convenience and reliability the Ec- lectic School claim they are unsurpassed." — Rochester Denwcrat. " The examination we have been able to give it, has convinced us that a very great deal of labor has been bestowed upon the produc- tion, and that it contains an account of a larger number of the Medical Plants indigenous to our country, than any other work with which we are acquainted." — Michigan Journal of Medicine. Lengthy reports, commendatory of the work, have heen made, and several Medical Colleges have adopted it as a text- book. The publishers are happy to say that they are constantly receiving orders from every portion of the country.— Price $6 00. King's Eclectic Obstetrics. — This work, announced some time since, and looked for so anxiously for several months past, is now in hand, and will be published soon. Jones & Morrow's American Eclectic Medical Practice. — Complete in Two Volumes, octavo, 1650 pages. Price $7 00. In these days of common sense in Medicine, all respectable Physi- cians are Eclectics. — Boston Medical and Surgical Journal. That the Eclectic Schools teach principles varying essentially from wjiat is taught in the Allopathic Colleges, is unmistakable. * ** The general and extensive adoption of vegetable remedies, a perfect and efficient understanding of their therapeutic properties, and of their applicability to diseased conditions of the body, constitute cardinal features of the Eclectic practice. — Worcester Jour. o/Medidne. It bears upon every page the stamp of Dr. J.'s vigorous, independ- ent and practical style of thought. Such a work has long been needed, and we rejoice to know that it has been produced. — Sr. Bu- chanan in JEclectic Medical Journal. The views maintained by the authors are stated with clearness and precision ; the style is flowing and lively, and the whole book is remarkably free from the verbiage which is such a general feature of medical treatises. — New York Tribune. Pulte's Homoeopathic Domestic Physician— Ee- vised, enlarged and illustrated with Anatomical Plates. Eighteenth Thousand. 1 Vol. 12mo. pp. 576. Price $1 50. It is very comprehensive, and very explicit. — N. T. Evangelist. A very Incid and useful hand-boot. Its popnlax language, and exclusion of dif- ficult terminology, are decided recommendations. Its success is good evidence of the value of the Vork.— iV. T. Times. °c,° Foe Home Practice, this work is recommended as superior to all others, by Dr. Vanderburgh, of New Tork, Drs. Hull and Eossman, of Brooklyn, Dr. Gran- ger, of St. Louis, and others of equal celebrity in different portions of the country. 2 MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS & CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. HomcEopathic Manual of Obstetrics — From th« Prencli of Dr. Croserio. By M. COTE, M. D., 1 Vol. 12mo. Second edition. Price 76 cts. It is one of those few practical works which will aid practitioners at the bedside of the sick, o » ^^ The volume may seem insig- nificant, because it contains only 153 pages ; but our readers can hardly conceive the amount of information which the author has contrived, in the clearest manner, to express in a few words, o o o The practice is purely Homoeopathic. — Am. Jour, of Sam. Typhoid Fever, and its Homoeopathic Treatment — ^By AUG. EAPOU, Doctor of Medicine, Paris. Translated by M. CoiB, M. D. 1 Vol. 12mo. Price 60 cts. A Homoeopathic Treatise on the Diseases of Children— By ALPH. TESTE. Translated from the Trench by Emma H. Cot^. The author of this work, an experienced practitioner of the homoe- opathic school, and resident physician at the baths of BagnoUs it I'Ome, in France, professes to have compiled its directions from voluminous files of notes taken in his practice. The pathological part, that is to say, the portion of it which describes the diseases, and points out the specific method of cure, occupies three-fourths of the volume. It is preceded by a treatise on the Hygiene of children, and some preliminary observations on the homoeopathic system, de- signed to remove the prejudices against it. The work is intended as a popular manual, to be read by mothers and others who pay some attention to domestic medicine. Its directions are not restrict^ to the period of absolute infancy, bu,t extend to the second stage of childhood. The author's methods of cure are marked by a simplicity which is not always found in such manuals ; and the reader is not embarrassed by a multitude of prescriptions depending on differ- ences in symptoms which are scarcely appreciable. Those who are in the habit of consulting works of this nature, will find in Dr. Teste's book, many things not to be met with elsewhere. — New York Evening Post. It is the only treatise on the homoeopathic plan, expressly devoted to the diseases of children. With great completeness of detail, it describes the principal diseases to which that age is subject, together with their appropriate remedies. As a manual of domestic practice, it must be welcome to the receivers of Hahnemann's system.— JVew York Tribune. A work of this kind has long been wanted. While the science of Homoeopathy has steadily increased in influence, it lias won the es- pecial favor of mothers— not all, but many— who are anxious to inform themselves to the utmost, concerning the nurture of their offspring. The plan of the book is admirable ; what it says is said plainly and gracefully ; while its directions seem so indispensable that we wonder how they have been foregone so long.— i" .Ecpress. MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS &, CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. Mrs. Ben. Darby — Or the Weal and Woe of So- cial Life, By A. MAEIA COLLINS. Third Edition, - One Volume, 12mo $1 00 " ! that men should put an enemy into their mouths to steal away their brains ! that we should with joy, revel, pleasure, and applause, transform ourselves into beasts." — Olhdlo. Early Engagements, and Florence — (A Se- quel). Second Edition. By SARAH MARSHALL HAYDEN. One neat Volume, 12mo 75 The Life of Blennerhassett — Comprising an au- thentic narrative of the celebrated expedition of Aarojj Buee, and containing many additional facts not heretofore published. By WILLIAM H. SAF- EOED. One Vol. 12mo. Cloth. Second Edition . 125 Life of Thomas Chalmers, D. D., L. L. D. — By Rev. JAMES C. MOFFAT, D. D., Professor of Latin and Lecturer on History in New Jersey College, Princeton. One Vol. 12mo. pp. 435. With a fine Portrait on steel. Third Edition. ... 1 25 After a careful perusal, we are convinced that it is supe- rior to any other life of the great Scottish champion of Free Church Principles. — Christian Advocate. Poetry of the Vegetable World — A popular exposition of the Science .of Botany, in its relations to man. By M. J. SCHLEIDEN, M. D., Professor of Botany in the University of Jena. Second Amer- ican, from the London Edition of Henfrey. Edited by Alphonso Wood, M. A., author of the " Class BooJc of Botany." One Volume. ... . 1 25 It is as interesting as the most attractive romance, as beau- tiful as nature, and as pleasing as the finest poem. — jBoston Atlas. It is, in the true sense of the words, a popular and philo- sophical account of the development and relation of plants. One of those modern labors of profound scholars, by which science is becoming intelligible and interesting to the mass of the world, without any loss of its professional accuracy and dignity. — Literarj/ World. The originality of its views, the poetic charm of its illus- trations, and the large amount of positive instruction which it imparts, will recommend it to every reader of taste and intelligence. — Harper's Magazine. MOORE, WILSTAOH, KEYS &, CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. The CoTirse of Creation— By JOHN ANDEE- SON, D. D., with a Glossary of Scientific Terms added to the American edition. With Numevous Mustrations. A popular work on Geology. Third Thousand. One Volume, 12mo. pp. 384. . . . $1 25 The simplest, most lucid, and satisfactory exposition of Geological Phenomena we have had the good fortune to meet with. — PhUaddphia Ohronide, Better adapted than any other in our language, to convey, in short space, to intelligent readers, an accurate view of the discoveries of this most interesting science. — Chrut. JSeraM. Scenes and Legends of the North of Scot- land—By HUGH MILLER, author of " Footprints of the Creator," etc., etc. Fourth Thousand. One Volume, 12mo. pp. 436 1 00 Home stories and legends in their native costume, and in fall life.— iV: T. Independent. The style has a purity and elegance which reminds one of Irving, or of Irving's master. Goldsmith. — London Spectator. Hart's Valley of the Mississippi — One Volume, 12mo. Cloth 88 A succinct Compilation from authentic documents, of facts in the history of the Mississippi valley, to the latest dates. The work hears the marks of industry and discrimination, — JV. T. Tnbum. Starting with its discovery and colonization by the French, and tracing its subsequent histcty, the author has grouped the most prominent events, and placed them before the resider in an attractive garb. — Nashville Banner. The Three Grreat Temptations of Young Men — ^With several Lectures addressed to Busi- ness and Professional men. By SAMUEL W. EISHER, D. D. One Vol., 12mo. pp. 336. Third Thousand 1 00 We shall put the book by upon one of the choice shelves of our private library. — Boston Gongregatumaldst. The style is bold, manly and vigorous, and in some por- tions very beautiful. ... In the name of the young men of our cities, we thank Dr. Fisher for preparing and sending forth so timely a volume. — Prediyterian Herald. A Buckeye Abroad — Or Wanderings in Europe and the Orient. By SAMUEL S. COX Third Edition. Elustrated 1 25 MOORE, WILSTACH, KEYS &, CO.'S PUBLICATIONS. Romanism, the Enemy of Education, of Free Institutions, and of Christianity — By N. L. EICE, D. D., Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church, St. Louis. Third Edition, one Volume, 12mo. Cloth $1 00 Eminently a took for the people, for the times, and for our country. — Frinceton Review. The style of the book is eminently popular — rapid, pointed, and suggestiTO. — N. Y. Evangelist. Rice and Blanchard's Debate on Slavery — Held in Cincinnati, in October, 1845. Fourth Thousand. One "Volume, 12mo 1 25 Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation — A book for the times, by an American Citizen, with an In- troductory Essay, by CALVIN E. STOWE, D. D. Twentieth Thousand. One Volume, 12mo. . . 63 Buchanan on Grape Culture, and Long- worth on the Strawberry — Pifth Eevised Edi- tion. One Volume, 12mo. pp. 144. Cloth. . . 63 The most reliable and complete work we have seen on the subject. — Downing's SorticuUurist. Will be found to convey the most opportune and valuable instruction to all interested in the subjects. — Nhill's Fruit and Fliywer Garden. Woman's Medical Guide — Containing Essays on the Physical, Moral, and Educational Develop- ment of Females, and the Homoeopathic treatment of their diseases, in all periods of life. Together with directions for the remedial use of Water and G-ymnastics. By J. H. PULTE, M. D., author or " Homoeopathic Domestic Physician." Second Thou- sand. One Volume, 12mo., pp. 332 1 00 As a contribution to popular hygeine, it may be ranked among the most judicious and instructive works on the subject that have yet been given to the publid The delicate topics of which it treats are discussed with great propriety of senti- ment and language, while the copious information with which it abounds, is adapted to lead to the formation of correct and salutary habits. — iV. Y. Tribune. The Sacred Melodeon — On a new system of No- tation. Designed for the use of Churches, Singing Societies, and Academies. By A. S. Hayden. Thir- tieth Thousand 7f P U L T E'S HOMCEOPATHIC DOMESTIC PHYSICIAN ILLUSTRATED WITH ANATOMICAL PLATES. " A very lucid and useful hand-book. Its popular language, and exclu- sion of difficult terminology are decided recommendations. Its success is good evidence of the value of the work." — N. Y, Times, " This appears to be a very successful publication. It has now reached As third edition, which is a revised and enlarged one; and we learn from the title page that eight thousand copies have been published. Various addi- tions have been made to the Homoeopathic directions, and the anatomical part of the work has been illustrated with engravings. The work has re- ceived the approbation of several of our most eminent practitioners." — Evening Post. " A nicely printed volume, and it appears to be a finished one of its kind. It embraces all possible directions for the treatment of diseases, with elab- orate descriptions of symptoms, and an abridged Materia Medica." — Bosten Post. " It is very comprehensive and very explicit." — N. Y. Evangelist. " Though not at present exclusively confined to the medical profession, we have been consulted, during the past year, in some fifty or sixty cases, some of which, according to the opinion of the far-sighted and sagacious, were very bad and about to die, and would die if trusted to Homoeopathy, and some were hopeless, which are now a wonder unto many in the change which the homceopathic treatment alone effected. Kow what of all this ? Why, just this, we have used Dr. Pulte's book for our Directory ; we have tested it as a safe counselor ; — and we say to our friends who have wished we would get up a book for them, just get Pulte's Domestic Physician and the remedies, and set up for yourselves." — Cattaraugus Chronich. "I have recommended it to my patients as being — for conciseness, pre- cision, and practical utility — unsurpassed either in my native or adopted country." — Dr. Granger of St. Louis. " The plan and execution of Pulte's Homoeopathic Domestic Physician, render it in my opinion the best work of its kind extant for popular use. " EGBERT ROSMAN, M. D., "Brooklyn." " I have found, upon careful perusal, ' The Domestic Physician,' by Dr. Pulte, to be concise and comprehensive in its description of diseases, and accurate in the application of remedies ; but its chief advantage over othei works of the same design, appears to me, to be the facility with which it is understood by the lay practitioner. I consider it a valuable and useful book of reference in domestic practice. The professional ability and extensive practical experience of the author, are alone sufficient recommendation for Its value. A. COOKE HULL, M. D., 76 State St., Brooklyn. "' ^ViU prove nwre generally useful, tnan any otner worK yei publislied on Geology " THE COURSE OF CREATION: By John Andehson^D. D., of New- burgh, Scotland. With a Glossary of Scientific Terms. 1 vol. 12mo. Illustrated, $1.25. '* It treats chiefly of the series of rocka hetween the Alps and the Grampians. It is thoronghly scientific, but popular in its style and exceedingly entertaining."— Ziom'a Herald. " TtaE aathor's style is clear and engaging, and nis graphic descriptions seem to con- vey the reader at once into the fields of geological research to observe for himself," — Ohio Observer. "Another valuable contribntion to the cause of truth and sound science. Its value is very much enhanced by thte Glossary of Scientific Terms appended to it by the pub- lishers; for scarcely any one of the sciences has a larger number of terms with which ordinary readers are unacquainted than Geology." — Presbyterian of the West. " We commend the volume to all who would be instrocted in the wonderful works of God. Chapters such as that on the "Economic History of Coal," and those on ''Or* ganic Life" and ** Phyeical and Moral Progression," have a special value for the stu- dent of divine Providence."— JV. Y. Independent. "Dr. Anderson is evidently well skilled in geology, and writes with a freedom and vivacity rivaled by no writer on the subject — except Hugh Miller." — Metliodist Quarterly Review. "This book is intended for general readers, — and such readers will be entertained by it, — but it is none the less thorough^ and enters boldly into geological inquiry." — Boston Advertiser. " One of the most interestir.g and valuable works on Geology that we have ever met with. The author is a thoroughly scientific man; — but his scientific accuracy does not prevent tlie work from being understood by unscientific readers, it is a verj/ readable book.'* — Louisville Journal. «' By reading this book a person can obtain a general knowledge of the whole subject." — Western Star. • * • " Highly honorable to the writer and honorable to the publishers." — Boston Vongregationali-st. "This valuable volume was printed, is well as published, in Cincinnati; and it speaks as well for the literary society of that city, as for the enterprise of the publish- ers, and the taste and skill of the typographer." — Boston Post. "It is one of the significant signs of the times that we should be receiving a work like this, from a city that had scarcely an existence fifty years ago, got up in a style of elegance, that ranks it beside the finest issues of the pbblisliing houses of Boston and New York. This fact, however, is but the smallest element of interest that attaches to the volume. It is one of those noble contributions lo natural science, in its relation lo revealed religion, which in the writings of Hugh Miller, King, Brewster, and otliers have conferred new luster on the honored name of Scotland. • ■ * The concluding chapter is a sublime questioning of Geology, as to the testimony she g'ives lo a Creator, Bomeivhat after the manner of the Scholia, to Newton's Principia, and is one of the noblest portions of the work." — Richmond, Fa., Watchman and Observer. "The science of Geology is attracting more and more attention. * * • That whicn was once a gigantic chaos, has become developed inttt a system bBaOtifollj sym- tti9trical, and infinittely graiid." — Mercantile C&u.rier. SEPyiCE AFLOAT AND ASHORE during the Mexican War : By Lieut. Raphael Semmes, U. S. N., late Flag- Lieutenant of the Home Squadron, and Aid-de-camp of Major-General Worth, in the battles of the Valley of Mexico. 1 vol. 8vo, ®1.75. Illustrated with numerous lithographs, in beautiful sl^le, by Onken, and an official map. " He has given to the public a very attractive Tvork upon Mexico Iself, as well as upon the Mexican war." — Charleston (S. C.) Standard. " His original descriptions are drawn with great felicity. He is a lively and spirited narrator. His battle sketches are extremely vivid, and produce a deep impression on the imagination. His pictures of BociEil and domestic life in Mexico are apparently true to nature, and present the attractions of a romance — criticises the military operations m a decided partisan spirit, but with evident ability." — N. Y. Tribune. " He is bold, capable, and courageous. He can wield a pen or a sword with admirable force and dexterity. * * * As a writer, Lieut Semmes is clear and cogent. The first forty pages of the volume are occupied with a description of Mexico, its government and people ; and we know of no description of the kind, which brings the condition of things in that unhappy country so distinctly before the mind of the reader. The whole volume, as a work of intellect, k worthy of a high place in the department to which it belongs." — Louisville Journal. "In remarking upon the various battles and military movements, it indulges neither in indiscriminate praise nor indiscriminate censure. — It lauds everybody for something, but none for everything. » » » General Scott is often and highly praised for his surpassing abilities— for what he did do in the cause of his country ; yet, Lieut. Semmes asserts that the battle of Churubusco, and its consequent slaughter, was entirely unnecessary, and brings forward arguments to .sustain his assertion. — He also declares, and brings evidence to the truth of the declaration, that General Scott understood nothing of the real use or strength of the Molinos del Rey, which were so bloodily defended by the Mexicans, and that time and again our successes were owing to the personal ability and valor of subordinates, and not to the much-vaunted foresight and science of the commander-in-chief. With all this, there is no virulence or indiscriminate fault-finding. Lieut. Semmes' book differs from all th.^it have preceded it, and must attract attention. VTe say, "God defend the right,' but let us know what riglit is, and give honor to whom honor is due."- — Boston Post. '• Sailoss are said to be persons nf strong prejudices. And it is no ?mall praise to the author, to say that we have never read a history evi- dently so fairly written, with regard to the merits of the numerous clnimants of military gloiy. * » * We shall take our sailor and soldier out of the ranks, and see what he has to tell of a more amusing nature than battle fields. » * » After sailing about the Gulf, and cruising from Vera Cruz to Mexico and back again with our author, wt have arrived at the conclusion that he is as pleasant a companion as one might desire upon a similar journey, and so commend him to the favor of the reading public." — Literary World. BITCiH miliLEB'S NEfV BOOK. SCENES AND LEGENDS OF THE NOETH OF SCOTLAND. By Hugh Miller, author of " Footprints of the Creator." 1 vol. 12 mo. Pp.436. Price $1. " A delightful book by one of the most delightful of living authors." — N. Y. dour, and Enq. "In this book Hugh Miller appears as the simple dramatist, reproducing home stories and legends in their native costume, and in full life. The vol- ume is rich in entertainment for all lovers of the genuine Scotch character." N. Y. Independent. " Fascinating portraits of quaint original characters and charming tales of the old faded superstitions of Scotland, make up the ' Scenes and Legends.' Parity of diction and thoughtful earnestness, with a vein of easy, half-con- cealed humor pervading it, are the characteristics of the author's style. Ad- ded to these, in the present volume, are frequent touches of the most elegantly wrought fancy ; passages of sorrowful tenderness that change the opening smile into a tear, and exalted sentiment that brings reflection to the heart." "This is a book which will be read by those who have read the other works of this distinguished author. His beautiful style, his powers of description, his pathos, his quiet humor and manly good sense would give interest to any subject. * * There is no part of the book that is not interesting," — LouiitMle Journal. " This is one of the most unique and original books that has been written for many years, uniting in a singularly happy manner sdl the charms of fic- tion to the more substantial and enduring graces of truth. The author is a capital story teller, prefacing what he has to say with no learned circumlo- cutions. We cannot now call to mind any other style that so admirably com- bines every requisite for this kind of writing, with the exception of that of his mor& illustrious countryman, Scott, as the one Hugh Miller possesses." — Colwnbian. " The contents of the book wUl be as instructive and entertaining, as the exterior is elegant and attractive. Hugh Miller writes like a living man, who has eyes, and ears, and intellect, and a heart of his own, and not like a gal- vanized skeleton, who inflicts his duU repetitions of what other men have seen and felt in stately stupidity upon their unfortunate readers. His obser- vation is keen, and his powers of description unrivaled. His style is like a mountain-stream, that flows on in beauty and freshness, impartmg enliven- ing influences all around. His reflections, when he indulges m them, are just and impressive." — Christian Herald. " Tales so romantic, yet so natural, and told in a vein of unaffected sim- plicity and graphic delineation, rivaling Hogg and Scott, of ttie same land, will command avast number of admiring readers."— i^T. Y. Christ. Intel. " The interest of its facts far exceeds romance."— Jf. Y. Evan. " This book is worthy of a place by the side of the world-renowned vol- nmes which have already proceeded from the same pen."— PAti. Chronicle. THREE GREAT TEHFT ATI NS! Second Thousand in Oue month ! ! t THE THREE GREAT TEMPTATIONS OF YOUNG MEN-^ With several Lectures addressed to Business and Professional Men: By Samuel W. Fisher. 1 vol. 12mo., pp. 336. f 1. OO.NTBNTS. The Sib£NS, Xbb Siateb op thb SxBONa, The ■Wnra-OTJP, Thb Plat-housb, The CAKi>^ABmf The Web of Vioe, The Cheisxian Lawxeb, The Path of Ihfideijtt, The Mosaio Law of Usubt, Coiamtcux MoBixnrr. "A WORE of imasual attraction. We know not where to have seen these sulgects flo ha- pressiTely, yet so properly and guardedly examined. Far al30Te common-place specimenB, They expose dangers of terrible imminence, and urge persua^ons of incomparable Impor- taace/in away that offends not the taste, yet reaches the heart and engages the thoughts." If, T. Mcmgelist. <'Able and often eloquent. * * * X work which may well he put into the handa of youth just entering upon life."— iV. Ti Observer. « We shall put the hook "by upon one of the choice shelves of our private library."— A* ton Qmgregationdlist, "The author's style is not less clear and forcible than ornate and eloqLuent." — Sdirott EeroHd. "CHARAa!rEBZZED by earnestness, eloc[aence, and adaptation to the end had in view."— JIT. " Paints in vigorous language the horrible consequences of vice." — Boston Fost. " We would that every youi^ man in the land could be persuaded to read it carefully."— LouisvMe Recorder. «Db. Ksher has spoken honestly and boldly. • • * Characterized by great energy of thought, a tc&b and copious style, and by a spirit of high Christian philanthropy."— Fwitam, Recorder. "Has proceeded boldly where most public teachers are too timid to venture, and his manly plainness is also marked by ^rudmo& andtrue ddicacif.^^Fresbyt&rian of the West, *' Written in a style most inviting to youth and worthy of a very wide circulation."— (KncinnaM Ch. EercUd. " Wm. do much good to that great class of young men who, reared in the country, are daily transferred to the cities and make up their effective population."— F&rceJfer (Mass.) "Me. Pisher speaks pointedly and plainly. Let young men listen and learn."— PftiZodd- phia Presbyterian, "Worthy of an attentive perusal."- PAitode^Aia Observer, ** The man, who sits down to the perusal of this volume, must rise up wiser and better, if there be any virtue in good counsel beautifully and touchingly given,"— Jtfadison Obur'r. " The style is bold, manly, and vigorous, and in some portions very beautiful. • * * In the name of the young men of our cities, we thank Dr. Pisher for preparing and sending forth 60 timely a volume."— Pres&yferiara Herald, " The teachings of the excellent preacher will be regarded as un£ishionable, and-so they are, but their value is no less certun, and their practical workings cannot but be vastly beneficial to the tone of society."— iV; T. DaUy Times: