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 Nieman 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. 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. When the French government were apprized of the refusal of Alexander to confirm the peace of Aubril, the French ambassador at Constantinople was ordered to demand 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 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 a Russian army crossed the Dniester in 1806. 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 Bus charest in 1812. The treaty then 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, a brief war was also entered into with Sweden: 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 Fredricksham, 17th September, 1809. 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 papermoney fell prodigiously. 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 duchy of Warsaw; and still more so when Napoleon, extending the French empire to the shores of the Baltic, incorporated the duchy 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; en tered into an alliance with the regency of Spain on the 20th of the same month; and previously negotiated a treaty with the Turks, at Buchar est. The French army victoriously advanced to the Moskva, on the banks of which river they defeated the Russians in a tremendous engagement, on the 7th of September, and entered Moscow. But Napoleon lingered too long in that high northern latitude at the season of the year; and a more than usually rigorous winter combined with the want of provisions to annihilate the splendid army with which he had crossed the Nieman. 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. 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. 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 por tion of European history will be with more propriety given in another place. At the congress of Vienna, Alexander obtained the incorporation of Poland with the Russian empire; and on the other hand, he relinquished to Austria the circle of Tarnopole, in eastern Galicia.—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 July, 1815, where, on the 6th September following, he founded the Holy Alliance, which was successively joined by all the continental powers of Europe. Happily for the liberties of mankind, Great Britain refused to join in this 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. The maritime boundaries of Russian America were fixed by ukase of 16th September, 1821; but, in consequence of the remonstrances of the British and American governments, these boundaries were anew adjusted. On the 25th of March, 1820, the Jesuits were banished from Russia and Poland; and another order of the 12th August, 1822, abolished the fraternity of Free Masons. However great were the political advantages which presented themselves to Russia in the rebellion of the Greeks against the Turks, Alexander pronounced his decided disapprobation of that movement, in the congress of Laybach: the rebellions in Spain, Naples, and Piedmont, likewise drew from the autocrat the most vigorous expression of disapprobation. Alexander died suddenly at Taganrok, on the 1st December, 1825, while making preparations for a grand review of his army in that quarter of his vast dominions. brother, the Grand Duke Nicholas, born on the 25th June, or, according to our style, 6th July, 1796, being in Petersburg when the news arrived of Alexander's death, caused his elder brother, Constantine, then in Warsaw, to be proclaimed emperor, and took the oaths of allegiance to him, with the senate, dignitaries, and soldiers of the empire. This, however, appears to have been nothing more than a piece of political acting for Constantine had in fact executed a deed of renunciation of his right of primogeniture, in the beginning of 1822; and on the produc His tion of that deed, and the late emperor's ratification-duplicates of which had been deposited in the bands of the Senate and Holy Synodthe Grand Duke Nicholas, as next heir to the crown, ascended the throne. Poland.] Poland having disappeared from the list of independent European states, and the greater part of that ancient kingdom having been absorbed by Russia, we find ourselves here compelled-notwithstanding the length of the preceding historical remarks to advert briefly to the history of Poland before its dismemberment. That country has been for above one thousand years remarkable in history only for its misfortunes. It occupies the largest plain in Europe, extending from the Baltic to the shores of the Euxine; and, including Lithuania, possessed, previous to the first partition, in 1772, a territorial extent of above 400,000 square miles. Corn, flax, wood, honey, wax, noble horses, enormous herds, and great quantities of mineral salt, formed the natural and commercial riches of this country, whose streams, abounding in fish, flowed into the Baltic and the Black sea. In the early ages of this country's history, Silesia belonged to it. About the middle of the 6th century, the name of the first Polish prince, Lech, who governed at Gnesen, appears in history. After various revolutions, Piast, a poor but virtuous native, was elected Duke of Poland, over which his family reigned as hereditary monarchs till 1370, and in Silesia till 1675, when the line of Piast was extinguished in the person of the last Duke of Leignitz. Christianity was introduced into Poland in 962, by the marriage of Mieceslav with a daughter of the Duke of Bo hemia. Boleslav assumed the royal title in 1025. The third prince of that name, with the consent of the grandees, divided the country among his four sons, in 1138; after this division, Silesia and Poland were not again united. The Mongolian invasion, in 1240, though destructive here as elsewhere, had no permanent influence on the Polish constitution. Casimir the Great gave to his kingdom a new constitution and code of laws. The extinction of the line of Piast, in this generous monarch, was a severe misfortune for his country. His sister's son, King Louis of Hungary, succeeded to the Polish throne. After his death, Poland and Hungary were again separated, and his younger daughter, Hedwig, elected Queen of Poland. Hedwig married the Grand Duke of Lithuania, Jagellon, who was admitted to the throne on promising to acknowledge the right of election vested in the states. Jagellon took the name of Vladislav, embraced the Christian religion, and became the founder of the line of Jagellon, which reigned till 1572. After the extinction of this dynasty, a period of aristocratical anarchy prevailed, under kings of different houses, until Frederick Augustus of Saxony was elevat. ed to the throne. We pass over the history of this kingdom until the abdication of the Polish crown, after a stormy reign, by John Casimir, on the 16th September, 1668. He was succeeded by Michael Wisneowiezki, remarkable only on account of his great general, John Sobieski, who opened by his talents and virtues a way to the throne, which he ascended after Michael's death, in 1674, under the title of John III. This prince's reign was distinguished by victorious and warlike deeds; but his best plans were checked by the ill-balanced constitution of Poland. Two electors of Saxony, Augustus II. and Augustus III., successively followed him; but between these, the influence of Charles XII. raised the Waivode of Posen, Stanislaus Lesczinsky, to the throne. That prince, however, could only maintain himself on the throne by the protection of the Swedish monarch; and after the unfortunate battle of Pultava, in 1709, Augustus IL resumed the government of Poland, under the protection of Russia. Augustus III. succeeded in 1733; and on his death, Stanislaus Augustus Poniatowsky was elevated to the throne by Catherine of Russia's influence. This prince became the mere political tool of his mighty neighbour, and in the evening of his life beheld his kingdom dissolved by a triple partition among her enemies. He died on the 12th of February, 1798, at Petersburg. Progress of Russia.] The following resumé of the successive steps by which Russia has attained her present power, will prove interesting and instructive to the reader. As early as 1667 the Poles made over to Russia the portion of Lithuania situated beyond the Borysthenes, which forms the present governments of Pultava and Tchurnigoff, Subsequently to the different cessions made to the house of Romanoff, Poland, in 1772, was still in possession of a territory of 13,500 geographical square miles. By the first partition of 1772 between Russia, Austria, and Prussia, the first-mentioned obtained the palatinates, which were afterwards annexed to the empire under the name of White Russia. The extent of Poland was then reduced to 10,000 square miles, and its population to 8,000,000 of inhabitants. After the second partition between Russia and Prussia in 1793, and the third, to which Austria wished to become a party, the provinces which compose the governments of Minsk, Kieff, Podolia, Volhynia, and Grodno, containing one-half of the territory which had been left to Poland, and upwards of 5,000,000 inhabitants, became the lot of Russia. The duchy of Warsaw, the last ves tige of an empire which had long ranked with glory among the nations of Europe, erected into a kingdom by a divisory act of the congress of 1815, ultimately passed under the yoke of the Russian autocrat, with a shadow of nationality and constitution which has since entirely vanished. To these accessions, all made at the expense of Poland, must be added_ 1. The provinces of the Baltic, Livonia, Courland, Esthonia, and Finland, taken from Sweden. 2. The provinces wrested from European Turkey since the time of Peter the Great up to 1812, extending along the Black sea as far as the Danube and the Pruth, and forming the governments of Ekaterinoslav, Taganrok, Odessa, Tauris, and Bessara bia, which cover an area of 4,517 geographical square miles, with 1,902,000 inhabitants. 3. The countries conquered from the Cossacks and Tartars, divided into three governments, and peopled by 3,289,000 souls. 4. In Asia, a portion of Armenia, the Turkish fortresses of Anapa, Akalkali, Azur, and Poti; Georgia, taken from Persia in 1801 and 1813; the provinces to the west of the Caspian between the Kur and Araxes; the territory to the east of that sea, extending to the gulf of Balkan; and finally, on the banks of the Araxes, the khanates of Erivan and Nakitchevan, ceded by the treaty of 1828. These different Asiatic provinces, conquered from Turkey and Persia-and among which we do not reckon the portion of the Caucasus now fighting for its independence-may amount to 5,000 square miles, with a population of 1,500,000 souls. In short, these successive conquests form an extent of territory of 34,281 square miles (of 15 to a degree), inhabited by 24,871,000 souls. When Peter the Great ascended the throne in 1689, Moscovy contained only 16,000,000 inhabitants. The present population of Russia exceeds 62,000,000, and the greatest part of this increase has been the result of conquest. The following resumé of the Russian acquisitions may place the aggrandisements of her power in a new light : The Russian frontier has been advanced towards Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Vienna, and Paris, about 700 miles. Stockholm Teheran 500 630 ... The total acquisitions of Russia in 64 years equal her whole European empire before that time. CHAP. II.-PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY. EUROPEAN RUSSIA is for the greater part a champaign country, scarcely possessing in its interior a single range of mountains. In the extreme north-west, the Scandinavian Mountains rear their lofty heads; on the eastern limits, the Uralian chain; on the south-west, the Carpathian Mountains; and upon the southern peninsula the Mountains of Taurida. Many large inland lakes are found in the northern parts; and, in the south, vast steppes. Northwards, the country flattens towards the White Sea, and southwards to the Black Sea. Mountains.] With the exception of the Uralian chain, the mountains running through, or bordering upon Russia, are only advanced portions of ranges belonging to other countries. Uralian Mountains.] The mountains of Ural, called by the Russians "the girdle of the world," form in one part the natural boundaries between Europe and Asia. Their whole length extends to about 1200 miles; but the northern part alone, from the Petschora to the Karian Gulf, belongs, with its western side, to European Russia. This chain rises in the Island of Nova Zembla, in a high rocky mountain, whence it runs across the Straits of Vaigatz, where it forms the island of that name, to the continent; cutting the north-east corner of Archangel, it forms, to the sources of the Petschora, the boundaries between that government and those of Vologda and Tobolsk. The continuation of this chain lies wholly within Asiatic Russia. In Nova Zembla, the extremity of this range is a bare limestone rock, without any covering except a few patches of moss, and for the greater part of the year buried under ice and On the Island of Vaigatz, the range appears in a low and barren ridge of rocks. It rises out of the Karian Gulf in three branches, which unite at the sources of the Petschora, and of which the middle ridge is the highest. Here also it is mere barren rocks; a few patches of stunted wood begin to appear, but wood is not found to any extent till we reach the sources of the Petschora. A few inferior limestone ridges, full of ravines and grottos, diverge into the governments of Archangel and Vologda. snow. Finnic Mountains.] The Russian Finnic Mountains, a continuation of the Scandinavian chain, or the Kiöles, bear the name of Maanselkä, or "Division of the Land," and form the boundaries between Norway and Russia. They run, between the Baltic and White Sea, through the isthmus which connects Scandinavia and Russia, to the most extreme north; flatten at Petersburg, Novogorod, and Vologda; reach in the west to the Gulf of Finland, and cover a space of about fifteen degrees. The principal heights consist of granite, trapp, hornslate, and scaly limestone. In the Arctic district, this range is partly spotted with stunted vegetation ; in the Cold district it is covered with pines and other trees. places it is open and susceptible of culture. In the lower regions, there are enormous blocks of granite; and towards the White Sea numerous fragments of rock lie scattered over the country. These mountains contain copper, iron in great quantity, marble, granite, and Labrador The rivers are not considerable; but form several large lakes. Notwithstanding their moderate height-the highest tops being scarcely 600 feet above the level of the sea-many of them are perpetually covered with ice and snow. One of the principal branches of these hills spar. In some |