dearly won victory at Novi on the 15th August, 1799, was succeeded by a series of skirmishes with the French, which ultimately transferred the theatre of war to Switzerland, where Korsakof, before Suvarof could effect a junction with him, sustained an important defeat from Massena at Zurich; and in the meantime, Brune forced, after a few weeks' fighting, the Russians-who had landed in concert with the English on the soil of the Batavian republic-to quit the Netherlands in October, 1799, after being defeated several times. In the succeeding winter, the remains of the Russian army returned home in four columns. The defeat of his arms, the taking possession of Malta by the English, and the bad understanding which subsisted between his generals and those of Austria, had a great effect on the emperor's mind, while the powerful hand with which Bonaparte, on his return from Egypt, swayed the consular dignity, filled him with admiration. Alarmed by the proceedings of the English government, he laid an embargo on their vessels on the 29th of August, 1800; and in November following became the leader of the Northern Neutrality, which at his invitation was joined by Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia. The coldness which he had evinced towards the latter power on account of its declining to join in the coalition against France, now gave way; and the ancient alliance between the two States was renewed in September, 1800. Paul had now entered into direct correspondence with the First Consul; 7000 Russian prisoners had been returned from Paris without ransom, and the treaty of Luneville just concluded, when he was assassinated on the night of the 23d March, 1801, at the moment when the British fleet were sailing through the Sound to break the Northern League. The harshness with which Paul treated his nobles excited this conspiracy, in which his own sons joined, being persuaded that their father was intending to clap them into a fortress. Prince Alexander is said to have stipulated with the conspirators that his father's life should not be taken, and that on his returning to sanity he should be again reinstated in the office and dignity of emperor. The principal conspirators were three of the Subof family, and the generals Bennigsen, Ouvarof, and Pahlen. They entered the royal apartments about eleven o'clock in the evening of the 23d March, despatched the sentinel, passed into Paul's bed-room, and on meeting with resistance from the emperor, who tried to defend himself with a sword, threw him to the ground, and strangled him with a sash.16

16 Dr. Lyall, an excellent authority, has thus described this remarkable assassination, and the circumstances by which it was attended:-Agreeably to a revelation made to him in a dream, or in a vision, Paul had built the palace of St. Michael; an immense quadrangular pile at the bottom of the summer-gardens, moated round, and fortified with bastions of granite; and there, as in a fortified castle, and secure from danger, the Emperor, with his family, took up his residence. His Majesty, however, seems to have had some presentiment of his approaching fate; and had even ordered a secret staircase to be constructed, which led from his own chambers to the terrace; but, in the hour of danger, he was unable to take advantage of this exit. Late on the evening of the 11th, or early on the morning of the 12th of March, 1801, (O.S.) Paul was assailed by a band of conspirators; and, after unavailing threats, succeeded by entreaties and promises, and a noble resistance, his Majesty was strangled by means of a sash, one end of which was held by Zubof, while a young Hanoverian drew the other, till their victim expired. As if they had been attending a banquet, the assassins retired from the palace without the least molestation, and returned to their respective homes. Medical aid was called, in the hope of restoring suspended animation, but Paul had paid the debt of nature, and a few days afterwards his body was embalmed by Sir James Wylie, one of the lucky individuals whose fortune was made by his Imperial Master's whims. It almost seems an anomaly in history, that the murderers of Peter III. became the avowed favourites or the protegés of Catherine II.; and it is scarcely less remarkable, that the mercy of Alexander was extended to the assassins of his father.

Alexander I., Paul's eldest son," on the eventful morning of the 24th March, 1801, accepted of the reins of government, which he pledged himself to conduct in the spirit of his grandmother Catherine. For a while, the colossal empire seemed to enjoy deep tranquillity; the secret police disappeared in April, 1801, and the oppression of the governorgenerals ceased to be felt in the remote provinces. The senate and the cabinet were re-organized; and the influence of the senate over the affairs of the empire was re-established on the 20th September, 1802. Intercourse with foreign countries was again permitted, and a minister for popular education was appointed. New universities, on the plan of the German Zubof, the chief conspirator, and the more active of the murderous band, was ordered not to approach the Imperial residence, and Count Pahlen, the former Governor of that city, was transferred to Riga; the other conspirators were treated as if no blame attached to their characters. It is difficult to penetrate the secrets of courts; the real motives of their actions are seldom revealed to the world. It is therefore impossible to conceive why Alexander withheld that vengeance which justice seemed to demand from the heads of his father's assassins. It has been attributed, by one of his panegyrists, to a forlorn and melancholy conviction that the murderers had been prompted to commit the bloody deed solely by a regard to the salvation of the empire. Such a conviction might have induced the young monarch to diminish the weight of that punishment which piety and justice called on him to inflict, but can scarcely account for his total forbearance. Disgusted, oppressed, and rendered miserable by the shocking misrule, the excessive caprice, and the extreme severity of Paul, the nobles entered into a conspiracy, and determined to rid themselves and their country of a tyrant; and they calmly effected their purpose. They next offered the crown to the Grand Duke, Alexander, and the true heir to it; and they probably threw out an insinuation, that if he did not accept of their offer, another branch of the imperial family would be raised to the throne, or even a new dynasty commenced. Under such circumstances, no choice may be said to have been left for Alexander; he accepted the crown from the murderers of his father, who, at that period, were among the most influential men at Petersburg, and in Russia; and who might as easily have hurled him from his elevation, as raised him to it. Therefore, the Emperor, by necessity and policy, could not act otherwise than with moderation towards the assassins of Paul, not only on becoming Autocrat, but even after he had consolidated his power. A despot is fearful of offending his powerful nobles, unless they have made themselves obnoxious to some individuals of still greater power, who would rejoice at their ruin. Thus, Paul's murder was the result of despotism, and Alexander's clemency emanated from the same cause.

The Emperor Paul and Empress Maria had four sons, Alexander, Constantine, Nicholas, and Michael; and five daughters, Alexandria, Helena, Maria, Catherine, and Anna.-Alexander Paulovitch, the late Emperor, eldest son of the Emperor Paul, was born 23d December, 1777, and married 9th October, 1793, to Maria Louisa Elizabeth Alexiofna, of Baden, the present Empress Dowager, who was born on the 4th January, 1779. Of this marriage the only issue was a Princess (Maria) born 29th May, 1797, who died young.-Constantine Paulovitz, second son of the Emperor Paul, was born 8th May, 1779, and married 26th February, 1796, to Anna Feodorofna Julia Henrietta Ulrica of Saxe Coburg, who was born 23d September, 1781. This marriage, of which there was no issue, was dissolved in April, 1820, and Constantine was married 24th May, 1820, to Jane Gruzynska, a Polish lady, created Princess of Lovicz. Of this marriage there is as yet no issue.-Nicholas Paulovitch, third son of the Emperor Paul, was born 6th July, 1376, and married 13th July, 1817, the Grand Dutchess Alexandria Feodorofna Louisa Charlotte Wilhelmina of Prussia, who was born 13th July, 1781. The issue of this marriage are Alexander Nicolaovitch, born 29th April, 1818; Mary, born 3d August, 1819; Olga, born 11th September, 1822.-Michael Paulovitch, fourth son of the Emperor Paul, was born 8th February, 1798.-Alexandria Paulofna, eldest daughter of the Emperor Paul, was born 8th August, 1783, and affianced 3d March, 1797, to Joseph Anthony, brother to Francis II., Emperor of Austria. She is since dead.-Helena Paulofna, second daughter of the Emperor Paul, was born 13th June, 1778, and married the 19th May, 1799, to Frederick Louis, hereditary Prince of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. She is also dead.-Maria Paulofna, third daughter of the Emperor Paul, was born 15th February, 1786, and married 3d August, 1804, to Charles Frederick, hereditary Prince of Sachsen Weimar, by whom she has issue Charles Alexander Augustus John, Prince of Sachsen Weimar, born 24th June, 1818.-Catherina Paulofna, fourth daughter of the Emperor Paul, was born 21st May, 1788. She is now dead.-Anna Paulofna, youngest daughter of the Emperor Paul, was born 18th January, 1795, and married 21st February, 1816, to William Frederick, Prince of Orange, by whom she has issue

three sons.

seminaries, were founded at Dorpat, Kasan, and Charcof; the universities of Wilna, and the Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburg, founded by Peter I. were re-organized; considerable sums were set apart for the improvement of the schools, and of education in general throughout the empire; and the restraints which had been laid on the press were relaxed by a milder edict of censorship. In 1803 a new division of the empire into governments took place, and the institutions of Catherine II. were, to a considerable extent, re-established. The situation of the slaves of the soil underwent considerable amelioration; in particular, the peasants of the crown were allowed to possess a piece of landed property, and the nobles were invested with full power to grant their slaves freedom. By these measures, the class of free peasants was founded. The commerce of the empire was also considerably increased and promoted by the foundation of the town and port of Odessa. Even the government of the Cossacks, and the laws relating to Jews underwent review; and Krusenstein was sent, at the national expense, on the first Russian expedition round the world. The spirit of Alexander's government not only showed itself in the internal administration of the empire, but the system of Catherine II. was adopted in its foreign policy. Alexander sejoined himself from the Northern League, by concluding a treaty with Great Britain on the 7th June, 1801, and at the same time renounced the dignity of a Grand Mastership of Malta, which had been conferred on his father. He however confirmed the incorporation of the government of Georgia with the Russian empire; and on the 4th and 8th October concluded treaties of peace with Spain and France, and renewed the treaties of commerce of 1787. In conjunction with the First Consul, the Russian Autocrat took the lead at the Diet of Ratisbon in 1802 and 1803, in the important measures of secularization pursued by that congress, in which the courts of Bavaria, Wirtemberg, and Baden, united with Russia by family ties, had a great interest. But the political horizon in the quarter of France was speedily overcast. Dissatisfied on account of the refusal on the part of that government to indemnify the king of Sardinia, the Russian ambassador, Count Markof, left Paris on the 7th November 1803; and after the execution of the Duke D'Enghein, all diplomatic intercourse between Russia and France was interrupted by the departure of the Russian charge d'affaires, Oubril, who left Paris on the 31st August, 1804. On the 11th of April following, Russia joined the third coalition against France. Alexander himself appeared with his army in Moravia, after having by a personal visit at Potsdam reconciled the existing misunderstandings with Prussia, and concluded a treaty with the latter power after a ridiculous display of imperial sentimentality, in which the two monarchs are said to have sworn eternal friendship over the coffin of Frederick II. Having lost the battle of Austerlitz on the 2d December, Alexander returned to Petersburg. Austria concluded peace with France; and in the following summer Oubril again appeared at Paris, and negotiated a treaty of peace with General Clarke. This peace, however, Alexander refused to ratify, on receiving accounts of the Rhenish confederation which had been organized at the same period; and his armies marched to support Prussia in the struggle against Napoleon, which began in the year 1806. The battles of Jena and Auerstadt had decided the fate of this war before the Russians arrived; it was, however, continued in Poland and Eastern Prussia. The battle of Eylau, fought on the 8th of February 1807, gave no decisive advantage to either party;

that of Friedland, on the 14th June following, decided the war in favour of Napoleon. The Russians retired upon their limits; and after an interview which took place upon the Niemen and at Tilsit, between the two emperors, the peace of Tilsit was concluded on the 8th July, 1807. By this peace Russia gained-at the expense of her late dear friend and ally, for whose sake she had originally engaged in the war-the Prussian department of Bialystock, but left the lordship of Iever to the disposal of France. Alexander also acknowledged the Rhenish confederation, with all its present and future members, and the two new States-the dutchy of Warsaw and the kingdom of Westphalia. A secret article in this treaty yielded Cataro and the Ionian Islands to France. During the war with France, Alexander had likewise been engaged in war with the Turks. Sultan Selim III. found himself in a dangerous position between France, which had become his neighbour in Dalmatia since the peace of Presburg, and Russia, whose superior power Turkey had been made to feel for the last thirty years of the eighteenth century. When the French government were apprized of the refusal of Alexander to confirm the peace of Aubril, and this circumstance, as well as the preparations of Prussia, prognosticated a new war, the French ambassador at Constantinople, Sebastiani, was ordered to demand from the Porte, that the Bosphorus should be shut to Russian ships of war and transports, and the alliance with England dissolved. The Russian ambassador on his side declared that he would apply for his passport unless the former hospodars of Moldavia and Wallachia, Ipsilanti and Morusi, were re-established in their respective governments. In consequence of these negotiations, Turkey re-instated the two hospodars, and resigned the Ionian republic to Russia. But the leaning of the Porte to the French side was evident: and the Russian army crossed the Dniester in 1806: on the 6th January following the Porte issued its manifesto. Under French mediation at the peace of Tilsit, an armistice was concluded between the two belligerent powers; but as Russia now demanded possession of Moldavia, Wallachia, and Bessarabia, and the dismissal of the English ambassador from Constantinople, the war was renewed in 1809, and lasted with varied fortune till the peace of Bucharest in 1812. The treaty now negotiated fixed the Pruth as the boundary between both empires. In consequence of this arrangement, Wallachia and a part of Moldavia returned to Turkey; but the eastern part of Moldavia, with the fortress of Chotzina, and Bessarabia, with Bender, fell to the lot of Russia. By a later treaty of September, 1817, the new limits were more definitely fixed. During the war with Turkey, English agency excited a war between Persia and Russia; and a brief war was also entered into with Sweden on the occasion of Gustavus IV. having rejected all overtures for a rupture with England. This latter war obtained for Russia the province of Finland, by the peace of Friedrickshamm, 17th September, 1809. By this acquisition Russia gained an additional million of subjects. In 1808, Alexander had an interview with Napoleon at Erfurth, and afterwards took part, as the ally of France, in the war with Austria; for which, although the assistance given was very insignificant, Napoleon, by the peace of Vienna, rewarded his ally with the circle of Tarnopole in Eastern Galicia. The new organization of the Council of State by ukase of 1st January, 1810, was a measure of great importance to the internal administration of the Russian state; but the condition of the finances was poor in the extreme, and paper-money fell prodi

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giously. Under these difficulties, it could hardly have been anticipated that the war with France would be renewed in 1812. But the good understanding betwixt Alexander and Napoleon, had grown somewhat cold, since the seizure of the dutchy of Warsaw; and still more so when Napoleon, extending the French empire to the shores of the Baltic, incorporated the dutchy of Oldenburg with his empire. A Russian ukase set severe restrictions on French commerce; and, after long and fruitless negotiations, war was declared on the 22d June, 1812. While Napoleon concluded an alliance with Austria and Prussia, Russia entered into a secret treaty with Sweden, on the 24th March, 1812; concluded, on the 8th July following, a treaty with Great Britain; entered into an alliance with the regency of Spain on the 20th of the same month; and previously negotiated a treaty with the Turks, at Bucharest. The French ariny victoriously advanced to the Moskva, on the banks of which river they again defeated the Russians in a tremendous engagement, on the 7th of September, and entered Moscow, the Russians retiring before them and setting the city on fire. Napoleon lingered too long in this northern latitude at the season of the year. A more than usually rigorous winter, and the want of provisions, nearly annihilated the splendid army with which he had crossed the Niemen. Prussia, the whole of Germany, and at last even Austria, now united with Russia against France, while England concluded a treaty of subsidy with Russia, on the 15th June, 1813, in which the former power undertook to pay the Russian German Legion. The mediation of England likewise negotiated a peace between Russia and Persia, by which the former obtained the Khanates of Karabag, and Garischa (Elisabethpol), Schekin, Schirvan, Derbent, Kubin, Bakin, and the district of Talish; besides the whole of Daghestan, and Grusia, with the province of Schuragel, and the districts of Imiretia and Guria, with all the regions lying between these new frontiers and the Russian Caucasian line, and the districts uniting that line and the Caspian Sea: on which sea Russia also obtained the exclusive right of maintaining ships of war. The battle of Leipsic decided the retreat of the French across the Rhine, whither the allied armies followed them; and, after a series of battles, entered Paris on the 31st March. The intermediate details of this portion of European history will be with more propriety given in another place. By the Congress of Vienna, Alexander obtained the incorporation of the kingdom of Poland with the Russian empire; and, on the other hand, he relinquished to Austria the circle of Tarnapole, in Eastern Galicia, which he had, in 1809, acquired by the mediation of Napoleon. The return of Napoleon from Elba again called the allied armies into the field; and, after the battle of Waterloo, Alexander entered Paris, for the second time, on the 11th of July, 1815, where, on the 6th September following, he founded the Holy Alliance, which was successively joined by all the continental powers of Europe, with the exception of the Pope and Turkey. Happily for the liberties of mankind, Great Britain refused to join in this Holy Alliance, which has since proved itself, by its acts, one of the most infamous leagues which was ever formed against the rights of nations and the progress of the human mind. At the Congress of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1818, Troppau and Laybach, in 1820 and 1821, and Verona, in 1822, Russia maintained its commanding influence over European politics. In North America some new establishments were founded, and the maritime boundaries of Russian America fixed by ukase of 16th September, 1821. But in consequence of the