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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES 
 

 
 A *, 
 
 GEOGRAfHICAL AND HISTORICAL 
 
 of t&e SHorto: * 
 
 EXHIBITING 
 
 A COMPLETE DELINEJTIOH OS THE 
 
 EACH COUNTRY ; 
 
 AND A SUCCINCT NARRATIVE OF 
 
 THE ORIGIN OF THE DIFFERENT NATIONS, THEIR POLITICAL 
 
 REVOLUTIONS, AND PROGRESS IN ARTS, SCIENCES, 
 
 LITERATURE, COMMERCE, &Q. 
 
 The whole comprising all that is important in the Geography of the 
 Globe and the History of Mankind, 
 
 ^ BY JOHN BIGLAND, 
 
 Author of 
 
 "LETTERS OW ANCIENT AND MODERN HISTORY," "ESSAYS ON VARIOVt 
 SUBJECTS," &C. &C. 
 
 IN FIVE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. III. 
 
 LONDON; 
 
 VRINTBD FOR LONGMAN, HURST, IlEES, AND ORME, PATERNOSTER-BOW 
 YERNOB, HOOD, AND SIIARPE, POULTRY} 
 AND J. CUNDEE, I7Y-LANB. 
 
 1810.
 
 James, Cundee, Printer, Ivy-Lane, 
 FaUrnoster-Row, London,
 
 v/r 
 
 A 
 VIEW OF THE WORLD. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of the Country Mountains- 
 Rivers -^Canals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters' Soil 
 Climate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities An- 
 tiquities Artificial Curiosities. 
 
 JrORTUGAL, situated between 37 and 42 north 
 latitude, and between 7 and 10 west longitude, ex- 
 tends about 300 geographical miles in length from 
 north to south, and about 100 in breadth ; and its con- 
 tent is computed at about 32,000 square miles. It is 
 bounded by Spain on the north and east, and on the 
 south and west by the Atlantic Ocean. 
 
 Face of the country.'] The face of the country is 
 greatly variegated, and has in general an agreeable ap- 
 pearance, although not in a high state of cultivation. 
 The great variety of hill and dale, the numerous vine- 
 yards, and the groves of orange trees, combine with 
 chrystal streams and rushing torrents to beautify the 
 landscapes, of which few countries present a greater 
 diversity. 
 
 Mountains.'] The general aspect of the country k 
 such as in England would be called mountainous; but 
 
 VOL. in. j{ no
 
 S PORTUGAL. 
 
 no elevations are seen that can be 'compared with the 
 Alps or the Pyrenees. The mountains of Portugal in 
 height, as well as in composition, rather resemble those 
 of Spain. The Serra d'Estrella, in the province of 
 Beiia, is the most elevated chain; but the height is 
 estimated at no more than 5,000 or 6,000 feet. Near 
 the summit is a beautiful lake of an almost circular 
 form ; which, from its romantic situation, completely 
 enclosed among high and rugged rocks that throw a 
 dark shade over its waters, has received the name of 
 Lagao Escura. At some distance from this, is also 
 another lake, called Lagao Longa, the long lake, but 
 less romantic and striking in its appearance. The 
 grarmic mountains of Gerez on the northern frontier, 
 present a rugged and dreary tract, affording some pas- 
 ture for cattle; but extremely infested with wolves, 
 which are rarely seen on the Serra d'Estrella, a cir- 
 cumstance owing, no doubt, to the better population 
 and culture of the surrounding country.* The Spa- 
 nish chain of mountains to the north of Madrid enters 
 Portugal near the town of Guarda, and pursuing its 
 course to the south-west, extends itself in those of Ar- 
 rabeda in Estramadura, which appear to be a conti- 
 nuation of one of its branches, and afford excellent 
 marble. Monte Junto, the ancient Sagrus in Estra- 
 madura, was formerly celebrated for an excellent breed 
 of horses, as it is yet for its rich pasturage.-f- 
 
 Rivers.']- Portugal has no rivers of note except tho?e 
 which traverse it, in passing from Spain to the Ocean. 
 The Tamils, after its entrance into Portugal, becomes 
 
 J ' O * 
 
 a noble stream; and ils vast actuary forms the capa- 
 cious harbour of Lisbon, as the Doura does that of 
 Oporto. The chief of the native streams of this coun- 
 
 * link's Travels p. 3-19 -401. t Piiikerton's Geog. vol. 1, p. 569. 
 
 try
 
 CANALS LAKES MINERALOGY. 3 
 
 try is the Mond ego, which rises in the Serra d'Estrella, 
 and passes by Coimbra ; but its navigation is difficult, 
 even for small vessels ; and a dangerous bar impedes 
 its entrance.* 
 
 Canals.] In Portugal, no attention whatever has 
 been paid to inland navigation. Canals, indeed, do 
 not here seem indispensably necessary in a country of 
 inconsiderable breadth, with an ample extent of sea- 
 coast. 
 
 Lakes. ~\-~ The lakes of this country are so few and 
 insignificant, as scarcely to merit a place among its 
 geographical features. Those already mentioned, 
 which are seen near the summits of the Serra d'Es- 
 trella, are remarkable only for their singular situation, 
 and romantic appearance. 
 
 Mineralogy.'] The mineralogy of Portugal is almost 
 wholly neglected, although there were formerly mines 
 of gold at Adissa, near the mouth of the Tagus.f These 
 mines, however, were wrought at a great expence, and 
 soon abandoned after the discovery of the passage 
 round the Cape of Good Hope to India, in conse- 
 quence of which it was found more profitable to im- 
 port the precious metals from that country, and after- 
 wards from Brazil. Small veins of gold have been dis- 
 covered in some of the mountains, particularly in those 
 of Goes and Estrella, and grains of that metal are 
 found in some of the rivers. Tin was formerly found 
 in various parts of the northern provinces, but now 
 seems to have disappeared. There are also mines of 
 lead with a great intermixture of silver. The iron 
 mines are neglected from a deficiency of fuel. The 
 country, however, is not quite destitute of coal, as the 
 pits of Buareos supply the royal foundery at Lisbon. 
 
 " Link's Trav. p. 311. t Murphy's Portugal, p. 43. 
 
 B 2 Several
 
 4 PORTUGA^. 
 
 Several of the mountains afford excellent granite* and 
 a variety of beautiful marbles. Amianthus is found in 
 vast quantities ; and near Castel Branco are mines of 
 quicksilver. Portugal, in fine, abounds with metals 
 and minerals ; but if industry were more active than 
 it appears in this country to be, the want of fuel is an 
 insuperable obstacle to the success of mining and me- 
 tallic manufactures. In the northern provinces are 
 seen immense mines, supposed to have been wrought 
 by the Romans.* The mouth of the largest, cut 
 through the solid rock, is half a league in circumfer- 
 ence, and above 500 feet deep ; and the mine mea- 
 sures '2,400 feet by 1 ,400 at the bottom. Subterra- 
 neous passages perforate the mountain in various* 
 directions, and the whole work appears to have been 
 conducted on the grandest scale. When these mines 
 were wrought, the woods in these parts, probably, had 
 not been cut down, and fuel was consequently more 
 plentiful. Besides, the Romans of that period had not 
 the same means of procuring metals from abroad as 
 the modern Portugueze; and might, for that reason y 
 pay greater attention to their mines. -\- The mountains 
 afford excellent granite, and a variety of beautiful 
 marbles. Some precious stones, as rubies, jacinths, 
 and beryls, are also found in Portugal. 
 
 Mineral waters."] A country so abounding in mine- 
 rals, and so variegated with mountains, cannot be sup- 
 posed to be destitute of mineral waters. Of these the 
 baths of Caldas, amply described by Link, are the 
 most celebrated. The town of Caldas, however, makes 
 'only a mean appearance : the houses are small, gene- 
 
 * Murpliy's Port. p. 25. 
 
 t For the mine* of Portugal or Lusitania, as well as of Spain, see Pliny's 
 Hist. Nat. lib. 35, cap. 3. 
 
 rally
 
 SOIL CLIMATE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS 5 
 
 rally consisting of merely a ground floor, and only a 
 few have windows. There is only one inn, which 
 would be called wretched in France or England. The 
 company, who resort to this place, always lodge in the 
 private houses. Here are no balls, concerts, nor plays. 
 From these outlines, such as have been at Brighthelm- 
 stone or Bath, or even at Scarborough,- Harrowgate, 
 or Buxton, will form no exalted idea of this fashion- 
 able bathing place, which the nobility and the opulent 
 merchants of Lisbon visit twice a year, in May and 
 September. The town, however^ is continually in- 
 creasing.* 
 
 Soil.'] The soil of a mountainous country always 
 admits of a great variety in a small extent. This is 
 the case in Portugal, which presents many barren 
 sandy heaths, in the plains ; and fertile valleys among 
 the mountains, of which the higher parts afford ex- 
 tensive pastures for cattle, and the declivities exhibit 
 com fields and vineyards. 
 
 Climate.'] The climate of Portugal is hot, dry, and 
 very salubrious. At Lisbon, the days of fair weather, 
 throughout the year, are > computed at 300 on an 
 average, and the medial heat at about sixty degrees. 
 
 Vegetable productions.'] - The vegetable productions 
 of so varied a soil, in so genial a climate, are numerous 
 in species, but from the predominance of aridity and 
 the imperfect state of agriculture, the quantities are 
 not abundant. Their ploughing is very ill performed, 
 and, in many places, the operation of the harrow is 
 little regarded. The Portugueze peasantry, however, 
 are not deficient in industry, as they have sometimes 
 been represented : the principal defect is the want of 
 agricultural skill, and of proper implements of hus- 
 
 * Link's Trav. p. 269. 
 
 B 2 baiidry.
 
 6 PORTUGAL. 
 
 bandry. Instead of threshing, the corn is trodden 
 out by oxen, which evidently shows that the science 
 of farming is yet in its infancy. In some places, 
 however, a better cultivation prevails, and tolerable 
 erops of corn are produced. Olive trees abound in 
 most parts of Portugal, and the Portugueze oil is in 
 , general better than that of Spain.* But the vine- 
 yards are the most important feature of Portugueze 
 husbandry. Their culture supports a very consider- 
 able part of the population ; supplies a staple article 
 of trade ; for vast quantities, not only of port wine, 
 from the banks of the upper Doura, but also of that 
 of Carcavelos, near Lisbon, and of those of St. Ube's, 
 are exported to foreign countries. The tract of land 
 which produces the port wine is somewhat more than 
 four geographical miles in length, by three in breadth, 
 and, in 1781, contained a population of 44,660, in 
 seventy-eight parishes, consisting of 12,895 houses. 
 The annual produce of wine was reckoned at 90,000 
 pipes.-f- The whole district consists of steep hills and 
 narrow vallies; and it requires much labour and ex- 
 pence to convey the grapes to the press. After tread- 
 ing, the proper port wine for exportation is left seventy- 
 two hours standing on the hulls, but only twenty- 
 four if designed for home consumption. When the 
 wurt is put into casks, the best brandy to the amount 
 of about one-twelfth part is added. No port wine, 
 designed for exportation, is free from this mixture.^ 
 
 * Link's Travels, p. 308. 
 
 t This account, in which one would almost suspect some mistake, in 
 
 respect of the extent of the district, is given by M. Links, on the authority 
 
 ' of the third volume of the Meinorias Economicas of the Lisbon Academy, 
 
 nnd confirmed by information obtained on the spot. Link's Travels, 
 
 p. 362. 
 
 J Link's Travels, p. 374. 
 
 Almost
 
 ZOOLOGY. 7 
 
 Almost all the Portugueze wines have some quantity 
 of brandy added to them before they ferment. Jt is 
 said to be impossible to preserve them without this 
 addition, especially as there are no wine cellars in 
 Portugal, the wine being kept in warehouses above 
 ground.* The wines produced here are, as soon as 
 possible conveyed to Oporto, where they remain in 
 the warehouses three years before they are exported. 
 The company okthe upper Douro, established in l7-of>, 
 has, if not an absolute, at least an indirect monopoly 
 of this trade. They are obliged to take the wine from 
 the farmers at a fixed price ; but if the grower can 
 sell it to greater advantage, he may dispose of it as he 
 pleases, on allowing the company six per cent, but the 
 most restrictive circumstance attending this institu- 
 tion is, that an account having been taken of the 
 produce of each vineyard, during five }^ears, no per- 
 son was permitted to sell a larger quantity either to 
 the company or to any one else.-f- Thus the increase 
 of this species of husbandry is entirely stopped, and 
 the quantity of port wine icgulated according to the 
 demand. The original design of the government, in 
 establishing this company, was to prevent the adulter- 
 ation of the port wine, and the variation of its price. 
 To this view of the vegetable system of Portugal it 
 may not be amiss to add, that it abounds in figs and 
 oranges, with various other fruits ; but timber is 
 scarce, and few forests are seen, except on the ridges 
 and declivities of mountains. The cypress of Portugal 
 is a beautiful tree resembling the cedar of Lebanon, 
 and is common in some parts of the country. 
 
 Zoology.] The zoology, as well as the botany of 
 Portugal, may in general be regarded a.s the same 
 
 * Link's '1 ravels, p. .T74. t Ibid. p. 377. 
 
 4 with
 
 $ PORTUGAL. 
 
 with that of Spain ; but the horses are much inferior. 
 The oxen are sometimes of a good size ; hut horned 
 cattle in general are far from being numerous ; cow$ 
 are rare, and scarcely any butter is produced, for which 
 oiVis used as a substitute. The sheep are neglected, 
 and few in number, except in the upper parts of the 
 Serra d'Estrella. They range about like those of 
 Spain, descending into the plains of Alentejo in Sep- 
 tember, and returning in May to the mountains.* 
 Their wool is, in fineness, next lo that of Spain, and 
 with care might, perhaps, be improved to an equality. 
 Swine abound, and their hams are much esteemed. 
 
 Natural curiosities.'] There are few natural curiosities 
 in Portugal that can be deemed peculiarly striking ; 
 but romantic and singular scenes of rock, water, and 
 evergreen groves, abound in the mountainous districts 
 of this beautifully variegated country. 
 
 Artificial curiosities and antiquities.'] The curiosities 
 of art are here less numerous and striking than those 
 of* nature. They consist chiefly of a few Roman 
 monuments of less magnificence, than many that are 
 seen in several other countries, and of a few Moorish 
 remains greatly inferior to those of Spain. To these 
 may be added, that noble monument of the middle 
 ages the monastery of Batalha, in Estremadura, about 
 .sixty miles from Lisbon. This structure was founded 
 about the end of the fourteenth century, by John 1. in 
 commemojation of a decisive victory gained over the 
 king of Castile, and is described by Murphy as one of 
 the most magnificent specimens of the Gothic style of 
 architecture. 
 
 * Link's Travels, p. 396. 
 
 CHJP.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Principal Cities and Towns Edifices Islands. 
 
 LISBON, the capital of the kingdom of Portugal, 
 is situated on the banks of the Tagus, in 38 42' 
 north latitude. It stands upon three hills, of which 
 that beginning at the bridge of Alcantara, and extend- 
 jng to the Una de San Bento, or St. Benedict's-street, 
 is much the highest, and may almost be reckoned a 
 mountain. The upper part is famed for its salubrious 
 air; but the streets, in this quarter, are so steep that 
 walking in them is a work of difficulty. In the time 
 of a heavy rain the water rushes down the streets 
 with such violence as often to render them impassable; 
 and both men and horses have sometimes been carried 
 away by the torrent, and almost precipitated into the 
 river. This inconvenience, however, is attended with 
 the advantage of washing away all the dirt. This part 
 of the town was one of those that were the least 
 affected by the earthquake, and on that account, as 
 well as for the salubrity of the air, it is now the 
 favourite residence of foreigners, as well as of the 
 opulent Portugueze, and contains many handsome 
 houses, interspersed among a number of others of 
 different appearance. The streets are, besides being 
 steep, irregularly built, ill paved, and most of theiri 
 arrow. In this quarter is the English burial ground, 
 Which is beautifully shaded with cypresses and Judas 
 
 trees
 
 10 PORTUGAL. 
 
 trees in the Oriental manner ; and here are deposited 
 the remains of the celebrated Henry Fielding, the 
 accurate delineator of life. The second hill may be 
 considered as a continuation of the first, from which 
 it is separated by a valley of no great depth. The 
 streets, except a few of the principal, are narrow, 
 crooked, and irregular ; and those which lead to the 
 banks of the river are horridly dirty. On the eastern 
 declivity is the opera-house, and also the residence of 
 Quintella, the great dealer in diamonds, and the 
 richest merchant in Lisbon. Above the public pro- 
 menade, bej'ond the Praa de Rocio, this hill rises to 
 a considerable elevation, with a steep side, and com- 
 mands a magnificent prospect. In the valley beneath 
 appears the finest part of the city ; on the left are 
 olive gardens, interspersed with villas, monasteries, 
 and churches ; opposite is the high steep hill, on 
 which the castle is situated, and to the right, the 
 Tagus covered with ships. 
 
 This hill is succeeded by a valley of considerable 
 extent, which forms the broadest part of the city. 
 All this level quarter was entirely destroyed by the 
 earthquake ; but it has since been rebuilt. In this 
 valley, and on the bank of the river, is the Pra9a de 
 Commercio, a large and handsome square, 610 feet 
 by .1.50, formerly the terrace or parade of the royal 
 palace. The quay far excels any thing of the kind in 
 London or Paris. The three principal streets, which 
 have been rebuilt since the earthquake, lead from, 
 this square to that of Rocio. They are straight and 
 broad, and have good causeways. The Prac,a de 
 Rocio is of considerable extent, and like the Praa 
 de Commercio, unpaved in the middle. The great 
 palace of the inquisition, and the square used for bull 
 
 fights,
 
 LISBON. 11 
 
 fights, are not far distant. In proceeding eastward, 
 the third hill begins with an eminence, on which 
 stands the Castello de Mouros, and continues, with 
 some interruption of plains, to the eastern extremity 
 of the town. The streets in this quarter are narrow, 
 ill-paved, and irregular ; and from the style of build- 
 ing, this appears to be the oldest part of Lisbon ; the 
 houses being high, consisting of many stories, and 
 loaded with Gothic ornaments, a mode of building 
 justly exploded in a country so subject to earth- 
 quakes. However, it is singular that the effects of 
 that tremendous convulsion, which forms so memor- 
 able an sera in the history of Lisbon, were entirely 
 confined to the lower and level parts of the city, 
 arid scarcely perceived in the higher situations, and 
 on the steep declivities of the hills, a circumstance for 
 which naturalists are at a loss to account. Neither 
 the public nor private edifices display any elegant 
 models of architecture. The patriarchal church, how- 
 ever, is singularly magnificent, and its revenue is 
 computed at 114,000/. sterling. From this descrip- 
 tion, however, it will appear, that a striking difference 
 exists between the old and the new parts of Lisbon, 
 and that the terrible earthquake of 1755, in which, 
 according to the most accurate accounts, above 
 24,000 persons are said to have perished, although a 
 temporary disaster of the most tremendous magni- 
 tude, has, like the conflagration of London, in 1666, 
 been productive of great permanent advantages, in 
 regard to the improvement of the city, and the con- 
 veniences of posterity. 
 
 The whole length of the city, along the banks of 
 the Tagus, reckoning from Belem to the eastern ex- 
 tremity, cannot be less than four English miles and a 
 
 half;
 
 1$ "PORTUGAL. 
 
 half; and from the continuation of houses and villages 
 to the eastward, along the banks of the river, a stran- 
 ger can scarcely perceive where the city ends. Its 
 breadth, however, is extremely irregular; in many 
 parts small, and in some quite inconsiderable ; scarcely 
 exceeding one street, but never much more than a 
 mile and a half. The city is quite open, having nei- 
 ther walls, gates, nor fortifications, except the Cas- 
 tello de Mouros, a place of inconsiderable strength, 
 and some batteries or small forts on the river. 
 
 The view of Lisbon from 'the opposite side of the 
 Tagus is uncommonly grand. The vast expanse of 
 water, from six to nine miles broad, the numerous 
 shipping,, the widely expended city, with its crowd of 
 churches, monasteries, and cultivated heights adorned 
 with country houses, covering a vast amphitheatre of 
 hills, and the majestic pointed mountains of Cintra in 
 the back ground of the landscape, compose an extra- 
 ordinary assemblage of magnificent objects, and alto- 
 gether form a prospect which few places in the world 
 can equal. In crossing the river the spectator base 
 still the same objects in view, and on his nearer ap- 
 proach the picture becomes more distinct without any 
 diminution of its beauties. The Tagus, which washes 
 Vhc foundations of the houses throughout the whole 
 length of Lisbon, is, towards the eastern part, about 
 six miles in breadth, or about nine in taking it to the 
 extremity of the- reach. On the opposite side, are the 
 dark heath's of Alemtejo. Nearly opposite to the 
 Prac/d de Commercio, it becomes more contracted, 
 and as far as its mouth, is only about three miles 
 broad. The opposite banks also rise and form steep 
 precipices towards the river. Lisbon is certainly one 
 pf 'the finest ports in Europe; and large ships of the 
 
 line
 
 LISBON. 13 
 
 line can lie opposite to the city. la 1797, the num- 
 ber of merchant vessels that entered was 1526, etfclu- 
 five of English and Portugueze ships of war.* Lis- 
 bon may therefore be reckoned the second port in 
 Europe, being next to London, and superior to Am- 
 sterdam. The origin of Lisbon is not marked in his- 
 tory. It was called by the ancients Ulyssippo_, and its 
 foundation fabulously ascribed to Ulysses. It appears 
 to have been, from time immemorial, a place of some 
 trade; but its aggrandisement first arose from the 
 Portugueze discoveries and conquests in Africa and 
 the East ; and its commercial greatness is supported 
 by the rich colony of Brazil. 
 
 The population of the Portugueze metropolis, like 
 that of the whole kingdom, it is difficult to ascertain. 
 In the year 1790, the number of houses in the forty 
 parishes of that city was 38,102. To these Mr. 
 Murphy assigns six inhabitants per house, or 228,200 
 for the whole ; which, with the religious" in the con- 
 vents and monasteries, the soldiers and Gallician la- 
 bourers, who have no fixed habitation, and are very 
 numerous, as also a fluctuating mass of strangers, sea- 
 men, &c. must amount to more than 240,000. But 
 the number assigned by Murphy to each house, is 
 evidently too small, and in the census of 1790, neither 
 Belein nor Campo Grande were included: if, there- 
 fore, Lisbon be taken, in its full extent, Professor 
 Link thinks that the population may be confidently 
 estimated at more than 300,000, exclusive of the mi- 
 litary. If these, at least, be included, this estimate 
 can scarcely appear exaggerated.f 
 
 The police of this metropolis is very defective. Of 
 this the extreme dirtiness of tht streets, and still more, 
 
 Liuk'j Trarels, p. 260. t Ibid, p. 169. 
 
 the
 
 14 PORTUGAL. 
 
 the number of robbers and murderers, by wbom tbe 
 city and its environs are infested, are evident proofs. 
 The boldness of these desperadoes is astonishing ; and 
 such is the ill-timed compassion of the Portugueze, 
 that every one will assist a criminal in his escape. 
 Sometimes, almost every night is marked with mur- 
 der, which is generally the consequence of jealousy 
 or revenge; for robbers mostly content themselves 
 with menaces. Many of these robbers are negroes, 
 of whom there is a greater number than in any other 
 city of Europe. Every negro who has served his mas- 
 ter seven years in Europe is free, and several of them 
 become honest and industrious citizens. The number 
 of vagabonds of all descriptions, in Lisbon, is almost 
 incredible. Idle and disorderly persons from all parts 
 of Portugal, come in torrents to the metropolis, where 
 the police suffers them to remain without molestation ; 
 and hence proceed the multitudes of beggars that are 
 seen in the streets. But the Gallegos are a class of 
 people that merit attention and encouragement. They 
 are natives of the Spanish province of Gallicia ; a 
 hardy and robust race of men, who leave their poor 
 native country, and emigrate, some into the other 
 parts of Spain, and some into Portugal, to earn money 
 by the severest labour. They are harvest-men, por- 
 ters, water-carriers, and servants, in all kinds of 
 drudgery ; and their general character is that of being 
 inoffensive, honest, and extremely laborious. Some- 
 times, when they have earned a little money, they 
 settle in Portugal, and set up tippling houses, or small 
 grocers' shops ; but most of them return with their 
 savings to their own country. The common people 
 of Lisbon and the environs are, in general, a robust 
 and hardy race, being capable of supporting great fa- 
 
 9 tigue
 
 LISBON. 15 
 
 llsrue with a very scanty fare. There is no want of 
 
 O * J 
 
 courtezans at Lisbon; but they are neither more 
 plentiful, nor more importunate, than those of London, 
 Paris, and some other large cities. 
 
 The society of Lisbon is dull and melancholy, when 
 compared with that of Paris or London, or even with 
 that of Madrid and other great cities of Spain. The 
 opera house is large and handsome, and affords a fa- 
 vorite amusement to the rich: there is also a theatre 
 which is but little frequented by persons of distinction. 
 Here, as well as in Spain, the bull-fights are one of 
 the principal amusements of all ranks of people. 
 
 The Portugiieze capital is not destitute of scientific 
 and literary institutions ; but they must not be com- 
 pared with thdse of Paris or London, or of several 
 other European cities. The first in importance is the 
 academy of sciences founded by the present queen, 
 soon after her accession. There is also a geographical 
 academy, an academy of marine, and another of for- 
 tification. The college of nobles, founded in 1761, 
 is a handsome and extensive building. Lisbon has 
 also some public libraries, which, although far from 
 ranking in the first class, are not so contemptible as 
 they have sometimes been represented. There are 
 also museums, botanical gardens, &,c. which, however, 
 are of little importance, and several observatiories, but 
 ill furnished, with instruments. The royal hospital of 
 San Jose may be reckoned one of the best public insti- 
 tutions of the Portuguese metropolis. The sick are 
 well attended, and a great, number of cures is per- 
 formed. 
 
 The environs of Lisbon consist entirely of hill?, 
 which, particularly on the; ea*t and north sides, are, for 
 the most part, covered with extensive gardens siu- 
 
 rou tided
 
 1 PORTUGAL. 
 
 rounded with high walls. These large gardens, by the 
 Portuguese called Quinta, are planned both for use 
 and pleasHre ; generally containing plantations of 
 orange and olive trees, and sometimes even vineyards 
 and small fields of corn. On the western side of the 
 city, the country is not so well cultivated, and presents 
 some naked and rocky hills. But where these are 
 not too stony, they are luxuriantly fertile, and the 
 flora, in the vicinity of Lisbon, is extremely rich. 
 The trees are chiefly the orange and the olive, with 
 some cypresses, elms, judarf-trees, and poplars; but no 
 oaks, nor beeches ; and willows are exceedingly rare. 
 One tree frequently bears 1500, and sometimes 2000 
 oranges.* At Lisbon they are not very cheap ; but 
 an many of the provinces the best may be rmd at a 
 farthing sterling u piece. Close to the north side of 
 Lisbon is that grand work of art, the aqueduct, by 
 which water is brought to the city from some springs 
 at the distance of nine miles. Its length is near half 
 a mile, and it is planned with great magnificence. 
 When the water enters the town, it is divided into se- 
 veral other aqueducts, which supply the fountains. 
 A little to the north-west of Lisbon, the high moun- 
 tains of Cintra rise up full of peaks. The south-east 
 side of this range towards the city is naked and 
 parched up, consisting of bare heaped-up rocks, 
 which afford a wild and dreary prospect. On th other 
 side is the town of Cintra ; the summer-residence of 
 the opulent inhabitants of Lisbon, the fon ign mer- 
 chants, and the Poi tugueze nobility. Its distance is 
 about twelve miles from the capital ; and its situation 
 on the declivity of the mountain, is beautifully pictu- 
 resque. To a certain height, the sides of the hills are 
 
 *Link's Travels, jj. 186. 
 
 5 covered
 
 LISBON. 17 
 
 covered with country houses dispersed among- charm- 
 ing gardens and shady woods of the finest trees. In 
 the months of August and September, when every 
 thing is parched up with heat, the citizens of Lisbon 
 here enjoy a charming retreat, in those mountains 
 abounding with water, verdure and shade. Returning 
 back to the banks of the Tagus, we meet with several 
 forts, particularly San Julian and San Antonio, with 
 the Torre deBelem. None of these are of very great 
 strength, but might perhaps be sufficient to prevent a 
 hostile fleet from entering the Tagus. Nature, indeed, 
 has done much towards the protection of the metro- 
 polis, in narrowing the mouth of the river and imped- 
 ing its entrance by a bank of rocks lying in an oblique 
 direction. Tiie safety of Lisbon greatly depends on 
 securing the mouth of the Tagus, as a few ships of 
 war, in that river, might easily lay the whole city 
 level with tb ground. On the south side of the Tagus, 
 notwithstanding the sandiness of the soil and the con- 
 tinual succession of extensive heaths and forests of 
 pines, one village follows another in close approxima- 
 tion, being generally situated on creeks of the river 
 and supported by the traffic carried on with Lisbon. 
 In the space of less than twenty miles there are ten 
 considerable market towns, besides numerous villages 
 and hamlets, from whence an idea may be formed of 
 the lively scene, which the banks of the Tagus afford.*-* 
 But on this southern side, many swamps appear at the 
 ebb, which in some places, render the air insalubri- 
 ous. Lisbon being the focus and principal scene of the 
 wealth and splendor of Portugal, the other cities have 
 
 i O ' 
 
 little that merits attention. 
 
 Oporto.] Oporto is the next to Lisbon, both in 
 
 * Prof. Link's Trav. p. 234. 
 VOL, in. c magnitude.
 
 IS PORTUGAL. 
 
 magnitude, we.ilth ami commercial importance. It 
 stands on the steep declivity of a hill, on the 
 riorth bank of the Douro, which flows in a narrow 
 valley, so that the houses rise like an amphi- 
 theatre. The streets are narrow, and here are no build- 
 ings of consequence. This city is chiefly noted for the 
 wine trade, and contains about 30,000 inhabitants.* 
 
 Coimbra.] Coimbra is an ancient city, chiefly famed 
 for its university, which was formerly in great repute and 
 is still respectable. Like most of the towns of Portugal, 
 it is seated on the declivity of a hill, at the bottom of 
 whichrunsthe Mondego. Coimbra is noted for the mean- 
 ness of its inns, the worst in Portugal, and for its nar- 
 row, dirty and crooked streets, many of which are so 
 steep, that to climb them is a work of no small diffi- 
 culty. The city contains about 3,000 houses and not 
 less than eight monasteries. It stands in a pleasantly di- 
 versified and well cultivated though mountainous conn- 
 try, famed for the excellence of its oranges, and filled 
 with industrious inhabitants. Opposite to Coimbra, on 
 the bank of the river, is the Quinta das Lagrimas, or 
 the Garden of Tears, rendered sacred to memory by 
 the genius of Camoens. 
 
 " In sweet Mondego's ever verdant bowers. "t 
 
 The Garden of Tears, with a fountain of the same 
 name, shaded by fine Portuguese cypresses, will never 
 fail to revive melancholy recollections in the minds of 
 those who have heard the story of the beautiful Ignez 
 de Castro, who lived in this place, and was there bar- 
 barously murdered. This lady, a Castilian by birth, was 
 beloved by Don Pedro, heir apparent to the crown of 
 
 * Link, on the authority of information received from the Corregidor, 
 p. &'H. t JMickles Camoen*' Lusiud, Canto S. 
 
 Portugal,
 
 EDIFICES. 19 
 
 Portugal, to whom she is said to have been secretly 
 married. He fixed her residence in this charming 
 spot, where he frequently visited her. She had borne 
 him three sons and a daughter before the affair was 
 known to his father Alphonsus IV. At last, however, 
 it transpired, and the enraged king; instigated by his 
 courtiers, came, suddenly in the absence of the prince 
 and caused the beautiful Ignez to be inhumanly mur- 
 dered. 
 
 .Erora.] Evora is an ancient town, famous for having 
 been the residence of Viriatus and Sertorius, those brave 
 Lusitanians celebrated in Roman History. It now 
 contains about i'2,OOO inhabitants, with the enormous 
 proportion of twenty-three religious houses. 
 
 -5V. UbesJ] St. Ubes is a place of some trade, but of 
 small extent and population. The cities of Portugal, in- 
 deed, except Lisbon and Oporto, are all of inconsider- 
 able magnitude ; and, in cleanliness as well as in almost 
 every other respect, far inferior to those of Spain. 
 
 Edifices.] Portugal contains few edifices that can 
 attract attention. The Portugueze nobility, like 
 those of Spain, reside chiefly in the capital, and man}' 
 of them have no other country residence than their 
 quintas in the environs of Lisbon, and their summer 
 retreat, at Cintra. Near the latter place is a monastery 
 remarkable for its situation on the pointed top of one 
 of the mountains at the elevation of about 3,000 feet 
 above the level of the sea. When seen at a distance 
 it seems to be floating in the air. 
 
 c2 CHAP.
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Historical View General Progress of Society, &c. 
 
 X ORTUGAL did not rank as a kingdom until the 
 year 113y, when Alpbonsus I. gained that memorable 
 victory over five Moorish princes, which procured 
 him the honour of being proclaimed king on the field 
 of battle, and which Camoens has celebrated by a 
 fine poetical description.* This prince was the son 
 of Henry, grandson of Robert Duke of Burgundy, 
 and great grandson of Robert king of France. Henry 
 had served as a volunteer under Alphonsus IV, king 
 of Castile, who had extended his dominions in the 
 north of Portugal as far as Coimbra.f Having 
 married Theresa, the daughter of Alphonsus, he re-* 
 ceived the title of Count of Portugal, and signalized 
 himself by several victories over ihe Moors. 
 
 Alphonsus I, the founder of the Portugueze monar- 
 chy, was a successful prince. In 1 148, having pro- 
 cured the assistance of a fleet of croisaders, he wrested 
 Lisbon out of the hands of the Moors. He died, 
 A.D. 1185, at upwards of ninety years of age, after a 
 Jong and prosperous reign. Portugal was fortunate 
 in a succession of able princes, who continually gained 
 ground on the Moors. But the long history of those 
 barbarian wars, besides being obscurely related by 
 historians, is uninteresting to modern times. Among 
 
 * Camoen'i Lusiad, c:tnt. 3. f D'Anvillc de* Etats, p. 194. 
 
 thes
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 21 
 
 these kings, however, must not be omitted the name 
 of Deniz I, who, having rebuilt the mined cities of 
 Portugal, and founded the university of Coimbra, 
 was eniitled the father of his country, and may be 
 considered as the parent of Portugueze literature. 
 But it was not till the reign of John I, about A.D. 
 1410, that Portugal began to acquire celebrity by her 
 discoveries, which led to conquests that enriched her 
 people, and extended her dominions from the Tagus 
 to China. 
 
 Don Henry, his third son, a prince of distinguished 
 abilities and extensive views, gave the first impulse 
 to that spirit of discovery which afterwards operated 
 a grand revolution in the commerce of Europe. HU 
 bold and enlightened genius, projected a scheme for 
 the improvement of geography and navigation, and 
 for extending the influence of Portugal beyond the 
 narrow limits to which it was then confined. He. 
 established an observatory and a marine academy, 
 where several persons were instructed in astronomy, 
 and the nautical art. The navigators formed under 
 his eye, and sailing under his auspices, advanced 
 southward along the African coast, as far as Cape 
 Bajadore, a region formerly unknown to Europe, and 
 on- their return, A.D. 140, discovered the fertile isle 
 of Madeira. In succeeding voyages they doubled 
 Cape Bajadore, Cape Blanco, Cape Verd, and at last 
 Cape Sierra Leone, within eight degrees of the 
 equator. So far Don Henry had the pleasure of see- 
 ing his discoveries extended; but his death, which 
 happened in 140S, did not extinguish the spirit of 
 enterprise with which he had inspired his country- 
 men. In the course of these voyages, the islands of 
 Cape Verd and the A /ores, had been discovered, and 
 c 3 the
 
 C -PORTUGAL. 
 
 the introduction of the vine and the sugar cane 
 into Madeira, had rendered that island a valuable ac- 
 quisition. In the reign of John II, a prince of pro- 
 found sagacity and extensive views, the Portugueze 
 pursued their discoveries with ardour and success. 
 In Africa they mude easy and extensive conquests, 
 built forts, and established a lucrative commerce. 
 In this infant state of navigation, however, they con- 
 tinued to creep but slowly along the coasts of Africa, 
 and .from their first voyage of discovery, sixty-six 
 years elapsed before Captain Bartholomew Dias reach- 
 ed the extreme point of that continent. The Portu- 
 gueze, terrified at the sight of a turbulent ocean roll- 
 ing mountains high, and seemingly torn up by tem- 
 pestuous winds from the bottom of its profound 
 abyss, were afraid of proceeding any further, and 
 named this southernmost promontory of Africa, Cabo 
 de los Tormentos, or the Cape of Storms. But the 
 king, who saw more clearly the importance of the 
 discovery, styled it Cabo de bonne Esperanza, or the 
 Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 The Portugueze had already made a vast addition 
 to the former extent of geographical knowledge, 
 and to the natural history of the human race. They 
 had penetrated through the torrid zone, and, contrary 
 to their expectation, had found its scorching regions 
 replete with inhabitants. This extensive tract of the 
 globe had, by the ancients, been considered as parch- 
 ed up by excessive heat and perpetual aridity, and 
 uninhabitable by human beings.* The Portugueze 
 navigators had exploded these errors, and discovered 
 a new race of men, whose jet black colour and 
 singular features, excited their astonishment. But 
 
 * Cicero Som. Scipionis, cap. 6. Pliny, lib. 2, cap. 68. Strabo, lib. 2. 
 
 hitherto
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 23 
 
 hitherto their painful voyages had tended rather to 
 excite enterprizing curiosity, than to gratify avarice. 
 The completion of tjie grand project, however, was 
 not far distant. Etnanuel 1. succeeding John II, pur- 
 sued with ardour the views of his predecessors. In 
 order to complete the passage to India by sea, he 
 sent out a squadron of four ships, under the com- 
 mand of Vasco di Gama, a noble Portugueze, who 
 possessed all the qualifications requisite for such an 
 expedition. He doubled the formidable Cape, till 
 then the ne plus ultra of nautical enterprize, and after 
 being assailed by furious tempests, ranged along the 
 eastern coast of Africa, touched at the city of Melinda, 
 and received from the king of that place all the in- 
 formation necessary for the prosecution of his voyage. 
 Pursuing his course through unknown seas, he arrived' 
 at last at the city of Calicut, on the Malabar coast, 
 which was then the great emporium of India, and 
 the Oriental Islands.* The commerce of this port was 
 then at its height. The Arabs resorted thither for the 
 rich productions and curious manufactures of the 
 East, which they carried to the ports of the Red Sea. 
 They then conveyed them by caravans through Egypt, 
 and sold them to the Italian merchants at Alexandria. 
 Here the adventurers met with a Moor, a native of 
 Barbary, who understood the Portugueze language, 
 and proved an useful agent. By his assistance, Gama 
 met with a favourable reception, obtained an audience 
 of the Samorin, or emperor, and began to negotiate 
 a treaty of commerce. But the artful insinuations 
 of the Arabs, induced the Samorin to break off the 
 negotiations, and inspired him with the ungenerous 
 resolution of putting to death those bold navigators. 
 * Hist Gen. de Voyages, tom. 1. 
 
 c 4 The
 
 2* PORTUGAL. 
 
 Tta? faithful Moor, whose name was Monzaida, in- 
 formed the Portugueze of their danger, and Gania 
 sent his brother on board the fleet, with a strict 
 charge, that in case he should hear of his death or 
 imprisonment, he should not stop to attempt his re- 
 lease, or to avenge his fate, but that he should im- 
 mediately set sail for Lisbon, to inform the king of 
 the success of the expedition, adding, " I am suffici- 
 ently happy in having discovered a passage to India 
 for Portugal." Fortunately, however, things were 
 not carried to this extremity, matters were brought 
 to an accommodation, and Gama returned safe to 
 Lisbon.* The year 1494 was the memorable epoch 
 of this great commercial event. 
 
 Thirteen ships were now fitted out, A.D. 1500, and 
 sailed from the Tagus for India, under the command 
 of Alvarez de Cabral. This admiral, in keeping out 
 to sea in order to avoid the calms on the African 
 coast, and the storms of the Cape of Good Hope, 
 was carried so far to the westward, that he discovered 
 the rich country of Brazil, of which he took posses- 
 sion in the name of kiisg Emanuel his master. Pro- 
 ceeding on his voyage he arrived at Calicut, had an 
 audience of the Samorin, and a regular commerce 
 was agreed on between the Portugueze and the 
 Indians. This good understanding, however, was not 
 lasting. The Arabs again found means to prejudice 
 the mind of the Samorin against the Europeans, who, 
 by their indiscretions, added force to the representa- 
 tions of their enemies, and mutual jealousies and fears 
 gave rise to mutual injuries. The inhabitants of Cali- 
 cut took arms, killed about fifty of the Portugueze, 
 and destroyed their magazine. In revenge for this 
 
 * Sousa, Port. Aia, vol. 1, 
 
 breach
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 23 
 
 breach of faith, CabrnI destroyed all the Arabian 
 vessels in the port, beat down a great part of the city, 
 and set fire to the rest.* The measures of the Portu- 
 gueze were now totally changed, and nothing was 
 thought of but the establishment of commerce by the 
 sword. Cabral entered into negotiations with several 
 Indian princes, tributaries to the Samorin, but de- 
 sirous of independence. He promised them support, 
 and carried their ambassadors to Lisbon, where such 
 political measures were taken as rendered success in- 
 fallible. The conditions of protection imposed on 
 those deluded princes were, that they should acknow- 
 ledge themselves vassals of toe crown of Portugal,. 
 sell their commodities to its subjects at their owa 
 price, and that each of them should permit a Portu- 
 guese fortress to be erected in his capital; that no 
 other merchants should load a cargo till the Portu- 
 guese were served, and that no mariners should navi- 
 gate the Indian seas without their passports. 
 
 At this period, A.D, 1508; the famous Alphonsus 
 D' Albuquerque made his appearance on the Oriental 
 stage. This general, equally distinguished by his 
 military and political talents, was invested with the 
 supreme command in India, and soon began to form 
 the most extensive views. The Portuguese, animated 
 by the successes already obtained, and the view of 
 the channels of wealth that were opened, were fired 
 with the spirit of enterprise. The Pope, glad of an 
 opportunity of asserting his universal sovereignty, 
 had granted to Portugal all the countries she had dis- 
 covered, or should discover, in the East, and the 
 whole nation was seized with the spirit of conversion 
 and conquest. Volunteers presented themselves ia 
 
 * Mass, Historia Indica, vol. I, cap. 6. 
 
 crowds
 
 2 PORTUGAL. 
 
 crowds to man the fleet, and complete the army. A 
 formidable armament was equipped, and on its arrival 
 in India, Albuquerque saw himself at the head of a 
 force composed of daring adventurers,, who, with all 
 the blessings of this world and the next in prospect, 
 were ready to brave every danger, and surmount every 
 difficulty. Albuquerque considered the Arabians as 
 the only enemy which the Portugueze had to fear in 
 the East. The navigators of the Red Sea, and the 
 merchants who furnished the caravans of Egypt, were 
 the natural enemies of the circumnavigators of the 
 Cape; and their numerous colonies; on the coasts of 
 India and in the isles, rendered their influence more 
 formidable. Against those enemies, theiefore, the 
 Portugueze general directed his efforts.* Their naval 
 force received a signal overthrow in the Indian ocean, 
 and many of their settlements were destroyed. The 
 first object of Albuquerque, was fully to establish the 
 Portugueze power on the Malabar coast. This he 
 effected by the destruction of Calicut and the capture 
 of Goa, which was carried by assault. 
 
 The views of Albuquerque were extensive, his am- 
 bitron was boundless, and his abilities were equal to 
 any undertaking. lie had rendered the Portugueze 
 masters of the coast of Malabar; his next attempt was 
 to extend their conquests and commerce still further 
 to the eastward. Having made several acquisitions, 
 and built some forts on the coast of Coromandel, he 
 projected an attack on Malacca, one of the richest 
 cities of the East, and the centre of all the trade 
 carried on between Japan, China, the spice islands, 
 and the ports of the Indian continent. Albuquerque 
 resolved to make a grand effort for the reduction of 
 
 * Hist Gen. des Voyages, toin. 1. 
 
 this
 
 * 
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 7 
 
 this important place. After a vigorous attack, and an 
 obstinate defence, the city was carried by assault, and 
 the Portugueze found an immense booty, both in trea- 
 sure and rich merchandize, in this great emporium of 
 Oriental commerce.* A citadel was immediately 
 erected to secure this important conquest, and Albu- 
 querque returned in triumph to*G6a. The Indian 
 princes courted his friendship, and permitted forts to 
 be built, and factories to be established, in every part 
 of their dominions. The Portugueze general having 
 accomplished his views in that quarter with all the suc- 
 cess that the most sanguine hope could have presented 
 in idea, now resolved to strike the final blow to the 
 commerce and power of the Arabians, by the conquests 
 of Aden at the mouth of the Red Sea, and of Ormas 
 in the Persian Gulph, two stations in which the Por- 
 tugueze squadrons might command the whole trade of 
 Egypt and Persia. Ornius was at that time one of the 
 most opulent, luxurious, and splendid cities of Asia. 
 Like Tyre, it was seated on a small and barren island. 
 Like Tyre, also, it was one of the greatest marts in the 
 world. Its luxurious and unwarlike inhabitants were 
 unable to withstand the impetuous valour of the Por- 
 tuojueze.'f- The city was soon obliged to surrender, 
 and Albuquerque received in that place an embassy 
 from the monarch of Persia. His attempt, however, 
 upon Aden, which was previous to the reduction of 
 Ormus, had miscarried; but he had made such ra- 
 vages in the straits of Babel Mandel, and on the coasts 
 of the Red Sea, as had totally ruined the trade of the 
 Egyptians and Arabs. The reduction of Goa, Malac- 
 ca, and Ormus, with the entire annihilation of the 
 
 * Hist. Gfii. dc Voyages, toin. 1. 
 
 t Hist, dosliid. Orient, tura. 1. Hist. Gen. dcs Voyajres, torn. 1. 
 
 Arabian
 
 ' 
 
 SS PORTUGAL. 
 
 Arabian marine, had completely established the em- 
 pire of the Portugueze in the East, and perfectly se- 
 cured their commerce. The capture of Ormus was 
 the last military exploit of this great man, /whose fame 
 will descend to the latest posterity. But this founder 
 of his country's greatness, astonishing to tell, died ia 
 disgrace at Goa, 1515. 
 
 The age of Albuquerque, was that of the heroism 
 and grandeur of Portugal. At his decease, her power 
 and her fame had reached the meridian, Her mari- 
 time and commercial empire was the most extensive 
 and astonishing that had ever existed. It extended 
 over all the coasts and islands of Africa and Asia, from 
 the Straits of Gibraltar to Cochin China. Her com- 
 merce was afterwards carried as far as to China and 
 Japan ; but her power was never greater, nor her name 
 more glorious. While the Portugueze mariners were 
 exploring the coasts of Africa, their adventurous tra-r 
 vellers and negotiators penetrated into its interior re- 
 cesses, reached Abysinia, and concluded a treaty of 
 friendship and commerce with its emperor, the Pres-r 
 ter John of those ignorant ages, Of the dominions of 
 this prince, Europe had hitherto received no know- 
 ledge, except what had been collected from fabulous 
 Accounts and vague report. The Portugueze were the 
 first, and almost the only Europeans who, prior to 
 Bruce, had explored that curious and long concealed 
 region ; and by this, as well as their other discoveries, 
 extended the circle of geographical science. 
 
 The prosperity of Portugal did not continue quite a 
 century, before subjugation to a foreign power annihi- 
 lated her grandeur. Even in the height of her great- 
 ness, the mis-managements of her government gave 
 some fatal blows to her domestic industry, which her
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 9 
 
 numerous colonies now rendered it more necessary to 
 encourage. Emanuel, from the successes of his reign, 
 surnametl the Great, adopted the cruel and pernicious 
 policy or' expelling from his dominions all the Moors, 
 to whom he left no other alternative than immediate 
 expatriation or perpetual slavery. To the Jews he was 
 still more severe. He caused all their children, under 
 fifteen, to be taken from them and to be baptized. The 
 adults were ordered to relinquish the kingdom under 
 the same penalty as the Moors ; and, at the same time, 
 every measure was taken to obstruct their departure. 
 These vexations, with the disagreeable circumstance 
 of leaving their children behind, induced most of them 
 outwardly to 'embrace Christianity ; so that to this 
 <lay there is a great mixture of the Jewish blood in the 
 Portugueze nation.* John III, his successor, would 
 have merited applause, had his zeal been satisfied with 
 sending the famous Francis Xavier as a missionary to 
 Japan ; but the spirit of intolerance induced him to 
 establish the infernal inquisition, which, in every court* 
 try where it has reigned, has operated as a check on 
 the energy of the human mind. 
 
 The reign of Sebastian, grandson and successor of 
 John ILL, which commenced A.D. 1557, was the fatal 
 sera of the downfal of Portugal. This prince, the year 
 after his accession, invading Morocco in order to es- 
 
 * O 
 
 tablish an expelled prince on the throne, and to extend 
 his own influence over that kingdom, was, together 
 with the two pretenders to the Moorish crown, slain in 
 battle, A.D. 1.3.59. His uncle Henry, a cardinal, suc- 
 ceeding, died without issue. Anthony, Prior of Crato, 
 was elected king ; but Philip II. sending the Duke ot" 
 
 * And. Hirt. Cow, vl, I, p. 344. 
 
 Alvft
 
 SO PORTUGAL. 
 
 Alvawith a powerful force, seized on the kingdom; 
 anil Portugal thus became a province of Spain. 
 
 During sixty years that the Portugueze were sub- 
 ject to Spain, they lost most of their valuable colonies, 
 which were conquered by the Dutch,* and in the 
 mean time were extremely oppressed by the ra- 
 pacity and violence of the viceroys, sent to govern 
 them by Philip II. and his successors Philip III. 
 and Philip IV. These repeated acts of tyranny 
 and oppression, which the court of Madrid, by neg- 
 lecting to prevent or to punish, appeared to autho- 
 rise, excited at last a general revolt. A plan for the 
 expulsion of the Spaniards, and the advancement of 
 the Duke of Brnganza to the throne, had been pro- 
 jected, and successfully conducted through every stage 
 of its progress, by Pinto de Ribeiro, steward to that 
 nobleman. He had managed, with unparalleled dex- 
 terity, every part of this complicated and dangerous 
 affair, and so completely taken his measures, as to ren- 
 der success almost infallible. The business was kept a 
 profound secret ; and the explosion was sudden, un- 
 expected, and irresistible. A general insurrection of 
 the people was almost instantaneously excited ; and 
 the expulsion of the Spaniards, effected almost with- 
 out bloodshed, as only two or three individuals fell the 
 victims of national hatred ; and Ribeiro, by a masterly 
 train of manoeuvres, raised the Duke of Braganza to 
 the throne, and restored the independence of Portugal. f 
 The year 1()40 was the memorable epoch of this re- 
 volution, which was one of the best conducted of all 
 those recorded in history. Portugal now resumed her 
 
 * Vidi> Hist, of the Dutch Republic. 
 
 t For a circumstantial account of tins well conducted conspiracy, see 
 Revolutions de Portugal, par 1'Abbe Vertot. 
 
 8 rank
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. .11 
 
 rank as a kingdom; but her commerce was ruined, 
 and her colonies captured. Brazil, Angola, and some 
 other settlements were recovered, but her extensive 
 possessions in the East, with the rich monopoly of In- 
 dian commerce, were irretrievably lost. A long war 
 with Spain cramped her exertions abroad; and the 
 city of Goa, with some forts of inferior importance, 
 are all that Portugal has been able to retain of her vast 
 Asiatic empire. The subsequent history of this coun- 
 try, is neither important nor interesting, as since that 
 time it has always been dependent on the great neigh- 
 bouring powers ; and has never been able to act any 
 other than a subordinate part on the political theatre. 
 The most remarkable events are the tremendous earth- 
 quake at Lisbon, in 1755, and the conspiracy formed 
 against the king in 1758, who was attacked and dan- 
 gerously wounded by assassins, in a solitary place near 
 his country residence at Belem. A number of nobles, 
 among whom were the Duke d'Aveiro, the Marquis 
 de Tavora, &c. were accused, condemned and exe- 
 cuted, with the most horrid circumstances of cruelty ; 
 but what is still more shocking, their innocence has 
 since been proved, and authentically declared. In this 
 supposed conspiracy, the Jesuits were also implicated; 
 and their expulsion from Portugal was the consequence 
 of that suspicion, which was probably groundless. 
 The invasion of Portugal by the Spaniards, in 176'2, 
 was by many considered only as a scheme to oblige 
 England to conclude a peace for the sake of preserving 
 her ally. In the revolutionary war, Portugal was rec- 
 koned a member of the coalition; but her aid was of 
 little importance. In fact, her marine and her military 
 force .ire, at present, insignificant. The rich com- 
 merce of Brazil i^ that which renders her friendship 
 
 of
 
 3f PORTUGAL. 
 
 of value to those nations which furnish manufacture* 
 for that flourishing colony. 
 
 Portugal, so long the faithful ally of Great Britain, 
 tvas at length obliged to submit to the general fate of 
 the continent, and to shut her ports against the trade 
 of that nation, to whose protection she had so lonj 
 owed her independence, and even her existence. The 
 entrance of the French armies into Spain, under the 1 
 ostensible pretext of invading Portugal, obliged the 
 Prince Regent to issue, on the twenty-second of Octo- 
 ber, 1807, an edict for shutting the ports of his king- 
 dom against all British ships and vessels of every de- 
 scription. In consequence of these proceedings, a 
 British squadron was sent to the mouth of the Tagus, 
 to be ready to act as future circumstances might re- 
 quire. But the compliance of the Portugueze cabinet 
 ivith the views of France in shutting the ports, did not 
 satisfy the rapacity of the oppressor of the continent. 
 The French army, under General .lunot, was already 
 entering Portugal ; and the Prince Regent, in order, if 
 possible, to avert the impending storm, was induced 
 to sign an order for the detension of all British sub~ 
 jects, and all British property yet remaining in his do- 
 minions.* At this crisis the Prince Regent \yas placed 
 in the most difficult situation that can be imagined. 
 Notwithstanding his compliance with the requisition 
 of France, General Junot was advancing towards Lis- 
 bon, and a Russian fleet entered the Tagus. Thus 
 menaced by France, he had forfeited his claim to the 
 protection of England by joining himself, although 
 through compulsion, to the cause of her enemies. The 
 British ambassador, Lord Strsuagford, had taken 1m 
 passports, and proceeded to tiie squadron under Sir 
 
 * TliU order bears date, Nov. 8, 1007. 
 
 Sidncj*
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. $3 
 
 Sidney Smith, who had just arrived on the coast, and 
 a rigorous blockade was established at the mouth of 
 the Tagus. The Prince Regent, therefore, had no 
 other alternative than that of removing the seat of go- 
 vernment to Brazil, or of submitting to rule over Por- 
 tugal as a vassal of France. Even to hold the crown 
 in vassallage would> probably, not have been permitted, 
 as the French emperor had declared, that " the house 
 of Braganza should cease to reign/'* And the emi- 
 gration to South America was impracticable, unless 
 favoured by the English fleet. In this critical situa- 
 tion, the prince took the wise and magnanimous reso- 
 lution of throwing himself on the generosity of Eng- 
 land, rather than submit to the tyranny of France. A 
 new negotiation was commenced ; and Lord Strang- 
 ford returning to Lisbon, gave the most explicit as- 
 surances that his Britannic majesty would generously 
 overlook those acts of unwilling and momentary hos- 
 tility, to which the consent of his royal highness had 
 been extorted ; and t\iat the British squadron, before 
 the mouth of the Tagus, should be employed in pro- 
 tecting his retreat from Portugal, and his voyage to 
 Brazil. The whole arrangement w r as immediately 
 made. There was not, indeed, any time for delay. 
 The British ambassador presented himself on the 
 twenty-seventh of November, and on the preceding 
 day, the French army had reached Abrantes, only 
 three days easy march from Lisbon. On the twenty- 
 eighth a decree was published, in which the Prince 
 Regent announced his intention of retiring to Rio de 
 Janeiro, and nominated a regency. And so expedi- 
 tiously was every thing transacted, that on the morn- 
 ing of the twenty-ninth, the Portugueze fleet, consist- 
 
 JNIoniteur, November 18, 1807. 
 VOL. in. D ing
 
 S4 PORTUGAL. 
 
 ing of eight sail of the line, four frigates, two brigs, 
 and a schooner, with a number of large and well-armed 
 merchant ships, making in all about thirty-six sail, 
 came out of the Tagus, having on board the Prince 
 Regent, and the whole of the royal family of Bragan/a, 
 together with many of his counsellors and adherents, 
 as well as other persons attached to his fortunes ; the 
 whole exhibiting a new and interesting spectacle, 
 
 Thus, about the close of the year 1807, the French be- 
 came masters of Portugal ; and General Junot, on whom 
 the Emperor Napoleon conferred the office of gover- 
 nor-general, with the -title of Duke of Abrantcs, ruled 
 the kingdom with tyrannical sway, till new and ex- 
 traordinary events gave an unexpected turn to affairs. 
 The insurrection which took place in Spain in conse- 
 quence of the revolution in its government,* and the 
 successes of the patriots, roused the spirit of the Por- 
 tugueze, and recalled to their remembrance the glories 
 of the reign of Emmanuel the Great, and the victories 
 of the famed Albuquerque. The insurrection of Por- 
 tugalj like that of Spain, was rapidly organized, and 
 soon assumed a formidable aspect. The insurgents 
 made themselves masters of Oporto, Coimbra, and 
 several other places of importance; and the French 
 being almost wholly expelled from the northern parts 
 of the kingdom, were obliged to concentrate their 
 force in Lisbon and its vicinity. The part which Great 
 Britain took in the liberation of Portugal, the expedi- 
 tion of General Wellesley, the battle of Vimicra, and 
 the evacuation of the country by the French, compose 
 a part of our sketch of British history. 
 
 * See Hist. View of Spain. 
 
 CHAT.
 
 35 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 Religion Government Laws Array Navy Revenues Commerce 
 Manufactures Population Political importance- Language Lite- 
 rature Polite Arts Education Manners and Customs National 
 Character. 
 
 j[ HE religion of Portugal is the Roman Catholic, in 
 its strictest forms. The hierarchy consists of the 
 Patriarch of Lisbon, who is often a cardinal, but 
 always a person of high extraction, two archbishops 
 and ten bishops. The kingdom contains near 4,000 
 parishes, and an abundance of monasteries.* Except- 
 ing the papal territory, no country in Europe supports 
 a greater number of ecclesiastics, in proportion to the 
 rest of its population. The inquisition is established 
 here, and was formerly exceedingly oppressive; but at 
 present its power is much limited, and its functions are 
 chiefly confined to disorderly ecclesiastics. The auto 
 de f6 is no longer heard of; and in cases which 
 come under the inquisitorical jurisdiction, banish- 
 ment is generally substituted for corporal punishment* 
 Government.] The monarchy of Portugal is heredi- 
 tary, and one of the most absolute in Europe. In case 
 of the king's decease without male issue his next 
 brother succeds, whose sons, however, have no right 
 to the crown without the confirmation of the states, 
 which indeed are scarcely ever convened, except in 
 jcases of disputed succession. The heir apparent has 
 
 * Murphy ' Portugal, p. 19. 
 
 D 'I the
 
 36 PORTUGAL. 
 
 the title of Prince of Brazil, and his eldest son that of 
 Prince of Beira. 
 
 Jurisprudence.] The laws are extremely lenient, ex- 
 cept in cases of treason. Theft is not punished with 
 death until after the fourth offence. Criminals of all 
 descriptions, are for the most part sent to the colonies. 
 A late traveller gives, from his own experience, a very 
 unfavorable impression of the administration of jus- 
 tice in Portugal.* 
 
 Military Force.'] The army on the peace establish- 
 ment used to be computed at about '24,000 : at present 
 it is not possible to state its strength. 
 
 Naval Force.] In the present state of the country 
 no documents exist to enable us to form any estimate 
 on this subject. 
 
 Revenue.'] The revenues of Portugal have been 
 variously calculated ; but it is generally supposed that 
 they cannot much exceed 2,000,000/. sterling. 
 
 Commerce.'] The principal trade of Portugal has for 
 years been with Great Britain, and the balance was 
 always considered as greatly in favor of the latter. 
 According to Murphy's estimates, Ireland gained 
 annually above 60,000/. by her exports to Por- 
 tugal. About the middle of the last century, 
 the sugar trade from Brazil was exceedingly flourish- 
 ing, but was cheeked by the heavy duties then im- 
 posed.*}- The migrations of the government to the 
 Brazils must effect a great change in the commerce 
 of the country. 
 
 The articles of home production, which Portugal 
 exports,are chiefly hams, dried fish, &c. &c. to the Bra- 
 zils; and wines, her staple commodity, both thither and 
 to the northen countries of Europe. Of her wines 
 
 * Prof. Link's Trav. p, 410, 411, &c. t And Hist. Com. vol. 3. p. 2l3- 
 
 England
 
 COLONIES MANUFACTURES POPULATION, SCC. 37 
 
 England takes off a great quant it}', especially of port 
 But the carcavclla wine, supposed to be produced 
 near Lisbon, is for the most part fabricated in London.* 
 England also takes off a great quantity of the oranges 
 of Portugal, and exports thither salted and dried fish 
 to a great amount. The Portugueze East India trade 
 is chiefly carried on from their settlement of Goa and 
 their factory of Macao, near Canton in China. 
 
 Colonies.] Besides the valuable and important 
 country of Brazil, the present seat of government, 
 the principal colonies belonging to Portugal ata 
 those of Angola, Loanga, Mosambique, &c. in Africa, 
 with some others in that quarter of the globe of less 
 importance. Goa and Macao are the relics of the 
 once extensive empire of the Portugueze in Asia. 
 
 Manufactures.] The manufactures of Portugal are 
 few and of little importance. This indeed is what 
 renders her commerce so valuable to those nations, 
 which supply her with manufactured goods for home 
 and colonial consumption. The Portugueze make 
 sume coarse woollen cloths ; and hats and paper have 
 lately been manufactured at Brazil and Lisbon. 
 
 Population] The population of Portugal, as already 
 observed, it is not easy to ascertain. From the state- 
 ments of the different writers, who greatly vary in their 
 accounts, it may be estimated at about 3,700,000. 
 
 Language.'] The Portugueze language approximates 
 so nearly to the Spanish, that whoever has a compe- 
 tent knowledge of one, will, with a little practice, 
 understand the other. Tho pronunciation is grave, 
 solemn, and sonorous. By the conquests of the Por- 
 tugueze, in the sixteenth century, their language is 
 >videly diffused on the coasts of Africa and Asia, and 
 
 * Murphy's Trav. p. 541. 2^i.'. 
 
 i> :i is
 
 38 PORTUGAL. 
 
 .is as useful in those parts, as the French is in Eu- 
 rope.* 
 
 Literature.'] The literature of Portugal is extreme- 
 ly defective ; and the few learned men in that country 
 are like stars twinkling in the dark gloom of night. 
 Philosophy and the mathematics are in a very con- 
 temptihle state, aud philology is much neglected. 
 Botany and mineralogy have of late been cultivated, 
 but both are yet in their infancy. The memo- 
 rias ceconomicas of the academy of Lisbon, shew, 
 that much has been done towards the advance- 
 ment of rural ceconomy: all their good medical works 
 are translations from the English; and their best phy- 
 sicians follow the English mode in treating their pa- 
 tients. The Portugueze have produced no good his- 
 torical works, and all the attempts yet made in regard 
 to the history of Portugal are very defective/^- Of 
 prose writers in the belles lettres, Portugal may be 
 considered as entirely destitute. There is not one 
 native work of the kind that can boast any merits of 
 style; but Portugueze translations of foreign authors, 
 especially French, are tolerably numerous, and many of 
 them not ill executed. In novel writing the Portu-* 
 gueze are far inferior to the Spaniards ; but they excel 
 them in poetry, Portugal justty boasts of having pro-, 
 cluced the greatest poets that have flourished beyond 
 the Pyrennees, arid without mentioning inferior names, 
 Camoens eclipses all those of Spain, and rivals the 
 first of Italy. The Portugueze have a genius for poe- 
 try, and are particularly fond of bucolics and amorous 
 sonnets. Their literature is also rich in blank verse. 
 Their translations of the ancients are always made in 
 
 * Profess, Link's Trav. p. 132. 504. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 490. 491. 492, antf Murphy's p, \3T. 
 
 blank
 
 LITERATURE. 39 
 
 blank Iambic verse, in order to avoid the restraint which 
 attends translating into rhyme.* The commencement 
 of the literature of Portugal was not much later than 
 that of the other European nations, as it may be traced 
 to the reign of Deniz I, about the middle of the thir- 
 teenth century, who cultivated letters and founded the 
 university of Coimbra, and in whose reign lived Vasca 
 de Lobeira, supposed to have been the author of the 
 famous romance of Amadis de Gaul. During the 
 middle ages learning does not appear to have been in 
 a much worse state than in the rest of Europe. In. 
 the sixteenth century the Portugueze possessed more 
 knowledge, in regard to astronomy, geography and 
 navigation, than most of the other nations of Europe; 
 and derived from it very great advantages. It is 
 evident, therefore, that their presen t back wardness is not 
 to be attributed to want of genius, but to political and 
 ecclesiastical oppression. Formerly no book could be 
 sold without a number of testimonials and permissions. 
 The permission of the inquisition was in the first place 
 necessary, and when this was obtained, testimonials 
 were to be procured from each tribunal, that the im- 
 pression was conformable to the manuscript. The 
 famous Marquis de Pornbal conferred the censorship on 
 a particular college, in which several members of the 
 government, who were not ecclesiastics, were associ- 
 ated with the inquisition and the tribunal of the Patri- 
 arch of Lisbon. The permission of this office is now 
 sufficient, and the printer is answerable for the con- 
 formity of the work with the manuscript. Newspapers, 
 &c. only require a permission from the privy council. 
 No literary journals, reviews, &c. are circulated here; 
 but there is published weekly one miscellaneous work, 
 
 * Link's Travels, p. 482. 
 
 D 4 consisting
 
 40 I'ORTUCAL. 
 
 consisting of incidents, anecdotes, See. The Gazette 
 of Lisbon is the only political journal publisned in 
 Portugal, and foreign newspapers are prohibited. 
 
 Polite drts.~\ Of the polite arts there is a total want 
 in Portugal. Neither architecture, statuary nor paint- 
 ing here presents any elegant specimens. In this re- 
 spect Portugal differs exceedingly from Spain. 
 
 Persons, Manners and Customs."] In regard to their 
 persons, there exists a striking difference between the 
 Portngueze and the Spaniards, for which^ as they 
 inhabit the same latitudes, and are originally the same 
 people, it is impossible to account. The Portugueze 
 are generally somewhat low in stature, square made, 
 and inclined to corpulency : their features are mostly 
 irregular, the turned up nose, and projected lips com- 
 monly making part of the assemblage. The Spaniards 
 are generally tall and meagre, their lips much thinner 
 and their noses frequently aquiline. Both nations 
 agree in their swarthy complexions, black expressive 
 eyes, and long, black and extremely strong hair. The 
 females have the same defects as the males, but their 
 countenances are expressive and their manners amiable. 
 Both the higher and lower classes of the Portugueze 
 are fond of a profusion of compliments. Among the 
 peasants, ass drivers, and others, in the lowest ranks 
 of society, it is common on meeting to take off their 
 hats, make a very low bow, and hold each other long 
 by the hand, making mutual enquiries after their health 
 and that of their families, after ali this, usually adding 
 " lam at your commands, and your humble servant." 
 They are generally talkative; their language, even in 
 the mouths of the common people, is elegant, and they 
 scarcely ever use oaths and execrations like the Spa-; 
 pjards, English an,d most other nations. In every re- 
 spect,
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 41 
 
 spect, the Portuguese peasantry are superior to thos 
 of Spain, in politeness, in attention to strangers, in 
 industry, 8cc. But they are miserably oppressed by 
 the great. The Portugueze nobility, however, arc 
 esteemed as much inferior to those of Spain a-s the 
 lower classes excel their equals of that country. Their 
 dress resembles the Spanish, though some of the mca 
 prefer the French modes. In regard to their tables, 
 the Portugueze are remarked for temperance; a virtue 
 indeed which, among the lower classes, is enforced by 
 necessity. Their amusements have already been men- 
 tioned. 
 
 National Character.] The national character of the 
 Portugueze has been greatly misrepresented by com- 
 mon place writers, and almost every vice has been 
 brought in to blacken the picture. But Murphy, 
 Link, and other judicious observers, have exploded 
 those prejudices and errors and elucidated the Portu- 
 gueze character. At a distance from the capital the 
 traveller meets with as much kindness and sincerity 
 among the Portugueze as among any other people, 
 although he had been taught to expect nothing 
 but violence and treachery. They have been consi- 
 dered as a lazy race; but the contrary is the fact, 
 they are very laborious. Their zeal for the Catholic 
 religion, and their punctilious observance of its cere- 
 monies, have been considered as one of their nationul 
 characteristics. Their ancient bigotry, however, is 
 greatly lessened, and liberality of sentiment begins to 
 prevail. The most disgusting trait of the Portugueze 
 character is an almost universal want of attention 
 to cleanliness in their houses and persons. 
 
 ITALY.
 
 42 
 
 ITALY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of tlte Country Mountains 
 llivcrs Cunals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil Cli- 
 Hvate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities Anti- 
 quities aud artificial Curiosities. 
 
 ITALY, at first divided like all other countries into 
 a countless number of petty states, afterwards united 
 under the Roman power, and again split into small 
 divisions, may now be considered as forming three dis- 
 tinct parts; of these the western, including Genoa and 
 Tuscany, with Parma and Placentia, and the greatest 
 part of Piedmont, constitute an integral part of the 
 French empire. The rest is divided into the two king- 
 doms of Italy and Naples, both of them dependent 
 upon France. The northern part, of what now 
 forms the Italian kingdom, was not anciently in- 
 cluded in this country ; but was known by the name 
 of Cisalpine Gaul, until it fell under the Roman 
 dominion. 
 
 Italy is situated between 38 and 47 north latitude, 
 and between 7 and 19 east longitude, extending 
 about 670 British miles in length, from north-west to 
 south-east. Its breadth, which is extremely variable, 
 may be taken, at a medium of the central and southern 
 parts, at about 100 miles ; but in the northern terri- 
 * torjr
 
 FACE OF THE COUNTRY MOUNTAINS. 43 
 
 tory it extends more than 300 miles from its eastern- 
 most to its westernmost limits. The content is com- 
 puted at 90,000 square miles.* The boundaries are 
 strongly marked hy the hand of nature. They con- 
 sist of the Adriatic on the north-east, the Medi- 
 terranean on the south-west, and the grand Alpine 
 barrier on the north. 
 
 Face of the country.'] Italy, in general, presents 
 such a splendid variety of scenery, that the land- 
 scape painter finds himself at a -loss to do justice to 
 the picturesque features and glowing tints of nature. 
 In the north, the sublime scenery of the Alps is con- 
 trasted with the fertile plains, watered by the classical 
 Po, and his tributary streams descending from these 
 lofty elevations. The central part of Italy is also 
 immensely diversified. In the district which lately 
 composed the ecclesiastical state, there are several 
 marshes and stagnant waters,, which generate that 
 
 O 7 O 
 
 insalubrious distemperature of the air, called the mal 
 aria, so pernicious during the hot season, in the Cam- 
 pania, and even in the city of Rome; but the varie- 
 gated Apennines contribute to beautify the country; 
 and the charming prospects of Florence and Tivoli 
 are universally admired. The kingdom of Naples is, 
 in general, a mountainous, but beautiful country. It 
 has, however, three great defects; in being exposed to 
 the eruptions of Vesuvius, to frequent earthquakes, 
 and to the enervating sirocco, or south-east wind, 
 
 O ' 
 
 which sometimes blows for several days together, 
 causing an universal langour of body and mind. 
 
 Mountains.'] Among the principal mountains of 
 Italy must be reckoned those branches of the Alps 
 which arc situated within its limits. The Italian Alps 
 
 *Zimraermann, Table 1. 
 
 run
 
 44 ITALY. 
 
 run from Mount Blanc in a north-cast direction, 
 presenting-, among several others, the lofty summits of 
 the great St. Bernard and Mount Kosa, the latter of 
 which nearly equals Mount Blanc in elevation.* The 
 Apennines, beginning from a branch of the maritime 
 Alps, wind round the gulph of Genoa and then ran 
 the whole length of Italy. Their elevation, however, 
 in comparison of the Alps, is not very considerable. 
 Vesuvius, a detached mountain of a conical form, 
 about six miles distant from Naples, is, by reason of 
 its tremendous volcano, a grand feature of nature. 
 Its height is only about 360O feet - y but its tremendous 
 eruptions, with the subterraneous thunders, the im- 
 mense columns of smoke, intermixed with ruddy 
 flames, the showers of stones ejected to a prodigious 
 height, amidst the coruscations of continual lightning, 
 and the lava descending in copious streams of destruc- 
 tion, form a sublime assemblage of terrific objects, 
 far surpassing the powers of description. 
 
 Rivers.'} Italy is intersected with numerous rivers, 
 flowing in almost every direction, of which the Po, 
 celebrated from the early ages of Grecian mythology, 
 is by far the most considerable for its magnitude and 
 extent of course. This famous river, anciently known 
 by the names of Pad us and Eridanus, rises in Mont 
 Vesula, on the confines of France and Italy, and in 
 the centre of the western Alps. After passing by 
 Turin, it runs, notwithstanding its numerous windings, 
 in a direction nearly due east, through a course of 
 about 300 British miles, in which it receives a great 
 number of tributary streams ; descending from the 
 Alps and the Apennines it falls into the gulph of 
 V T enice. The numerous tributary rivers, rushing from 
 
 * Saussure, p. 8. 
 
 the
 
 CANALS LAKES. 45 
 
 the mountains, bring down so much gravel and sand 
 into the Po, that its bed has been considerably raised, 
 and in some places banks of thirty feet in height are 
 necessary,, in order to preserve the country from 
 inundation. From this circumstance hydraulics have 
 been much studied in this part of Italy, and numerous 
 canals of irrigation attract the traveller's attention. 
 It is somewhat remarkable, that from Cremona to the 
 sea there is no very considerable city on the main 
 stream of the Po.* The Po is swelled in its course 
 also by the Adige, the Brenta, and the Tagliamento. 
 
 In central Italy the Arno, passing by Florence and 
 Pisa, fulls into the Mediterranean sea. The Tiber, 
 immortal in classical history, after receiving above 
 forty rivers or torrents, flows through Rome, and 
 falls into the Mediterranean, about fifteen miles below 
 that ancient capital of the world. Both the Tiber 
 and the Arno have their sources in the Apennines, 
 near San Marino. These mountains also give rise to 
 a number of inferior streams, among which the 
 Rubicon, a small rivulet of classical fame, now called 
 Fiumesino, falls into the Adriatic about eight English 
 miles to the north of Rimini. 
 
 Canals.] Of the numerous canals which serve for 
 the irrigation of the Milanese, some are thirty miles 
 long and near fifty feet wide, and are mentioned even 
 so early as in the eleventh century ; but the inland 
 navigation of Italy is not important ; and the incon- 
 siderable breadth of a great part of the country renders 
 it in a great measure unnecessary. 
 
 fakes.] The northern part contains the beautiful 
 lakes of Maggiore, Como, and di Garda. The Lago 
 
 * Pinkfrton'i Coog. vol. 1, p, 6?9, 
 
 Maggiore,
 
 4l ITALY. 
 
 Maggiore, twenty-seven English miles in length by 
 about three of medial breadth,* contains the delight- 
 ful Borromean islands, so celebrated by travellers. Of 
 these Isola Bella, or the Beautifu^Isle, has a magnifi- 
 cent palaee, with superb gardens, orange gr6ves, &c. 
 rising in terraces one above another, and hanging 
 over the lake.f The [sola Madre is larger, irregular, 
 and more rural, and thus forms an agreeable contrast. 
 
 O 
 
 The Lago di Como is about thirty-two British miles 
 in length, but not above two and a half in medial 
 breadth. These lakes afford fashionable points of 
 excursion to the wealthy citizens of Milan. The Lago 
 <H Garda, further to the east, is the largest of all, dis- 
 playing an expanse of water of about thirty miles in 
 length and eight in breadth. The other Italian lakes 
 are of small extent and importance. 
 
 Minera/ogy and Mineral Waters."] The mineralogy of 
 Italy is, for the most part, unimportant, and but little 
 exploded, although that of Piedmont is supposed to 
 be opulent.i The Romans were indebted for their 
 metals chiefly to Greece, AJacedonia, Parmonia, and 
 above all to Spain and Lusitania. There are in Italy 
 some mines of iron and copper, but too insignificant 
 to merit attention in a general sketch of mineralogical 
 historv. Manv of the mountains afford considerable 
 
 */ v 
 
 quantities of emeralds, jasper, porphyry, and lapis 
 lazuli. Here are also vast quarries of the most beautiful, 
 marble. Mineral waters also are found in many parts 
 of this extensive country. Those of Baia, in the 
 vicinity of Naples, were famed as a place of resort for 
 
 * Martyr says, that the T,ngo Maggiore is sixty-five llalian miles lunj 
 and from six to jiine or ten broad. Trav. p. 82. 
 t Martyr's Italy, p. 8?. * Journal dc? Mine;, No. 50. 
 
 the
 
 SOIL CLIMATE VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 4? 
 
 the opulent Romans, and the adjacent coast was 
 covered with their magnificent \illas. They are still 
 much frequented by valetudinarians,* 
 
 Soil.] The difference of soil, in this extensive 
 country, corresponds with the irregularity of its sur- 
 face, varying from the rocky summits of the Alps and 
 the Apennines, to the loamy plains of Lombardy and 
 the morasses of Campania. In general, Italy is ex- 
 tremely fertile, and has ever been famed for the 
 abundance as well as the variety and excellence of it* 
 productions. 
 
 Climate.'] The climate of Italy is also various, but 
 in general temperate and warm. In the northern 
 division cold winds descend from the mountains, and 
 the frosts, in winter, are sometimes pretty keen. la 
 Tuscany, and even at Rome, they are noi"~ wholly un- 
 known. But they are only of short continuance; and 
 at Rome especially the snow generally melts as soon 
 as it is fallen.-}- In Naples the heats, being moderated 
 by breezes from the mountains and from the sea, is 
 not so intense as might be expected. The sirocco, 
 though coming from the south-east, is not a sea 
 breeze, but a steady wind proceeding directly from 
 the deserts of eastern Africa. The air is, in general, 
 salubrious, except in the Campagnia and some other 
 marshy parts, where the mal aria is, in summer, ex- 
 tremely pernicious to health. The climate through- 
 out Italy is, in general, serene, although sometimes 
 subject to heavy rains. 
 
 Vegetable Productions.'] Italy is abundant in wine, 
 oil, fruits, and silk. These, indeed, may be called its 
 staple commodities. But there is no want of pas- 
 turage and corn, where encouraged by the farming 
 * Martyr's Italj, p. 29. t Ibid, p. 249. 
 
 system.
 
 45 ITALY. 
 
 system. The quantity of corn produced is generally 
 sufficient for home consumption, mid a, surplus for 
 exportation might l>c. had, if other productions were 
 not found more beneficial. In the plains of Loin- 
 Lardy, the orange trees generally require shelter, 
 although they thrive in the open air on the western 
 side of the lake,of Como, at the foot of high Alps 
 covered with eternal snow. The jvgrieulturc of this 
 country, which constitutes the best part of the Italian 
 kingdom, has long been famed for its excellence. In 
 this respect Lombardy shares with Belgium and Eng- 
 land the reputation of being the garden of Europe. 
 Most parts of Tuscany are well cultivated ; but more 
 to the southward, especially in the neighbourhood of 
 Rome, agriculture is astonishingly neglected ; and 
 the Campania di Roma, formerly one of the most 
 fertile provinces in Europe, is, through want of culti- 
 vation and drainage, almost wholly converted into 
 barren wastes and stagnant morasses. Many parts 
 of the kingdom of Naples are well cultivated. 
 
 Zoology.] The animals of Italy exhibit no high 
 tlegree of perfection. The horses are of an inferior 
 kind : and it seems that the breed has been neglected. 
 
 7 O 
 
 The cows of the Lodesan are generally of a dark red 
 colour, lank, and ill made ; but their cheese, which 
 was formerly produced in the duchy of Parma, and is 
 yet known by the name of Pannasan, is much cele- 
 brated, and constitutes an article of commerce. The 
 buffalo, although tame, is of a ferocious aspect : his 
 flesh is coarse ; but his hide, though light, is exceed- 
 ingly firm. This animal is supposed to be of African 
 origin. The breed of sheep is every where neglected, 
 and the wool is coarse and hair}'. Among the wild 
 animals may be reckoned the marmot and the ibex, 
 
 inhabitants
 
 CURIOSITIES ANTIQUITIES. 49 
 
 inhabitants of the Alps and the Apennines. The same 
 birds and reptiles are found as in most other countries 
 of southern Europe ; but among the latter class, the 
 lacerta orbicularis is regarded as peculiar to Naples. 
 
 Natural curiosities.'] The natural curiosities of Italy 
 are numerous, and as they have been so often and so 
 accurately described it would be useless to repeat 
 them. 
 
 Antiquities and artificial curiosities."] It would be a 
 still more vain attempt to describe, or even to enu- 
 merate, in this compendium, the magnificent relics of 
 antiquity every where found in Italy, the monuments 
 of ancient architecture and sculpture, the temples, 
 the amphitheatres, the triumphal arches, the columns, 
 &c. sublime memorials of former grandeur. And it 
 would be equally impossible to find room even for a 
 catalogue of the works of modern art, the excellent 
 paintings, &c. which adorn the Italian churches and 
 palaces. Rome, Naples, Florence, and some other 
 cities, present such an assemblage of antiquities and 
 curiosities of those kinds as cannot possibly be com- 
 prized in a work of this general nature. 
 
 VOL. ui. 
 
 B
 
 CHAP. IL 
 
 Principal Cities ami Towns Edifices Islands. 
 
 Jlome."] IxOME, so long mistress of the world, is 
 seated on the Tiber, at the distance of about fifteen 
 miles from the Mediterranean Sea, and in 41 53 r 
 north latitude. It stood upon seven hills, the Pala- 
 tinus, Capitolinus, Quirinalis, Coelius, Esquilinus, 
 Aventinus, and Vrminalis. In later times were 
 taken in three others, Collis Hortorum, so called 
 from the adjoining gardens of Sallust,* and afterwards 
 Pincius, ffom being the residence of the Pincian 
 family ; Mons Janicularis, a name of doubtful origin, 
 and Mons Vaticanus, so denominated from the Vates 
 or prophets, who gave here their answers. Monte 
 Pincio appears to have been inclosed. in the reign of 
 Aurelian,f and the Mons Janicularis either at the 
 same time or at an earlier period. There are also the 
 Monte Testaccio, Monte Citorio, which is raised by 
 the accumulation of rubbish, and the inconsiderable 
 hill called Monte Celiolo, which is only a part of 
 Mons Coelius. 
 
 Mons Palatinus, the Palatine mount, was the ori- 
 ginal seat of infant Rome. Here Romulus built his 
 city, in a quadrangular form : here was the mud 
 walled palace of that first Roman king, and after- 
 wards the imperial seat of the emperors. At present 
 
 * Rusiu._lib. 1. cap. 11. t Ibid. Ibid. 
 
 it
 
 ROME. 51 
 
 it is covered with kitchen gardens. The Palatine 
 mount was indeed a situation suitable to the sovereigns 
 of the world. Its height was about 125 feet above the 
 Via Sacra, and it commanded every part of the city, 
 the Tiber, and the adjacent hills.* On the north it 
 had the forum, on the east Mons Ccelius, on the 
 south Mons Aventinus, and on the west Mons Capito- 
 linus ; and it was about l^JOO paces' in circuit.^ Mons 
 Capitolinus, at first called Mons Tarpeius, was an- 
 nexed to the city by Tatius, king of the Sabines; 
 when, after his defeat by Romulus, he and his sub- 
 jects were permitted to incorporate with the Romans.^ 
 On this hill stood the famous capitol and the Temple of 
 Jupiter. The Mons Quirinalis was added by Numa 
 Pompilius.S; This hill, which is near three miles in 
 circuit, is very lofty, and enjoys the best air in 
 Rome.|| Mons Ccelius, of which Mons Cceliolus is 
 only an inferior branch, was taken in by Tullus Hos- 
 tilius. Before his time it was covered with oaks, from 
 whence it was also called Querculanus. The Ccelian 
 yields only to the Palatine mount in the extent of its 
 prospects.^] Mons Esquilinus was taken in by Ser- 
 vius Tullius, the sixth of the Roman kings, who here 
 built a palace.** This is the highest of the seven 
 hills : it was inhabited by the principal families in 
 ancient Rome, and is now the site of the church of 
 St. Maria Maggiore.ft Mons Viminalis, which de- 
 rives its name from the osiers with which it was 
 
 * Martyn's Italy, p. 132. t Fabricii Roma, cap. 3. 
 
 ? The Tarpeian rock is now about sixty feet high. Martyn, p. 197. 
 
 f Dionys. Ilalicarn. lib. 2. |l Martyu's Italy, p. 132. 
 
 If Ibid. p. 132. *' Livy, lib. 1. cap. 4K 
 
 tt Martyn, ubi supra. 
 
 t 'I skirted
 
 55 ITALY. 
 
 skirted,* is a long narrow slip of land, and, as well th* 
 former, was inclosed by Servius Tullius.-f- Mons Aven- 
 tinus, a name of uncertain derivation, was long 
 esteemed sacred, and is supposed to have been left 
 without the limits of the city till the reign of Clau- 
 dius, i It is formed almost entirely of volcanic mate- 
 rials, and commands a most beautiful prospect.Jj Mona 
 Vaticanus, or the Vatican hill, was remarkable for 
 the sepulchre of Scipio Africanus : it was afterwards 
 occupied by the circus and gardens of Nero, the first 
 emperor that persecuted the Christians. At present, 
 it is crowned with the cathedral church of St. Peter 
 and the papal palace.^ The moral philosopher, who 
 contemplates the revolutions of mundane affairs, will 
 here find ample scope for reflection. The inhabitant* 
 of modern Rome have, in a great measure, abandoned 
 the seven hills to convents, villas, gardens, and vine- 
 yards ; and the Campus Martins is now one of the 
 most populous quarters of the city. The hills appear 
 less considerable than formerly, as the intervening 
 vallies have bee*r raised by enormous quantities of 
 rubbish ; and modern Rome stands on the ruins of 
 the ancient city. 
 
 In another place I have made several observations 
 on the extent, population, wealth, Sec. of ancient 
 Rome,^] in a comparison of that celebrated capital of 
 
 * It cannot be supposed that osiers grew on the top of the hill, a dry 
 soil being contrary to their nature. 
 
 t Dionysius Hal. lib. 4. 
 
 t Varro derives the name Aventinns from Avibus, as great flocks of 
 \f!ter fowl used to resort hither from the Tiber. De Lingua Lat. lil>. 
 13, cap. 14. 
 
 y Martjn's Italy, p. 1.12. 
 
 Nardini Roma, p. 487. ap. Gibbon, vol. 1, ch. 16. Ponatus Roraa 
 Antiqua, lib. 3. p. 449. 
 
 fj Letters on Ancient and Modern History, 1804. 
 
 the
 
 ROME. 55 
 
 the civilized world, with some of the principal cities 
 of modern times. I shaft, therefore, only remark, 
 that although the circuit of ancient Rome has, by 
 some writers, been exaggerated to the extent of fifty 
 miles, and its population to the incredible nutnber of 
 4,000,000. Mr. Gibbon has, on the authority of 
 Ammonius the mathematician, who measured the wall 
 of Aureh'an, ascertained its circuit to have been no 
 more than twenty-one British miles, and its form 
 nearly circular.* The same writer has also, on proba- 
 ble grounds, estimated its inhabitants at 1,200,000. 
 In the reign of Theodosius, above fifty years after the 
 translation of the imperial residence to Constantinople, 
 Rome contained 1780 houses of the grandees, and 
 46/302 plebeian habitations. From these considera- 
 tions we might perhaps, without any material 
 error, conclude that, in the age of the Antoninus, 
 Rome must have been nearly equal to London and 
 Paris taken together, and have contained about 
 1,500,000 inhabitants, f From various circum- 
 stances of Roman history, it is probable that the 
 imperial city was never more wealthy than in the time 
 of Augustus ; but it received successive embellish- 
 ments till the reign of Dioclesian. Augustus boasted 
 that he had found Rome built of brick and left it of 
 marble.;}; His example was followed by his ministers 
 and generals, who vied with one another in adorning 
 the city with elegant structures; and Agrippa left to 
 posterity the immortal monument of the pantheon. 
 Nero, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Trajan, Hadrian, 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Emp. 
 
 t Vopiscus asserts the circuit to have been fifty miles. Lipsius estimates 
 the population of ancient Rome to have been 4,000,000. 
 ; Suetoo, iu Aug. cap. 28. 
 
 K 3 and
 
 54 ITALY. 
 
 and the Antonines, successively embellished the capi- 
 tol. A modern reader is astonished at the magnifi- 
 cent descriptions of the Capitol, of which the gilding 
 alone cost 12,000 talents.* And all accounts of the 
 Colisaeum, or amphitheatre of Titus, would seem in- 
 credible, had not that massy structure resisted, even 
 to this day, the destroying hand of time as well as of 
 barbarian invaders. This immense pile is of an ellip- 
 tical figure, in length 564 and in breadth 46? feet, 
 it height is 140 feet, carried up in four successive 
 orders of architecture. The outside w.as incrusted 
 "with marble and decorated with statues. The marble 
 seats covered with cushions sufficed for 34,000 specta- 
 tors, and, with the upper galleries, contained the asto- 
 nishing number of 80,000 persons. The Circus Max- 
 imus, used for the exhibition of public spectacles, was 
 superbly adorned by successive emperors, and had 
 seats for 260,000 spectators. To these might be 
 added the Forum Trajani, and innumerable other 
 monuments of Roman grandeur. It suffices to say, 
 that the magnificence and luxury of Rome were never 
 equalled in any other city of the ancient or modern 
 world. -f- 
 
 Rome is now about thirteen miles in circuit, and 
 surrounded by a single wall defended by some towers 
 and bastions, but without any ditch. The castle of 
 St. Angelo, once the superb mausoleum of Adrian, is 
 the citadel of Rome, and the only place of strength in 
 
 * The Capitol \vas founded by Tarquinius Priscus, and finished by 
 Tarquinius Superbus, Livy, lib. 1. For a description of its magnificence 
 see Livy, lib. 10, 35, &c. Pliny, lib. 33. The cost of the gilding 
 Plutarch in Poplicola, Pliny, lib. 36. 
 
 t The best preserved remains of Roman magnificence are the Coli- 
 saeum, the Pantheon, the triumphal arches of Titus Severus and Con 
 tantine, with the columns of Trajan and Antoninus. All these, with 
 innumerable others, are described by a multitude of writen. 
 
 1 the.
 
 ROME. 55 
 
 the city. It contains the arsenal, the treasury, and 
 the state prison; and, by means of a covered way, 
 communicates with the Vatican, for the purpose of 
 affording to his holiness a retreat in case of an insur- 
 rection or a sudden attack. The entrance into Rome 
 by the Flaminian gate, or Porto del Populo, is ex- 
 tremely magnificent. The traveller immediately en- 
 ters a spacious area, from the farther side of which he 
 sees the three principal streets of the city diverging. 
 This area is flanked by two handsome churches, and 
 the middle is decorated with a fountain and a. fine 
 Egyptian obelisk. Some of the principal streets are 
 straight, and of a considerable length. That called 
 the Corso, in which the horse races are held, extends 
 above a mile, and is the most frequented, as the no- 
 bility there display their equipages, not only during 
 the carnival, but generally in the evening, unless pre- 
 vented by the weather. In this street the palaces are 
 numerous; but, instead of being shut up within high 
 gloomy walls, like some in London, or having courts 
 before them like many of the great hotels at Paris, 
 they range in a line with the other houses, and thus 
 contribute greatly to the ornament of the city. The 
 Strada Felice extends from Trinita cle Monti above a 
 mile to St. Maria Maggiore, and from thence near 
 another mile to the church of St. John de Lateran ; 
 and the whole being in a direct line, the view is inter- 
 rupted only by the church of St. Maria Maggiore. 
 This street, which in a great part of its length runs 
 along the most elevated quarter of the city, is crossed 
 by the Strada Pia, another straight street, consider- 
 ably more than a mile in length, terminated at one end 
 by the Porta Pia, and at the other by the colossal 
 tatucs of Monte Cavallo. The intersection of these 
 
 E 4 streets
 
 & ITALY. 
 
 streets forms one of the most magnificent points of 
 view of Rome.* It would be useless to enter into a 
 description of the smaller and less regular streets; 
 but it may in general be observed, that most parts of 
 the city exhibit a strange mixture of magnificence and 
 meanness, of superb churches, splendid palaces, and 
 the finest remains of antiquity, with iH built plebeian 
 Jaouses, the abode of filth and poverty. Rome has a 
 great many piazzas or squares ; Martyn enumerates 
 no fewer than eighteen. Most of these are adorned 
 tvith fountains, but only in few of them the water is 
 good. The best is that of the fountain ofTrevi, the 
 only water now brought to Rome by an ancient aque- 
 duct. This fountain supplies all the lower parts of 
 the city, which have, therefore, the best water and 
 the worst air. Many parts of Rome are esteemed 
 tmhealthful in summer; and the most indigent person 
 will not sleep on a ground floor during that season. 
 In winter, however, the air is esteemed good for 
 asthmatical people. Brydone thinks Rome more 
 healthy than Naples : he says, that at Rome the sum- 
 mer is hotter, and the winter more cold and frosty. 
 The winter, he observes, is more rainy at Naples but 
 warmer. He prefers Naples as a summer residence ; 
 but bis opinion of the superior salubrity of the at- 
 Tnosphere of Rome is contrary to that of all other 
 travellers.f This writer, however, gives a dreadful 
 description of the sirocco, or south east wind at Naples. 
 It would be in vain to attempt a description of the 
 numerous churches. The cathedral of St. Peter is 
 well known to be the largest and most magnificent 
 temple ever constructed for the worship of the Deity^ 
 and perhaps the boldest and best finished piece of 
 Marten's ItIy, p, 13*. t Brjdone, vol. 1. p. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 architecture
 
 ROME. 57 
 
 architecture of the ancient or modern world. Instead 
 of describing this stupendous structure, a task which 
 has so often been performed, I shall, for the sake of 
 conveying by comparison a general idea, only observe 
 that its length in the inside is 662 and its breadth 291 
 feet, the length of the transept 493, and the height 
 to the top of the cross 435 feet; heing l<li feet 
 longer, 41 feet wider, and Q5 feet higher than St. 
 Paul's at London.* 
 
 The palace of the Vatican, near to St. Peter's, is a 
 "Vast irregular building, and would require- a whole 
 volume of description. Its superb ornaments were 
 almost innumerable, and its fine paintings and statues 
 inestimable, before the late French invasion subjected 
 it to hostile rapine, when the finest productions of 
 ancient and modern art, as well as the choicest books 
 and manuscripts of the celebrated library, were car- 
 ried away to Paris. 
 
 On the site of the ancient Capitol now stands the 
 palace of the Campidoglio, inhabited by the senator 
 of Rome. This is a work of the famous Michael An- 
 gelo Buonarotti. It is adorned with excellent paint- 
 ings, and contains a noble mussciim. The other 
 churches and palaces are too numerous to be men- 
 tioned. The latter line tlhe principal streets and the 
 squares, which owe their greatest embellishments to 
 those vast edifices. The architecture is good only in 
 a few of the Roman palaces ; but in many, the pro- 
 digious magnitude, united to a grandeur of decora- 
 tion is .striking: such are the palaces of the Burberini, 
 
 * The dimensions of St. Peters arc given with variation by almost art 
 travellers. Mr. Marten has noticed this circumstance, and says that 
 these measures are the most authentic that ho could procure, and .is he 
 has icasoii to bc'ie are vtr\ near the truth. Tour in Italy, p. 162. 
 
 * J3orghese,
 
 58 ITALY. 
 
 Borghese, Bracciano, Altieri, and Colonna families. 
 In the interior distribution, magnificence is the lead- 
 ing feature, and often supersedes convenience. Many 
 of the palaces in the city and suburbs command ex- 
 tensive and beautiful views. The Tiber, which flows 
 through Rome and divides the city, properly so 
 called, from the Transtevere, or quarter of the Vati- 
 can, is about 315 feet wide, and navigable for large 
 "barks. Very little commerce, however, exists ; and 
 although there are some manufactures, they are of 
 little importance. Cash is scarce, payments being 
 generally made in paper ; and here are several great 
 banking houses. Rome is chiefly supported by the 
 great number of foreigners who visit that ancient ca- 
 pital of the world ; and, in consequence of the gene- 
 ral prevalence of a taste for travelling, its population 
 lias, during more than a century, been gradually in- 
 creasing. According to a census taken in 1760, the^ 
 number of inhabitants was 155,184. Of these S27 
 were secular priests, 3847 monks, 1910 nuns, 7065 
 students, and 52 were persons not professing the 
 Catholic religion.* The most authentic accounts of 
 jate r state the population at l6'2,000.f In conse- 
 quence of the removal of her finest specimens of art 
 to the French capital, Rome will probably again de- 
 cline. But besides her historical fame, enough still 
 
 * And. Hist. Cora. vol. 3. p. 313. t Boettiche? Statist. Tab. 
 
 J The principal of these works of art are the Apollo ISelvidere, and 
 Laocoon. These inimitable specimens of ancient art are now at Paris, and 
 compose a part of the national collection. For an ample description ef 
 ancient Rome, Vide Nardini Roma Ant. and Donat. de Roma Antiqua. 
 Modern Rome, with the churches, palaces, ruins, statues, paintings, &c. 
 is described at large in a multiplicity of works written expressly on the 
 subject. 
 
 remains
 
 ROME. 5 
 
 remains to attract and gratify the most ardent cu- 
 riosity. 
 
 Rome contains a famous university, and a great 
 number of other institutions for the instruction of youth. 
 Gregory XV. founded the famous college of la Pro-, 
 paganda, for the education of ecclesiastics designed 
 for the foreign missions. In this city, nothing indeed 
 is wanted for the encouragement of learning. Public 
 libraries abound. Many of the principal monasteries 
 also have excellent libraries, which are easily accessible;* 
 but in Rome the belles lettres are studied more than 
 the sciences. 
 
 No public spectacles are allowed, except during the 
 carnival ; but at that time seven or eight theatres are 
 open, and attended with an ardour unknown in other 
 places, where they are under no restraint. During 
 the rest of the year, however, the frequency and pomp 
 of religious ceremonies and processions, compensate 
 the want of theatrical amusements. In the intervals 
 between these religious exhibitions, the idle and the 
 gay amuse themselves with parading in the Corso, or 
 spend their time in conversaziones or assemblies. 
 There is a court of inquisition in Rome ; but it is little 
 more than nominal, and its functions are seldom exer- 
 cised. A stranger is perfectly at ease on the subject 
 of religion ; and there are few places where supersti- 
 tion is less prevalent. -The Roman nobility are well 
 educated and highly polished. The middle classes of 
 the inhabitants are fond of the polite arts, and greatly 
 addicted to poetry. The populace are daring and 
 ferocious. 
 
 The immediate environs of Rome are mostly flat, 
 and sometimes, although not frequently, subject to 
 
 * Martyn'i Italy, p. 245. 
 
 stinkina
 
 00 ITALY* 
 
 stinking fogs. At a distance are many considerable 
 hills. The surrounding country has, in general, either 
 a volcanic or marshy appearance ; but it affords some 
 fine situations, adorned with magnificent villas. Among 
 these may be mentioned Frescati, famous for being 
 the site of Cicero's Tuscular villa, and Tivoli, the 
 ancient Tibur, where Zenobia, the Palmyrian Queen, 
 through the bounty of Aurelian, Jived in elegant re- 
 tirement. Frescati is twelve, and Tivoli eighteen 
 miles from Rome. Villa Adriani, the country resi- 
 dence of the emperor, Adrian, is between Tivoli and 
 Rome. Immense ruins here spread over a vast tract 
 of ground, revive the idea of Roman magnificence. 
 
 N/)/<?s.] Naples, situated on a fine bay of the sea, 
 in 40 50' north latitude, and 14 IT longitude, east 
 from London, is, in respect of physical circumstances, 
 one of the most agreeable places of residence that Eu- 
 rope, or even the world, affords. The climate is mild 
 , and salubrious, the situation admirable, and, -next to 
 that of Constantinople, the finest in Europe :* the city 
 populous and gay : the envirous beautiful and inter- 
 esting. One of its greatest beauties is the Chiaja, a 
 charming walk above a mile in length, running along 
 the. sea shore, with the bay full in view, the island of 
 Capri in front, on the right the coast of Pausilippo, 
 and on the left Vesuvius, with Portici and its envi- 
 rons. The quarter of St. Lucia is the most elegant 
 part of the city ; and for the beauty and wholesome- 
 ness of its situation, is the favorite residence of the 
 nobility and foreign ambassadors. The principal 
 street, called Strada di Toledo, runs almost three quar- 
 ters of a mile in a direct line, and is wide and well 
 
 * Professor Link esteems the situation of Lisbon the finest in Europe. 
 See description of Portugal. 
 
 built.
 
 NAPLES. 6l 
 
 built. In the heart of the city the streets are narrow, 
 and the houses generally five or six stories high. The 
 squares, or rather areas, are small and irregular. The 
 style of architecture at Naples is bad. Among 300 
 churches or upwards, not one has any claim to ele- 
 gance ; but they endeavour to make 1 amends for that 
 defect by the abundance and costliness of interior de- 
 coration, with a profusion of gilding and painting. The 
 cathedral of St. Genaro is a large structure ; and the 
 chapel, where the blood of the saint is preserved, is 
 splendidly decorated. Many other churches might be 
 mentioned, which display a costly profusion of orna- 
 ment. The palaces are in the same bad style as the 
 churches, many of them are large ; but, with very few 
 exceptions, they are devoid of architectural elegance. 
 ^Naples is far inferior to Rome in magnificent edifices, 
 but the city is more equally built, and hovels are sel- 
 dom seen by the side of palaces. Here are forty hos- 
 pitals, and several theatres. The great theatre of St. 
 Carlos, adjoining to the royal palace, is spacious and 
 elegant: the stage is of an immense size; the scenes, 
 dresses, and decorations, are magnificent. Naples is 
 about nine miles in compass. The wajls now serve for 
 no purpose of defence. Next to the sea are two cas- 
 tles with some batteries and bastions; but these forti- 
 fications could make little defence against a naval ar- 
 
 O 
 
 mament. The castle of St. Elmo commands Naples 
 in every direction ; but it is calculated to over-awe the 
 city, rather than to defend it against an hostile attack. 
 From this castle, and the immensely rich Carthusian 
 monastery, seated on the same eminence,* there is a 
 
 * From this commanding summit, the view comprises a circle, of which 
 the radius is scarcely Idss than ninety miles; and this vast extent of pros- 
 pect is filled with the most picturesque objects, and the most striking con- 
 trMti. ^Monthly Mag. March, IciUo". 
 
 magnificent
 
 62 ITALY. 
 
 magnificent prospect of the city, the bay, and the sur- 
 rounding country. The bay is near thirty miles in 
 diameter, and almost circular, being in a great mea- 
 sure shut out from the Mediterranean by the isle of 
 Caprea, and sheltered by mountains and woods, which 
 encompass almost three-fourths of its circuit. The 
 trade of Naples is much less considerable than might 
 be expected from the excellence of its situation, and 
 the fertility of the country ; a circumstance which pro- 
 ceeds from the indolence of the inhabitants, and their 
 want of application to commercial affairs. There are, 
 however, several manufactures of silk, velvets, hand- 
 kerchiefs, &c. The Neapolitans also make liqueurs, 
 and various articles of confectionary, with abundance 
 of excellent maccaroni ; and their soap is much es- 
 teemed. There is also a manufactory of tortoise-shell, 
 which they inlay curiously with gold for snuff-boxes, 
 and a variety of other articles, as also of polished mar- 
 bles and lava. These manufactures, with their wines, 
 oil, fruit, 8cc. constitute their exports. 
 
 It is one of the characteristical features of Naples, 
 that in proportion to the population, fewer of the in- 
 habitants contribute, by productive labour, to the 
 wealth of the community than in any other city of 
 Europe. The number of nobility, ecclesiastics, law- 
 yers, musicians, domestics, and lazaroni, is incredible. 
 The nobility are numerous, but poor. Many of them 
 have high titles, and small estates. About 100 of them 
 have the title of Prince, and a greater number that of 
 Duke. Their attachment to splendor and show is seen 
 in the richness of their dress, the brilliancy of their 
 equipages, and the number of their attendants. One 
 of their principal amusements consists in displaying 
 this grandeur on the Chiaja, where they make a gay 
 
 and
 
 NAPLES. 03 
 
 *rul splendid appearance. The religious being com- 
 puted at 10,000, which is not a thirtieth pare of the 
 population, does not amount to the proportion of those 
 of Rome, who, with the nuns, constituded in 1760 
 about one-twentieth. Provisions are at Naples ex- 
 ceedingly plentiful and cheap ; and the wants of na- 
 taire being easily supplied, the common people work 
 very little. The number of Lazaroni, a class of peo- 
 ple peculiar to this city, is computed at about 40,000. 
 These people have neither house nor property. They 
 generally sleep in the street ; but in the rainy season, 
 they resort in crowds to the caves under Capo di 
 Monte. Persons of a middle rank pass much of their 
 time in coffee-houses or other places of public resort; 
 and few pursue their respective callings with any 
 great degree of assiduity. Amidst all this idleness, 
 however, fewer disorders and outrages take place than 
 might be supposed; a circumstance which, in a great 
 measure, is owing to the sobriety of the people. The 
 greatest luxury of Naples is iced water. The crown 
 grants a monopoly of this indispensible article to a 
 company of traders, who are obliged to furnish the 
 city at a certain price, which is generally about three- 
 farthings per load. It is all brought from the moun- 
 tains, about eighteen miles distant, where it is con- 
 stantly preserved in deep reservoirs. That furious 
 jealousy for which the nation was formerly noted, 
 seems now to be almost eradicated, both here and in 
 the other parts of Italy. Cicisbeism and gallantry are 
 universally prevalent. 
 
 Naples has an university and several public libraries ; 
 but learning is not very much cultivated, and educa- 
 tion has hitherto been greatly neglected. The govern- 
 ment, however, has lately bestowed great pains and 
 
 expencr
 
 
 64 ITALY. 
 
 expence in establishing public seminaries. The aca- 
 demy of science and belles lettres has made consi- 
 derable efforts for the advancement of learning ; and 
 the fashion of visiting foreign countries has begun to 
 prevail among the nobilitv. All these circumstances 
 must contribute to a gradual improvement. What 
 effects the French conquest may produce on the na- 
 tional taste cannot yet be ascertained. 
 
 Naples, notwithstanding the mediocrity of its com- 
 merce and its want of industry has, in the two last cen- 
 turies, rapidly increased in population ; and many of 
 the streets are more crowded even than those of Lon- 
 don and Paris. The number of its inhabitants was, 
 towards the end of the sixteenth century, estimated at 
 about lG0,OOO; and it was supposed to have been 
 doubled within the thirty years preceding.* At pre- 
 sent the population is computed at 380,000. Naples 
 is therefore the fourth city of Europe in respect of 
 population ; being inferior only to London, Paris, and 
 Constantinople. The environs of Naples are pecu- 
 liarly delightful and interesting. To attempt a de- 
 scription would require a large volume. The fertility 
 of the country, the beautiful landscapes formed by the 
 city, the bay, Vesuvius, Portici, &c. together with the 
 subterraneous cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, 
 buried under the ashes of Vesuvius in the great erup- 
 tion, A. D. ?9, and discovered in the last century, form 
 an assemblage of objects highly interesting to the na- 
 turalist, the classical scholar, and the antiquary. 
 
 Florence^ Florence, once the capital of the Tus- 
 can or Etrurian kingdom, is situated on the river Arno, 
 which is about 140 yards wide, and navigable for small 
 vessels. In summer, however, this river often wants 
 
 * Bwlero, book 1. 
 
 wntar;
 
 FLORENCE. 65 
 
 Water; and in winter it frequently overflows its 
 banks. The city is seated in a kind of basin, sur- 
 rounded by charming hills, well cultivated and adorned 
 with villas. The autumn here is wet, and the winter 
 unhealthful, on account of the frequent changes of the 
 wind, which often blows from the south or south-east 
 and the north on the same day, and causes inflamma- 
 tions of the breast and lungs. In summer, the air is 
 esteemed extremely salubrious. The city is about six 
 miles in circuit; the streets are narrow and crooked, 
 but clean and well paved with large flag-stones. It 
 contains 150 churches, many of which are fine, but 
 none of them magnificent. The chapel of the Medi- 
 cis, in the church of San Lorenzo, is an octagon 
 richly incrusted with jasper, lapis lazuli, Oriental agate, 
 chalcedony, and a variety of other precious materials. 
 The church of Santa Cruz contains the mausoleum of 
 the immortal Michael Angclo Buonarotti, great in ar- 
 chitecture, sculpture, and painting, and that of the 
 illustrious and injured Gallileo. The formerly ducal 
 and royal palaces, have long been remarkable for their 
 excellent pictures, mosaics, and other ornaments. And 
 the famous gallery, that grand repository of antique 
 statues and invaluable paintings, was the grand object, 
 of attention to every traveller that visited Florence. 
 This city, however, as well as Home, has been pillaged 
 of its principal ornaments. The celebrated Venus de 
 Medicis, with many other chef-d'oeuvres of art, are 
 now removed to Paris. Florence contains many ele- 
 gant palaces of the nobility, richly adorned with sculp- 
 ture and paintings, and many of them have excellent 
 libraries. There are several theatres, and other places 
 of public amusement. The city is always gay, but 
 appears in its greatest brilliancy at the horse-races, 
 VOL. in. F which
 
 W ITALY. 
 
 -which are held in the month of June. The courae is 
 two miles, and the horses, as is usual in Italy, run with- 
 out riders. 
 
 The manufactures of Florence consist chiefly of silk3 
 and satins, which are excellent. The Florentines are 
 also famous for their mosaic work. The woollen ma- 
 nufacture, once the great source of their commerce 
 
 7 O 
 
 and wealth, is now inconsiderable. The population is 
 computed at about 70,000. 
 
 The environs of Florence are delightful. The emi- 
 nences surrounding the city display numerous villas. 
 The country is fertile in vineyards, and the wine is ex- 
 cellent.* 
 
 Milan.'] Milan, the capital of the Italian kingdom, 
 is situated between the rivers Tesin and Adda, in the 
 middle of the extensive and fertile plain of Lombardy. 
 It is near seven miles in circuit ; but, like Rome, it 
 has many large gardens within the walls, and lately 
 contained an astonishing number of churches, monas- 
 teries, seminaries, chapels, colleges, schools, &c. Since 
 the late political revolution, however, many of these, 
 especially the monasteries, are undoubtedly abolished. 
 The buildings are, in general, mean. The palaces are 
 large, for the most part built of brick, and stuccoed ; 
 but in a very bad style of architecture ; and tli squares 
 jnake a poor appearance. The principal church is 
 the famous duomo or cathedral, next to St. Peter's 
 the largest in Italy, and about the same size as St. 
 Paul's at London. This church is not, as is said in a 
 modern geographical work, built of solid marble,f but 
 of brick, and incrusled with marble both within and 
 without. It is a Gothic structure of a singular kind, 
 with a Grecian front. The outside is loaded with a 
 
 IVJartyn's Italy, ch. 9. * ^YalJtcr'l Gazetteer, Art. Milan. 
 
 profusion 
 
 r
 
 MILAN. 67 
 
 profusion of sculpture. Within and without are no 
 less than 4,400 statues, of which 200 are larger than 
 lifei* The roof is exquisitely wrought and supported 
 by l60 vast columns of white marble ; but the outside 
 of this stupendous fabric is not finished. The body of 
 St. Carlo Borromeo reposes here, in a case of chrys- 
 tal set in silver gilt. From the tower of this church 
 there is a very extensive view of the vast plain of 
 Lombardy and of the Alps. The archducal, archie- 
 piscopal, and several other palaces, as well as many 
 churches, contain good paintings, but inferior in num- 
 ber, and mostly in excellence, to those formerly seen 
 at Rome, Florence, and Venice. Here is a noble hos- 
 pital, and several other excellent public buildings and 
 institutions founded by opulent citizens. But the 
 Ambrosian library, founded by Cardinal Frederic Bor- 
 romeo, Archbishop of Milan, and nephew of St. 
 Charles, is perhaps the noblest establishment ever 
 planned 'and executed in favour of -the sciences by any 
 individual since the revival of learning. It consists of 
 nearly 40,O()0 printed books, besides 14,000 or 1.5,000 
 volumes of manuscripts ; and is every day open to the 
 public.f There is also a cabinet of natural history and 
 antiquities. Milan has an university with a botanical 
 garden. The great theatre is magnificent, and sulli- 
 ciently Inrge to contain 4,000 people. 
 
 This city has important manufactures of cloth, silk, 
 Jinen, stockings, gloves, gold and silver lace, em- 
 broidery, glass, &c. as also a considerable trade in 
 jewelry. The canals cut from the city to the Tcsin 
 and the Adda, both which rivers fall into the Po, 
 afford to Milan the advantages of an extensive inland 
 navigation ; and the inhabitants hve a considerable 
 
 .Marty's Italj, p. 70. Ibid. [>. 75. 
 
 F 2 carrying
 
 f>8 ITALY. 
 
 carrying trade, both by land and by .water, between 
 Italy, France, Switzerland, and Germany. The popu- 
 lation of Milan is about 140,000, being somewhat less 
 than it was estimated two centuries ago. The people 
 are well informed and polite. As little superstition 
 and prejudice is seen here as in any part of the world ; 
 and society is extremely agreeable. 
 
 The environs of Milan are quite flat, but adorned 
 with beautiful villas, and famed for their exuberant 
 fertility. There are five crops of hay in a season, in 
 the neighbourhood of the city, and in the province 
 of Lodi, where, by means of their canals, the mea- 
 dows are watered once a week, when it is found 
 necessary. 
 
 Venice.'] Venice, once the seat of a republic, great 
 both in commerce and arms, but now swallowed up 
 in the kingdom of Italy, is remarkable for the sin- 
 gularity of its situation, being built on numerous 
 islands, in the midst of u lake of shallow water, called 
 the Lacunes, near the head of the Adriatic, in lati- 
 tude 45, 25' north, and 12, 4,' longitude east from 
 London.* This lake is a sort of small inner bay, 
 separated from the greater gulph by several islands, 
 which break the force of the storms from the sea. 
 The city stands in the middle, being about five miles 
 from the continent, and nearly at the same distance 
 from the main sea of the Adriatic. The number of 
 islands, on which Venice is built, is commonly 
 reckoned at seventy-two. But the main city is sur- 
 rounded with a multitude of small islands, many of 
 which were lately occupied by convents. The limits, 
 therefore, of the city being not easily ascertained, 
 travellers and writers frequently differ in regard to its 
 
 * Hamilton Moore's Tables. 
 
 e.\ ten t,
 
 VENICE. 69 
 
 i 
 
 extent, and the number of islands on which it stands. 
 They reckon, however, about 400 canals, forming an 
 intricate labyrinth of communication throughout the 
 city, and a still greater number of bridges. But 
 many of the canals are narrow, and many of the 
 bridges consist of only a single arch. The grand 
 canal is about ZOO paces wide, and running in the 
 form of an S divkles the city into two nearly equal 
 parts. Over this canal, and almost in the centre of 
 the city, is the famous bridge of Rialto, consisting of 
 one arch eighty-nine feet wide. The beauty of this 
 bridge is greatly impaired by two rows of shops built 
 upon it; although it affords the finest point of view 
 in Venice. The buildings, the paintings, the amuse- 
 ments, and the opulence of Venice are all interesting 
 objects. The celebrated cathedral, or patriarchal 
 church of St. Marc, is a large and gloomy structure. 
 The architecture is of a mixed kind, mostly Gothic, 
 with a number of Grecian columns of various sorts of 
 marble ; and the whole is crow-ned with five domes. 
 In the front are five brazen gates, ornamented with 
 historical basso relievos. The quadrangular tower is 
 300 feet high, and commands an extensive prospect 
 over the city, the Lagunes, part of the adjacent con- 
 tinent, and of the Adriatic. Several of the churches 
 are of elegant architecture, and most of them rich in 
 pictures. The high reputation of the Venetian schools 
 of architecture and painting is universally known. 
 The palaces of Venice are generally in an elegant 
 style. The rooms are hung with velvet or damask, 
 laced, or fringed with gold, or else painted fresco, 
 with floors of plaster, coloured in imitation of marble. 
 In many of them are seen several good paintings, but 
 no such collections as at Rome and Genoa. Venice, 
 
 r 3 however,
 
 70 ITALY. 
 
 however, has, like the other Italian cities, been pil- 
 laged of her most valuable chef d'oeuvres of art, and 
 been obliged to contribute to the embellishment of 
 the French capital. The arsenal occupies an island 
 about three miles in circuit. Here are docks for the 
 gallics and ships of war, and repositories for warlike 
 stores, with foundcrics for casting cannon and anchors, 
 and every convenience for making sails, cables, &c. 
 
 From tbe situation of Venice, it may be easily con- 
 ceived that there can be no streets of any great re- 
 gularity and extent, nor any use for carriages. The 
 gondolas, or long narrow boats, with a room in the 
 middle, six feet by four, and calculated for eight 
 persons to sit, answer the same purpose as the hack- 
 ney coaches at London, and the fiacres at Paris, and 
 like these have their regular stands. The regatta or 
 races of gondolas, on the grand canal, are a favourite 
 amusement of the Venetians. On some of these occa* 
 sions the concourse of barges, boats, and gondolas, 
 with bands of music, make a brilliant and animated 
 appearance. Among the diversions of this celebrated 
 city every one has heard of those of the carnival, 
 which here, as in every part of Italy, is kept with un- 
 bounded festivity. Venice has no less than seven 
 theatres, which are all open during that joyous sea- 
 son. The Piazza di St. Marc, the only open area 
 where any considerable number of people can assem- 
 ble, is the Vauxhall of Venice. Music is greatly cul- 
 tivated in this city. Besides the public places, wealthy 
 persons have their cassinos, where both sexes meet 
 and amuse themselves with conversation or cards. 
 
 The once famous commerce of Venice is now 
 greatly declined, and become inconsiderable in com- 
 parison of its former importance. The causes of this 
 
 decline
 
 , GENOA. 71 
 
 decline are discovered in the history of that republic. 
 At present this city can boast of excellent manu- 
 factures of velvet and silk stockings. One of the 
 principal manufactures is that of glass. The liqueurs 
 made here are in high estimation. Printing and 
 jewelry are also considerable branches of trade. But 
 the opulence of Venice is the fruit of her former 
 rather than of her present commerce. The number 
 t)f inhabitants is computed at about 150,000. But, 
 together with trade, population has undoubtedly de- 
 clined.* Had Venice been preserved by Austria, it 
 might have compensated the. loss of her other Italian 
 provinces; but that city is a valuable acquisition to 
 the kingdom of Italy. 
 
 Genoa.'] Genoa is situated on the declivity of a 
 mountain, in the form of a semicircle, embracing 
 the harbour. The city is about six miles in circuit 
 and surrounded with a double wall. One of these 
 walls immediately encompasses the city, the other 
 takes in the eminences by which it is commanded. 
 At about a quarter of a league out at sea, Genoa, 
 rising from the harbour like an amphitheatre, makes a 
 superb appearance. It is remarked for the beauty of 
 its situation and the magnificence of its buildings; 
 but it has no large squares ; and the streets, although 
 admirably well paved and clean, are so narrow that 
 the fine palaces cannot be seen to advantage. Even 
 the two principal streets, Stradat Balbi and StraddL ..'^'" 
 Nuova are extremely narrow ; the latter is only twelve 
 paces broad. Some of the churches arc richly orna- 
 mented. The cathedral, dedicated to St. Lawrence, 
 is a gloomy Gothic structure, but contains in its 
 
 * From the hills of mortality for 1759, IMr. Anderson computes {lie 
 jMipulaiiou at 205,5$0. Hist. Com. vol. ;?, p. 313, 
 
 F 't trcasurv,
 
 72 ITALY. 
 
 treasury, the famous dish which is said to be of 
 emerald, and is fourteen inches and a half in diameter. 
 It was part of the rich booty found at Ceesarea, in 
 Palestine, when that city was taken by the eroisaders; 
 and at the distribution of the treasure amonar the 
 
 O 
 
 allied powers, the Genoese .were contented with this 
 single piece for their share. The palaces of the 
 nobility at Genoa are numerous, and universally cele- 
 brated for their magnificence ; but few of them are in 
 a good style of architecture. The Palazza Doria, 
 begun by the celebrated Andrea Doria, is the largest, 
 and has its principal front towards the harbour. Al- 
 most all the Genoese palaces contain vast collections 
 of excellent pajntings. 
 
 The harbour of Genoa is spacious, being about 
 750 yards wide at the entrance, and ships of war 
 of eighty guns can ride in it before the new mole. 
 There is a smaller harbour for merchant vessels, 
 and a wet dock for gallies. The trade of Genoa, 
 like that of her great rival Venice, has exceedingly 
 declined. A great quantity of goods, however, is 
 brought hither by foreign vessels ; and the city has 
 a commercial appearance, the streets being crowded 
 and the shops well furnished. The Genoese have very 
 considerable manufactures of rich silks, brocades, 
 velvets, stockings, gloves, artificial flowers, gold fila- 
 gree, &c. They also build ships for sale and dispose 
 _jf them to foreigners. The markets of Genoa arc 
 supplied with excellent provisions ; but every thing is 
 dear; and the poorest sort of the people fare hardly, 
 chesnuts, dried fish, and cheese being the principal 
 part of their food. The wine made in the neighbour- 
 hood is of an indifferent quality, and wood for fue] is 
 scarce and dear. 
 
 4 In
 
 EDIFICES. 
 
 In regard to the state of society in Genoa, little can 
 be said in its favour. The nobility have scarcely any 
 tincture of literature. Although generally educated 
 in Tuscany scarcely any of them speak pure Italian. 
 In their families they are said to live very frugally, and 
 as they always appear in black, they are at little ex- 
 pence in the article of dress. Their opulence is chiefly 
 displayed in the magnificence of their palaces and 
 their valuable collections of pictures. Some of them 
 have five or six palaces : others, much to their honour, 
 have expended immense surn^s in works of public 
 utility or ornament. During the carnival there are 
 operas and plays; but at other times Genoa affords as 
 few resources to the idle and dissipated as to the man 
 of letters. The people are hardy, brave, and laborious. 
 In regard to the industry of the lower order, Genoa 
 affords a striking contrast to Naples. In contemplat- 
 ing the magnificence and wealth of Venice and Genoa, 
 the judicious observer will discover the great effects 
 of a flourishing commerce. Although the trade of 
 these two celebrated cities be sunk so far below its 
 former importance, it must, however, be remembered, 
 that the riches and splendor which they now exhibit, 
 were acquired by the commercial enterprises of 
 former generations. The environs of Genoa are 
 beautiful and romantic, and adorned with numerous 
 villas of the nobility and wealthy citizens. The other 
 Italian cities of inferior note, are too numerous to be 
 mentioned in a work of general geography. 
 
 Edifices.] The principal edifices in Italy being in 
 the great cities already described, or in their environs, 
 most of them are included in this general sketch. 
 Few of the great cities, however, of this extensive 
 country, are without some church or palace remark- 
 
 able
 
 74 ITALY. 
 
 able for its magnificence, or its costly decorations. 
 It is, however, to be remembered, tbat many of tbe 
 Italian churches have been stripped of their most 
 valuable ornaments by the late invasion. 
 
 Islands.] Adjacent to the coast of Italy are numer- 
 ous islands, of which several are remarkable for their 
 classical fame, or their natural curiosities, but of too 
 little modern importance to merit in this place a par- 
 ticular description. Capri, at the entrance of the 
 Gulph of Naples, the ancient Caprea, is famous for 
 having been many years the residence of Tiberius, 
 and the scene of his effeminate pleasures. The isles 
 of Lipari contain many natural curiosities, and Elba, 
 the ancient Ilva, about nine miles in length and three 
 in breadth, has, from early antiquity, been remark- 
 able for its mines of excellent iron and other metallic 
 productions. Tbe island of Malta, supposed to be 
 the ancient Melrta where Paul was shipwrecked, is an 
 object of greater importance. Its circumference does 
 not exceed fifty British miles, but its population is 
 computed at GO,000, and that of the neighbouring 
 island of Gorea at about 3000. The ancient fame 
 and distinguished valour of its knights, so eminently 
 displayed in Palestine and the isle of Rhodes, and 
 particularly in the famous siege of Valetta, the prin- 
 cipal, or indeed the only city of Malta, when that 
 small body of men, with little other assistance, with- 
 stood the formidable force of the Ottoman empire, 
 gives to Malta a celebrated name in history, and 
 existing circumstances demonstrate its modern im- 
 portance; but it has been so recently and so well 
 described, that the theme would here be trivial. 
 Sardinia is an island of great extent, being not less 
 than about 150 miles in length from north to south,
 
 SICILY. 73 
 
 nnd 80 or 90 in breadth from east to west, and con- 
 stituting a kingdom.* The soil in many parts is said 
 to be fertile, but in consequence of the absence of 
 all the great proprietors of lands, who, previously to 
 the late revolutions, have constantly resided in Pied- 
 mont, and left the peasantry Binder the oppression of 
 rapacious stewards, agriculture has been extremely 
 neglected/}- Sardinia contains several mountainoxis 
 tracts, and the whole country may be regarded as a 
 waste, of which only some particular spots exhibit 
 marks of cultivation. The air is rendered very im- 
 healthful by the numerous morasses, and the Romans 
 esteemed this island so disagreeable a residence, that 
 it was often used^ as a place of banishment for state 
 prisoners. The cattle and sheep are small, the breeds 
 having been neglected. The whole population of 
 Sardinia is computed at about 450,000. Cagliari on, 
 a bay of the sea, on the cast side of the island, is the 
 principal city.;}; 
 
 Sicily, of late an important part of the Neapolitan 
 monarchy, claims at this time particular attention. 
 It is separated from Italy by a narrow straight called 
 the Faro di Messina, and lies in a triangular form. 
 The country is exceedingly fertile, not only in wine, 
 oil, silk, and fruits, but also in corn and cattle. This 
 island once shared with Egypt the honour of being 
 one of the granaries of ancient Rome, and of late ex- 
 ported a considerable quantity to Naples. Itsproduc- 
 
 "* Fcrber's Italy, p. 29.1. Mr. Jackson gives a liorrid description of 
 the barbarism and ferocity of the Sardinians. He represents the country 
 as mostly thieves and murderers. Comni. Mcditerrau. p. 99. 
 
 f Young, p. 11. 
 
 } Xo stranger can trarcl into the interior of Sardinia, without being 
 wc-ll armed and accompanied with guards. Jickson ubi supra. 
 
 tious,
 
 70 ITALY. 
 
 lions, however, would be much more abundant if 
 greater attention were paid to agriculture. The natu- 
 ral curiosities of Sicily are numerous. Mount Etna 
 has been famous from the remotest antiquity for its 
 tremendous volcano, and has furnished poetry with 
 grand allusions. This enormous mountain occupies a 
 considerable portion of the interior of the island, the 
 circuit of its base being not less than J80 miles. It is 
 surrounded by a mass of smaller mountains, covered 
 with vast forests of oaks, ehesnut, beeches, firs, &c. 
 Many of the ehesnut trees of this middle region, 
 are of an enormous size, one in particular, which has 
 been found to measure 04 feet in circumference, 
 exhibits a singular phcenomenon of vegetation.* 
 Above these forests is the region of perpetual snow 
 surrounding the crater, which is of an oval form, 
 above three miles in circuit, enclosed by vast frag- 
 ments of lava, and various volcanic matter. The 
 inner sides are incrusted with orange coloured con- 
 cretions, arid slope in various declinations. The 
 bottom is a plain, nearly horizontal, about two thirds 
 of a mile in circuit, with a large circular aperture, 
 from which issues a column of white smoke. At the 
 bottom of this aperture is seen a liquid fiery matter, 
 resembling melted metal in a state of ebullition .*f- 
 From the height of the mountain, and the depth of 
 the crater, the. eruptions, instead of attaining the 
 
 * Brydone says, that tlie belt of forests surrounding Mount Etna is 
 about nine miles broad, and the snowy region about eight miles broad. 
 Trav. Letters, 9 and 10. 
 
 t For the most accurate description of Etna any where extant, vide 
 Bpalatizani, vol. 1, and Brydone. The latter says, that from the summit 
 of Etna, there is a stupendously extensive prospect, of which the horizon 
 is not less than two thousand miles. Travels in Sicily, vol. 1, letter 
 10132, &c. 
 
 summit
 
 SICILY. 77 
 
 summit, often burst out at the sides, and the streams 
 of lava have sometimes been so copious as to extend 
 thirty miles in length. The greatest physical disad- 
 vantage of Sicily, is the dreadful effects of this vol- 
 cano, and the tremendous earthquakes to which the 
 island, as well as the opposite province of Calabria, is 
 subject. In 1693, the city of Chtania, near to Mount 
 Etna, which about twenty-four years before had 
 greatly suffered by many dreadful shocks, was totally 
 destroyed, and about 18,000 persons were buried in 
 the ruins. Since that time, however, it has been rebuilt, 
 possesses an university, and contains about 26,000 
 inhabitants. The destructive earthquake of 1783, is 
 still fresh in remembrance. According to the returns 
 made to government, 32,367 persons lost their lives 
 by this dreadful visitation; and Sir W. Hamilton, 
 on very probable grounds, supposes the number to 
 have been considerably greater. The large, populous, 
 and commercial city of Messina, which contained a 
 great number of magnificent buildings, was almost, 
 destroyed, but not above 700 persons are said to have 
 perished. Palermo, the capital of Sicily, and the 
 present residence of the court, is situated on the 
 coast in the Val di Mazara, a beautiful plain, envi- 
 roned on the land side by a semicircular range of 
 high and rocky mountains, forming a kind of amphi- 
 theatre. This plain is luxuriantly fertile, and between 
 the city and the mountains are numerous gardens, 
 filled with fruit trees of various kinds, and watered 
 by charming rivulets winding in every direction. 
 The magnificence of the city corrc-spon ;}. with the 
 beauty of its situation.* The two principal streets 
 intersect each other in the centre of the city, where 
 
 Brvdoue, vol. ';>, letter 52. 
 
 thev
 
 7$ ITALY. 
 
 they form a beautiful square, adorned with elegant 
 and uniform buildings. From the centre of this 
 square is seen the whole length of these superb streets, 
 as well as the four gates of the city by which they 
 are terminated. Few cities can boast so fine a point 
 of view. Palermo being about a mile across every 
 way, each of these gates is half a mile from the cen- 
 tral square. They are elegant pieces of architecture 
 and richly adorned. One of them called the Porta 
 Felice, opens to the Marino, a charming walk, hav- 
 ing on one side the wall of the city, on the other the 
 sea, from whence there is always an agreeable breeze. 
 In the centre of the walk is a kind of temple, which 
 In summer is used as an orchestra. There arc upwards 
 of 300 churches in Palermo, and many of them are 
 magnificent and richly ornamented. The cathedral 
 is a large gothic structure, supported within by 
 eighty columns of Oriental granite, and replete with 
 costly decorations. In this church are the monu- 
 ments of many of theT^orman kings of Sicily, who 
 are here interred. The city is crowded with statues 
 of sovereigns and saints, placed in small -courts and 
 squares, but not remarkable for excellence of work- 
 manship or taste. Palermo is well lighted with re- 
 flecting lamps, a convenience of w : hich all the cities 
 of Italy, even Rome itself, is destitute. The trade of 
 this capital of Sicily is considerable, but the harbour 
 is unsafe, being exposed to the swell of the sea, and 
 the violence of the winds. The manners of Palermo 
 are polished, and society is here agreeable. The 
 number of inhabitants is computed at about 100,000. 
 The whole population of Sicily may be 1,000,000. 
 Sicily has been famous from the early ages of Gre- 
 cian antiquity. The Phoeniciatis were probably the 
 
 first
 
 &1CILY. 78 
 
 first settlers on the island ; but Grecian colonfes after- 
 wards occupied most of the coasts. The Sicilian his* 
 tory, as a distinct narrative, is sufficiently entertaining; 
 but its scenes are too confined to be interesting in a. 
 general view of nations. At an early period, its state 
 was exceedingly flourishing. Ancient historians cele- 
 brate the power and splendor of some of its kings, 
 particularly of Dionysius the Elder and of the tyrant 
 Agathocles, the latter of whom, from the lowest ex- 
 traction, rose to the sovereignty, and by his formi- 
 dable arms endangered the very existence of Car- 
 thage.* Their accounts of the magnificence, the 
 riches and population of Syracuse, when governed by 
 jts native princes, cannot but astonish a modern rea- 
 der. The Carthaginians long coveted and at last ob- 
 tained possession of the greatest part of this fertile 
 island.j- It became afterwards the subject of a fu- 
 rious contest between them and the Romans; and, as 
 the Carthaginian power began to decline, it fell under 
 the dominion of Rome. After the fall of the Roman 
 mpire, Sicily, as well as the south of Italy, became a 
 bone of contention between the Greek emperors and 
 the Saracens, and at last fell under the dominion of 
 the latter. In the llth century, a band of Norman 
 adventurers, under Tancrcd and Robert Guiscard, 
 expelled the Greeks from Naples and the Saracens; 
 from Sicily. The provinces on the continent were 
 for some time divided into different Norman princi- 
 palities, and this fine island was a separate kingdom. 
 
 Justin, lib. 20, 22 and <23. 
 
 t For the affairs of the Carthaginians jn Sicily, see Justin ubi supra 
 nd Plutarch in Titnoleon. 
 
 t Roger I. son of Kobert Guiscard, \vas the first kiug uf Nffpk* 
 and bicily. Nathinvel Hut. I'lureticc,. lib. 1 
 
 la
 
 SO ITALY. , 
 
 In the reign of Roger II. the Norman kingdom of 
 Sicily was exceedingly powerful. This prince dis- 
 tinguished himself in the croisades ; and, in returning 
 from Palestine, he conquered from the Greek empire 
 Athens, Corinth, and Thebes. He also expelled the 
 Greeks from their remaining possessions in Italy, 
 seized on the isles of Corfu and Negropont, and with 
 his numerous war gallies appeared even before Con- 
 stantinople, but was driven back *by the fleet of Ve- 
 nice, then in alliance with the Byzantine emperor. 
 Roger also defeated a Saracen fleet, took the town of 
 Tripoli in Africa, and rendered Tunis tributary. These 
 conquests, indeed, were not permanent. But this 
 prince made a more important acquisition. 
 
 Although the art of breeding silk worms and manu- 
 
 O O 
 
 facturing silk had, in the reign of Justinian, been in- 
 troduced from the remotest parts of Asia into the 
 Eastern empire, it had been for the space of six cen-*- 
 turies confined to the countries of Asia Minor and 
 Greece. The barbarism of Europe had hitherto been 
 hostile to the extension of commerce, and the intro- 
 duction of curious manufactures. In the western 
 countries, silk was worn only by princes and grandees, 
 and purchased at an extravagant price at Constanti- 
 nople and other ports of the Byzantine and the Saracen, 
 empire. But the Sicilian king having, about the year 
 1130, made these conquests in Greece, brought 
 gway numbers of persons well skilled in every thing 
 relative to the production and manufacture of this 
 valuable article, and his subjects were by these means 
 instructed in the art both of breeding the worms and 
 of working the silk. In a short time, the silk manu- 
 factures of Palermo equalled or even excelled those 
 of Greece, and proved a vast source of commerce 
 
 and
 
 SlClLY. 81 
 
 and wealth.* From Sicily, they were progressively 
 introduced into Italy, Spain, and France.-j- 
 
 Ori the failure of the male line of the Norman 
 kings, A.D. 1 190, the succession devolved on the 
 Emperor Henry IV. in right of his wife Constantia. 
 This prince subdued the Sicilians, on whom he exer- 
 cised the most horrible cruelties.^ After various re- 
 volutions and wars, chiefly the effect of contested 
 succession, determined by arms and followed by 
 tyranny, Charles, Count of Anjou, brother of St. 
 Louis king of France, established himself on the 
 throne of Naples and Sicily in the year 1268, and 
 held it as a vassal of the Holy See. The boundless 
 ambition of this prince excited the jealousy of all the 
 neighbouring powers, and the severity of his govern- 
 ment rendered him odious to his new subjects, while 
 the debauchery and insolence of the French troops, 
 Save the Sicilians an irreconcileable aversion against 
 
 O ^J 
 
 that nation, The consequences were fatal. Histo- 
 rians disagree in regard to the formation of the plot ; 
 but it is certain that a general massacre of the French, 
 attended with every circumstance of cruelty that 
 popular indignation and fury could produce, took 
 place throughout the island.^ This bloody execution 
 is distinguished by the name of the Sicilian Vespers, 
 because it began exactly about the time when the 
 bells were ringing for vespers on Easter Sunday, 
 Such are the profanations and horrors to 
 
 * Thnanus places this important commercial event about two centu- 
 ries later. But Mezerai, Anderson, and most writers, ascribe it to the 
 period above-mentioned. Vide Hist. Corn. vol. 1. p. 3-113. 
 
 t See France Hist. chap. J Heiss. Annul, de 1'Emp. vol. 2, 
 
 Renault ascribe* it wholly to the king of Arragou. Abrege Chrou. 
 Ijino 1268. 
 
 VOL. ill. which
 
 82 ITALY. 
 
 which the tyranny of rulers and the turbulence of sub- 
 jects have sometimes given rise, among those who 
 bear the name of the Prince of Peace and pretend to 
 be his disciples. 
 
 Peter, king of Arragon, supported the Sicilians, 
 and claimed their crown in right of his wife.* They 
 received him with open arms. He was crowned at 
 Palermo ; and Charles was obliged to abandon the 
 island. The kingdoms of Naples and Sicily were nowr 
 separated. The family of Anjou continued in pos- 
 session of the former ; and Peter of Arragon made 
 James, his second son, king of Sicily ; who, on the 
 death of his elder brother Alphonso, ascended the 
 throne of Arragon. About the year 1382, a civil war 
 taking place among the princes of the house of 
 Anjou, Joan, Queen of Naples, not less remarkable 
 for her misfortunes than infamous for her crimes, wa 
 put to death by her cousin Charles, surnamed the 
 Peaceable. Louis of Anjou, second son of John king 
 of France, whom she had invited to undertake her de- 
 fence and succeed to the crown, perished in the ex- 
 pedition.-}- Naples became a scene of continual 
 revolutions ; one branch of the house of Anjou pos- 
 sessing and the other pretending to the crown, and 
 neither of them able to support themselves against the 
 kings of Arragon. The expedition of Charles V III. 
 of France, his conquest of Naples, and his almost 
 immediate expulsion, have already been mentioned. 
 Amidst these incessant revolutions, Naples at one 
 period bad five kings in the space of three years.| 
 
 * For the claims of the families of Anjcu and Arragon, vide He- 
 BaultAb. Chiron. 1 An. 1256, &c. 
 
 t Htftianlt Ab. Chron. An i:i82 1384. 
 $ Ibid. Ac. 1495, 1496, 3497. 
 
 After
 
 SICILY. 8S 
 
 After long wars, and a number of treaties no sooner 
 concluded than broken, the Spanish general Gonsal- 
 vo, surnamed the Great Captain, finally reduced the 
 whole kingdom under the power of Ferdinand, the 
 Catholic king of Arragon, A.D. 1.503; and, in conse- 
 quence of the succession of Charles V. it became an 
 appendage to the Spanish house of Austria. By the 
 treaty of Utrecht, 1713, Naples was ceded to Austria, 
 and Sicily to the Duke of Savoy, with the title of 
 king. Sicily was, in 1719, exchanged with the Em- 
 peror for Sardinia, to which the regal title was also an- 
 nexed. And, in 1735, after a short but active war 
 between the houses of Austria and Bourbon, the 
 former was stripped of this so often contested king- 
 dom. Don Carlos, son of Philip V. king of Spain,, 
 was acknowledged king of Naples and Sicily ;and that 
 branch of the Bourbon family had remained in peace- 
 able possession of the crown till the late invasion bjr 
 the French under Joseph Buonaparte. 
 
 C//. //'.
 
 CHAP. Ill 
 
 Historical View General Progress of Society Arts and Sciences-^ 
 Literature and Commerce. 
 
 all the countries of Europe, or even of the 
 whole globe; Italy is that which affords the most 
 copious materials for history. Rome, twice mis- 
 tress of the world, first by her temporal and after- 
 wards by her spiritual arms, has ever afforded an. 
 ample theme to the historian, and attracted the atten- 
 tion of the politician, the warrior, and the philosopher^ 
 Amidst so immense a retrospect of events so nume- 
 rous, so complicated, and so important, as those 
 which compose the annals of Italy during a long se- 
 ries of ages, "nothing can be expected in this compen- 
 dium, .but a general sketch of the progress of society, 
 and the great outlines of those signal revolutions 
 which have decided the destiny or materially affected 
 the state of that country. 
 
 The primaeval history of Italy, like that of all other 
 countries, is veiled with impenetrable obscurity. The 
 origin of its first inhabitants, or from what country 
 they emigrated, is unknown. From its vicinity to 
 Greece, it is most probable that Italy was peopled 
 from that country. The Romans pretended a fabu- 
 lous origin from Troy; but it is evident, that their 
 ancestors were nothing more than a mixed hord of 
 banditti from various Italian tribes ; and the Trojan 
 descent of Romulus and Remus, their leaders, is too 
 
 romantic
 
 HISTORICAL Y1EW. 85 
 
 romantic to be admitted within the limits of historical 
 credibility. 
 
 The first important event of Italian history of which 
 yve have any account, is the founding of Rome by 
 Romulus, in the reign of Jotham king of Juiiah, 
 A.A.C. 748, about Itil years before the destruction of 
 Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, ac- 
 cording to the generally received system of chrono- 
 logy.* The infant city of Rome, the destined mis- 
 tress of the world, was built on the Palatine mount, 
 near the banks of the Tiber, fifteen miles from the 
 mouth of that river ; and contained about 1000 houses 
 or rather huts, built of mud and covered with reeds. 
 The palace of the Roman king was of the same mate- 
 rials. The number of its inhabitants able to bear 
 arms was about 3000, consisting of banditti of every 
 description ; and, \n order to increase the number of 
 its citizens, Romulus made it an asylum for fugitives, 
 outlaws and malefactors, who resorted thither from 
 various parts of the neighbouring country. There is 
 something gratifying to philosophical curiosity in 
 looking back to the origin of those cities and states 
 which have risen to opulence and power, and which 
 make a distinguished figure in history. Such re- 
 trospects exhibit, in a point of view equally lu- 
 minous and pleasing, the progress of society, and 
 the improvement of human circumstances. It is im- 
 possible to conceive a more despicable beginning than 
 that of Rome, which afterwards became the centre 
 of wealth and magnificence, and the seat of the most 
 powerful empire that the world has e^er seen. The 
 inhabitants of Italy, at the period when Rome was 
 
 * Some place the building of Rome 752, A,A.C, Authors dmgre* 
 ii this as on other point* of chronology. 
 
 3 founded,
 
 86 ITALY. 
 
 founded, were in a state of very imperfect civilization J 
 such indeed as we should at this day denominate bar- 
 barism ; but they were certainly far above the rank of 
 savages. There had long been colonies of Greeka 
 settled on the coast. At that period, the Greeka 
 themselves, however, were little better than barba-> 
 rians. Whether Romulus or any of his associates 
 were acquainted with letters, is a circumstance 
 wholly unknown ; but from the prudent regulations 
 established in infant Rome, if credit may be given to 
 Livy and Plutarch, it is evident that its founder, what- 
 ever was his birth and education, had seen something 
 of civilized life, and had tolerable ideas of the nature 
 of government.* In those savage citizens, a steady 
 find prudent conduct was not less conspicuous than a 
 warlike and enterprising genius. The primitive Ro- 
 mans being a collection of lawless banditti of the 
 male sex, the seizure of the Sabine virgins at a public 
 festival, a measure equally bold and politic, supplied 
 them with wives for perpetuating their posterity and 
 their power. The war, to which this act of violence 
 gave rise, between the Romans and the Sabines their 
 neighbours, ended in their incorporation, and both 
 became pne united people. Other tribes were suc- 
 cessively subdued aad incorporated with the conque-t 
 tors. The population of the city was increased by 
 these means, as well as by the constant accession of 
 the Italian banditti; and the Roman territory, which 
 at the first was not more than eight miles across, was,, 
 before the death of Romulus, somewhat extended. 
 During the reign of this first Roman king, the senate 
 was formed, apolitical and civil constitution was esta- 
 blished, and various regulations suitable to an in- 
 
 * Liv. lib. 1. PFut^rch in Vita Romuli> 
 
 failt
 
 HISTORICAL T1EW. 37 
 
 fant state were adopted. Numa Pompilius his suc- 
 cessor, and second king of Rome, was of the Sabine 
 branch ; a man of learning and a philosopher, a proof 
 that letters were not at that period unknown in Italy. 
 This prince, equally pacific and prudent, undertook 
 the laudable task of civilizing his ferocious subjects. 
 For this purpose he made use of all the resources of 
 policy, and of the power of superstition over ignorant 
 minds. In order to restrain their turbulence, and to 
 inspire them with a love of peace and civil order, he 
 pretended to have interviews with the goddess Egeria, 
 and to receive from her the laws which he imposed 
 on the people.* During his long and peaceful reign, 
 he regulated with minute exactness the civil and reli- 
 gious institutions of the Romans, and may be consi* 
 dered as the author of their religion and laws. 
 
 According to the Roman historians, seven kings reign- 
 ed in Rome for the space of 245 years, a circumstance 
 perhaps unparalleled in the annals of royalty .-f- Ab- 
 solute monarchy appears to have been unknown in 
 Rome : both the senate and the people had a share in 
 the government. On the expulsion of Lucius Tar- 
 quinius, the last of those kings, in consequence of 
 the rape committed by Collatinus his son on Lucretia, 
 a Roman lady, as well as for various other acts of 
 despotism and oppression, the Romans established a 
 republican government 245 years after the foundation, 
 of their city, and 503 before the Christian aera, 
 During the monarchical government, the Roman ter- 
 ritory had acquired no considerable extention, and 
 included only a small tract of country surrounding 
 
 * Plu'arch in Numa. 
 
 t According to Eu?ebius Chron. 240 year*. 
 
 o 4 their
 
 8 ITALY. 
 
 their mud built city.* From the establishment of th? 
 republic, a period of about 178 years elapsed before 
 the dominions of Rome extended much beyond the 
 limits of the present Campania. And it was not 
 until about 62 years before the Christian aera, 241 
 after the expulsion of their kings, and about 48t> years 
 after the building of Rome, that the Romans first 
 Carried their arms beyond the confines of Italy. So 
 slowly did this famous people proceed in the first 
 steps towards the establishment of their extensive 
 empire. 
 
 If this historical sketch admitted the detail of par- 
 ticular facts, it would be insensibly drawn out into 
 endless prolixity. Numerous volumes of Roman his- 
 tory have already been compiled by able writers, and 
 peaised by every reader. It would far exceed the 
 limits of this compendium, to relate the long series of 
 wars and conquests by which Rome attained to the 
 acme of her greatness. In general terms, it suffices 
 to remark, that twice she was brought to the verge 
 of ruin ; once by the irruption of the Gauls under 
 Brennus, about A.U.C. 38Q, when the city was de- 
 stroyed, the senators massacred, and the capitol alone 
 withstood the assaults of the invaders ; *f* and the 
 second time, when Hannibal approached its walls after 
 the battle of Cannae. The contest between the two 
 rival republics of Rome and Carthage, is one of the 
 most important and obstinate that history records. It 
 was decided in the three successive Punic wars: the first 
 of which was in its beginning disadvantageous to the 
 Romans, but terminated to their advantage : the 
 
 * According to Anderson, the Roman territory, at the expulsion of 
 the Tarquins, was forty miles long and thirty broad. Rojal Geneal. tab. 44, 
 t Plutarch in Camillo. 
 
 second
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 8J) 
 
 second was long and bloody, and threatened the ex- 
 tinction of the Roman power. Spain and Italy w^re 
 long the theatre of this tremendous contest. Hanni- 
 bal, the famous Carthaginian general, having passed 
 out of Spain into Gaul, and from thence over the 
 Alps into Italy, was almost constantly victorious. He 
 defeated the Romans in several rencounters, but espe- 
 cially in the sanguinary conflicts of the Tiasimere 
 lake and of Cannae, in the latter of which, the loss of 
 the Romans is almost incredible. The greatest part 
 of their army was cut off, and about 70,000 of them 
 are said to have fallen on that bloody field.* Rome 
 was threatened with annihilation, and Hannibal ad- 
 vanced almost to her gates. For reasons, however, 
 which have not been satisfactorily ascertained, he did 
 not venture either to assault or besiege the city. The 
 probability of the case is, that he did not think the 
 shattered remains of his army, after so destructive a 
 battle as that of Cannae, equal to so difficult and dan- 
 gerous an enterprize, and consequently preferred the 
 safer measure of placing his troops in quarters at 
 Capua, and waiting for reinforcements from Car- 
 thage. Had Hannibal at this critical juncture been 
 properly supported, the extinction of the Roman 
 name must, according to every probability of con- 
 jecture, have been the necessary consequence. But 
 the Divine Providence had decreed a different issue. 
 Men are only instruments in the hand of Him who 
 decides the destiny of empires : their councils and 
 actions are entirely subject to his great designs. A 
 faction, hostile to the fortune and fame of Hannibal, 
 had long existed in the senate of Carthage, and gained 
 at last a decided predominancy. Notwithstanding his 
 * Puljbiui Una. lib. 3. cap. 12. 
 
 pressing
 
 90 ITALY. 
 
 pressing solicitations, he received no reinforcements. 
 The fortune of the war was changed. A plan of ope- 
 rations was formed at Rome, which none but Roman* 
 Could have thought of adopting. Instead of attempt- 
 ing to negotiate a peace, the terms of which at that 
 juncture must have been humiliating, they resolved to 
 carry the war into the heart of the enemy's country. 
 Having immediately equipped a formidable armament 
 and invaded Africa, those Romans, so lately in immi- 
 nent danger of being attacked in their own capital, 
 suddenly appeared before that of the enemy. The 
 victorious Hannibal, after having for the space of 
 sixteen years ravaged Italy, and reduced the domi- 
 nions and power of Rome to their original limits, the 
 precincts of the city, was recalled to defend the walls 
 of Carthage. The famous battle of Zama, A.A.C. 2O1, 
 decided the issue of the war, and terminated the 
 greatness of the Carthaginian power. Hannibal, so 
 long the terror of Rome, was totally defeated by the 
 celebrated Publius Scipio. The Carthaginians, in 
 order to save their capital, were obliged to purchase 
 peace, by the surrender of their fleet, with other hu- 
 miliating conditions, and could never after rise to their 
 former greatness.* Such was the event of the second 
 Punic war. Before that memorable epoch, Rome had 
 made continual but slow advances : her progress was 
 afterwards astonishingly rapid, and her formidable 
 rival being subdued, nothing could withstand her 
 victorious arms. Greece was annexed to her empire ; 
 and about eleven years after the battle of Zama the 
 Roman armies first entered Asia. About twenty-two 
 years after their Asiatic expedition, Perseus, the last 
 
 * For the first and second punie wars, see Potybius lib. 1. cap. 2, 3, 4* 
 5, and lib. 3. cap. 4 to 12, and extract:.. 
 
 king
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 91 
 
 king of Macedonia, was defeated and made prisoner 
 "by Paulus Emilius; and that ancient kingdom was 
 reduced under the dominion of Rome. 
 
 The third Punic war proved fatal to Carthage. In 
 the year 146 A. C. that opulent and powerful city was 
 totally destroyed by the Romans, under the command of 
 Scipio, the grandson of the conqueror of Hannibal, and 
 her territories reduced to a Roman province. The vic- 
 tories of Lucullus and Pompey, after having annihi- 
 lated the formidable power of Mithridates, king of 
 Pontus, and dispersed the numerous armies of Tigranes 
 the Armenian monarch, completed the conquests of 
 Asia Minor and Syria, and extended the empire of 
 Rome to the shores of the Euxine and the hanks of 
 the Euphrates. Julius Caesar, in achieving the conquest 
 of Gaul, reduced under the dominion of the Romans 
 a nation which they had ever considered as their most 
 dangerous enemy.* The remotest provinces of Spain, 
 and of Lusitania, the modern Portugal, notwithstand- 
 ing the heroic efforts of Viriatus, and Spartiacus, 
 their illustrious patriots, were reduced by the victorious 
 arms of Pompey and other commanders. About 
 thirty years before the Christian sera, the Roman re- 
 public had extended its dominions from the Atlantic 
 "Ocean to the hanks of the Euphrates, and from the 
 deserts of Arabia and Africa to the Rhine, the Danube, 
 and the Euxine sea. All the nations within these 
 boundaries acknowledged the sway of Rome, and 
 enriched her with their spoils. 
 
 During the period which preceded the Punic wars, 
 the Romans knew little of wealth and still less of lux- 
 ury. Thc'ir manners were plain and simple. The arts 
 which embellish life, and render society agreeable, had 
 
 * Plutarch Vita Fuiupcii. For the reduction of Gaul bee Caesar's Com- 
 jnentariea. 
 
 made
 
 92 , ITALY. 
 
 made little progress: Iheir architecture was mean; 
 painting and sculpture were scarcely known. Com- 
 merce was disregarded by a people who despised 
 foreign luxuries, and whose principal study was war ; 
 and literature \vasas little cultivated as arts and trade. 
 
 The popular form of trie Roman Government, 
 caused eloquence to be held in high estimation. The 
 debates in the senate, the harangues in the forum, the 
 military orations of their commanders, called forth 
 their talents for public speaking; but previous to the 
 introduction of literature from Greece, Roman elo- 
 quence was the simple effusion of nature unpolished 
 l>y art. Of all the arts of peace, agriculture being 
 the most essentially necessary, was, by the primitive 
 Romans, held in the greatest esteem. Their consuls 
 and dictators did not disdain to handle the plough* 
 
 If no nation whatever, as Eivy informs us, kept free 
 from luxury longer than the Romans, it is certain that 
 after its introduction none ever carried it to a more 
 extravagant height. No sooner was Carthage annihi- 
 lated, and the conquest of Greece, Macedonia and 
 Asia achieved, than every thing was totally changed 
 at Rome. Wealth rushed in like a torrent, and was 
 accompanied by luxury, its constant attendant. Those 
 countries had been enriched by the spoils of Persia, 
 and embellished by the efforts of industry and art. 
 They had long been in a high state of civilization: 
 conquest and commerce had concurred to increase 
 their wealth, which now flowed into Rome, the great 
 receptacle of plunder. The Roman generals, and 
 other opulent citizens, soon began to rival sovereign 
 princes in riches and magnificence; and luxury dis- 
 played itself in all kinds of forms. The mud built 
 city totally disappeared: its thatched huts were changed
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. <)3 
 
 into palaces^ superb temples, magnificent porticos, 
 immense baths, lofty columns and triumphal arches, 
 fornned its spendid embellishments.* The frugal re- 
 pasts of the primitive Romans were superseded bj 
 sumptuous feasts and splendid entertainments. Land 
 and seas were ransacked, and the spoils of a whole 
 province were sometimes expended on a single supper. 
 The influx of wealth and luxury into Rome, by the 
 rapid success of her arms and the spoils of conquered 
 countries, produced among her citizens another revolu- 
 tion, which the philosopher must contemplate with 
 pleasure and history must celebrate as the basis of 
 European civilization and literature. In conquering 
 Greece, the Romans imbibed a taste for the arts and 
 Jiterature of that country : Grecian learning and ele- 
 gance, as well as Asiatic luxury, were introduced, and 
 made a progress equally rapid and brilliant. Various 
 circumstances, which may be collected from Roman 
 writers, concurred to this introduction of Grecian lite- 
 rature^ Various obstacles were also raised against 
 those new studies, by the admirers of the ancient disci- 
 pline, who apprehended that the study of letters 
 among the Roman youth, would diminish their ardour 
 for the exercise of arms.J Such, indeed, is generally 
 the case in every affair of reform or improvement. 
 But when the Romans had once imbibed a taste for 
 learning no opposition could check their progress. 
 The antiquated notions of primitive simplicity soon 
 disappeared ; and the Roman youth flocked in crowds 
 to complete their studies in the schools of philosophy 
 and rhetoric at Athens and oilier Grecian cities. 
 
 * Pliny ubi supra. 
 
 t Plutarch in Caton. Aului (j*i\. Jib. 7. cap. 14. 
 
 ! Plutarch ill Catyne. 
 
 % Rhetoric
 
 94 ITALY. 
 
 Rhetoric, however, was their favourite study i it was, 
 together with the science of arms, the grand recom- 
 mendation to popular favour; and opened a road to the 
 offices and honours of the republic. Publius Scipio 
 JEmilianus was one of the first illustrious Romans who 
 distinguished themselves by the study and patronage 
 of letters. The apprehension that learning would 
 enervate the Romans was soon discovered to be chime- 
 rical. The muses were associated with the Roman 
 eagles, and several of the greatest generals of the re- 
 public distinguished themselves as their votaries* 
 Besides Scipio, already mentioned, Sylla, Lucullus, 
 Cffisar, Pompey, and Anthony, are equally illustrious in 
 the annals of literature and of war.* The age of sena- 
 torial and forensic eloquence among the Romans may 
 be considered as commencing about the time of the 
 destruction of Carthage, and ending at the death of 
 Cicero. During this brilliant period, Rome vied with 
 Athens herself in the culture of letters, and the num- 
 ber of orators who shone in the senate and the forum 
 was scarcely ever exceeded in Greece, in the age of her 
 greatest literary fame. 
 
 This moral and intellectual revolution which wealth 
 and conquest produced at Rome, and which forms so 
 striking a circumstance of her history, was soon follow- 
 ed by tremendous political convulsions. These have 
 generally been attributed to the corruption of manners 
 occasioned by the influx of wealth and the prevalence 
 of luxury. The influence of those circumstances had 
 undoubtly contributed to weaken that patriotic spirit 
 which caused the primitive Romans to overlook all 
 private interest, in a view to that of the republic. 
 The wealth of the principal citizens gave 'them an un- 
 
 * See Plutarch's lives of these illustrious commanders. 
 
 9 due
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. Ste 
 
 ilue influence. Costly feasts, sumptuous shows, and 
 splendid entertainments, were used as means of 
 courting, popular favour. In the election of their 
 magistrates, the people paid more regard to the riches 
 than to the virtue of the candidates. An universal 
 system of corruption was established ; and amidst the 
 Dissipation of feasts and spectacles, the mass of the 
 citizens lost sight of the republic, while the great 
 sacrificed the public interest to motives of private 
 ambition. 
 
 In the latter times of the republic, the Roman citi- 
 zens surpassed- in magnificence and splendor, in their 
 costly entertainments and sumptuous mode of living, 
 the ostentatious and effeminate monarchs of Asia. 
 Their houses were of the most magnificent fabric and 
 the most costly decoration.* Their feasts were served 
 up in gold plate, on tables overlaid with the same metal. 
 The guests reclined on sofas supported by legs of 
 ivory, silver, and sometimes of gold, and covered 
 with Triclinaria or rich Babylonian carpets of about 
 6,000/. sterling in value. Fountains of variegated 
 marble played in their ccenacula or dining rooms, 
 in order to cool the air ; and in their splendid 
 lamps, which were often frabricated of the richest 
 jaaterials, were burned the most fragrant and costly 
 oils. Their carriages were covered all over with silver 
 and gold; and their cloths, in latter times, were em- 
 broidered with the golden figures of various animals. 
 In order to support this extravagance, the governor* 
 of provinces committed the most grievous extor- 
 lions.f The most shameless corruption pervaded 
 every department of the state, and the most infamous 
 crimes polluted the citizens. Overgrown individuals 
 fffliay, liL 3*. cap. J5. t Cicero Oratlo contra Verres. 
 
 a^raudized
 
 9tf ITALY. 
 
 aggrandized themselves at the public expencc; and the 
 lower classes of citizens, reduced to poverty, sunk into 
 a state of dependence on the grandees. Under the 
 emperors, luxury if possible increased : but we may 
 wonder less at Caligula's extravagance in expend- 
 ing above 8O,()00/. on a single supper, when we are 
 told that the tragedian, Clodius Esopus, lavished 
 600 sestertia, about 4,843/. on one luxurious dish; and 
 that his son treated each of his guests after dinner 
 with a rich cordial, in which a costly pearl was dissolved. 
 In fine, no other city of the ancient or modern world 
 ever exhibited such scenes of expensive magnificence 
 and luxury as Rome, in the latter times of the republic, 
 and under the emperors.* 
 
 The wealth and luxury of Rome, with all the cor* 
 ruption of manners which they had introduced among 
 her citizens, were only concurrent causes, which served 
 to give activity to others of a deeper root. The radi- 
 cal cause of her troubles was coeval with the city it- 
 self, or at least with the republican government. An 
 odious regulation separated the Roman citizens into 
 two distinct classes, often hostile to each other, and 
 always agitated with mutual jealousies. These were 
 the patrician and the plebeian, or in modern language, 
 the aristocratic and democratic orders. All the offices 
 and honours of the republic were confined to the pa- 
 tricians ; but the right of election resided with the 
 people: The third, or equestrian order, does not ap- 
 pear to have been numerous, and never acted any con- 
 spicuous part in the domestic troubles of the republic; 
 
 * Plutarch, Pint}', Tacitus, Ammiamis Marcellinus, and almost all the 
 'Rom;ui historians and poets, are so reple te with facts and allusions, which 
 testify the extraordinary magnificence and luxury of Rome, tiiat it would- 
 be useless to quote particular authorities. 
 
 but
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 9? 
 
 but the patricians, and the plebeians maintained an 
 almost perpetual contest. After repeated struggles, 
 victory declared in favour of the democratic party. 
 Caius Marius, a plebeian, was elected to the Consu- 
 lar dignity, the highest in the Roman republic.* This 
 , triumph of the people excited the resentment of the 
 patrician order. Rome, which had long nourished 
 the seeds of civil war in her constitution, now saw 
 them rise to maturity. The whole system of the pa* 
 trician order was the depression of the people ; and 
 the senate had long maintained its authority by an un- 
 interrupted series of foreign wars, which drained off 
 the turhulent spirits, and left the citizens little leisure 
 for attending to their privileges, or for asserting their 
 rights. To keep the people amused with wars abroad, 
 and employed in splendid amusements at home, was 
 the invariable maxim of patrician policy. The rising 
 power of the popular party, however, brought matters 
 to a crisis; and the tumultuous scenes, which patri- 
 cian ambition and popular licentiousness had so often 
 excited, were renewed on a more extensive plan. The 
 civil wars between Marius and Sylla, drenched Rome 
 with the blood of her citizens; and the patricians, as 
 Well as the people, found themselves at the mercy of 
 an armed soldiery .-f- The evil, however, was grown too 
 inveterate, and the ambition of individuals too restless 
 and aspiring, to be suppressed, otherwise than by the 
 extinction of the republican government. The influx 
 of wealth, and the mixture of Asiatic luxury with 
 Roman ambition, gave an additional force to the fac- 
 tions : and the senate, although it retained its ostensi- 
 
 7 7 O 
 
 ble authority, no longer possessing its actual power, 
 
 * Sallust de Bcllo Jugurtliino. Plutarch in Mario. 
 t Plutarch iuMario ft iu .Sjila. 
 
 VOL. in. u wai,
 
 98 ITALY. 
 
 Was, together with the people, governed by overgrown 
 individuals. The factions themselves underwent a to- 
 tal change, in regard to their principles and their ob- 
 jects. The grand struggle between the patricians and 
 the plebeians, was converted into a war between the 
 rich and the poor, or rather into a contest between 
 powerful demagogues, who had armies at command, and 
 ruled over the senate as well as over the people. Many 
 of the citizens of Rome equalled sovereign princes in 
 opulence and splendor; and the heterogeneous mass 
 of the Roman populace were ready to follow any lea- 
 der who entertained them with sumptuous feasts, and 
 distributed large sums of money among a factious mul- 
 titude. 
 
 
 Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, the first distinguished 
 by his influence over the soldiers and the senate, the. 
 second by his extraordinary talents, and the last by his 
 immense riches, had obtained the principal" sway in 
 Rome ; and combining their different advantages, irt 
 order more completely to establish their authority, 
 formed a triumvirate, governing the republic with an 
 absolute control. In consequence of this alliance, 
 they' procured for themselves the government of the 
 best provinces, and the command of the chief military 
 force of the republic. Crassus had Asia, Pompey had 
 Spain ; and Gaul, which was not yet conquered, was 
 assigned to Caesar. Crassus lost his life, with the 
 greatest part of his army, in an expedition against the 
 Parthians.* Caesar, in somewhat more than nine years, 
 completed the conquest of Gaul. In every campaign 
 he had performed wonders, and saw himself at the 
 head of the best troops of the republic. The senate 
 was alarmed at the news of his victories; and Pompey 
 
 * Plutarch in Crasso, 
 
 grew
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 99 
 
 jealous of his power. On Caesar's declaring his 
 intention of' presenting himself as candidate for a se- 
 cond consulship, he received an order to disband his 
 army, and appear as a private person at the election. 
 Caesar endeavoured to come to an accommodation, 
 but finding the majority of the senate decidedly hos- 
 tile to his interests, he entered Italy with his veteran 
 legions, who were devoted to his cause, and advanced 
 towards Rome. On the news of his approach, the se- 
 nate, with most of the patrician order, left the city, 
 and passed over into Greece. Caesar, although a pa- 
 trician, was the favorite of the people, as Pompey was 
 the idol of the senate. Having entered the city with- 
 out opposition, he was pronounced Consul and Dic- 
 tator. He then hastened into Spain, where the troops, 
 under Pompey's lieutenants, soon submitted them- 
 selves to his disposal. Being thus reinforced, he 
 passed into Macedonia, where the senate had collected 
 a numerous army, of which Pompey had the command. 
 In the first engagement Caesar was defeated. But the 
 whole strength of both sides being concentrated in 
 the plains of Pharsalia, the contest was decided ; Cae- 
 sar was completely victorious : Pompey fled into 
 Egypt, and was immediately followed by Caesar with 
 his conquering legions. Receiving intelligence on his 
 arrival that Pompey had been slain by the order of 
 King Ptolemy, Caesar immediately laid siege to Alex- 
 andria, where he met with great difficulties, and was 
 exposed to great dangers.* Having at last taken the 
 capital, and made himself master of the whole king- 
 dom, he committed the government to the famous 
 Cleopatra, whose beauty, accomplishments, vices, and 
 misfortunes, have rendered her name immortal in his- 
 
 * Hirtii Belly Alexandrine, cap. 10, &c. to cap. 23. 
 
 H 2 tory.
 
 ITALY. 
 
 tory. The only enemies now remaining were Scipio 
 and Juba in Africa, and the two sons of Pompey in, 
 Spain. These being speedily conquered, he was re- 
 ceived at his return with the general applause, both of 
 the people and the senate, and honoured with the title 
 of Father of his Country, as well as the office of per- 
 petual Dictator. He was about undertaking an expe- 
 dition against the Parthians, when he was murdered 
 in the Senate-house by Brutus^ and Cassius, and other 
 conspirators, after having been about five irronths in 
 possession pf the supreme command. Caesar fell iii 
 the fifty-eighth year of his age. He is justly consi- 
 dered as the greatest general of all antiquity ; and his 
 eloquence and literary accomplishments were scarcely 
 inferior to his military talents.* 
 
 The assassination of Ca?sar, which was the last effort 
 of the patrician party, threw the people of Rome into 
 extreme consternation, and roused their fury to the 
 highest pitch. The conspirators having saved them- 
 selves by a precipitate flight, passed into Macedonia, 
 and collected ah army. His nephew, Octavius, with 
 his^ friend, Mark Anthony, stood forward as the 
 avengers of his death. The battle of Philippi decided 
 the contest. The conspirators were defeated. Brutus 
 and Cassius perished. Octavius, Anthony, and Lepi- 
 dus, formed a second triumvirate ; and the latter being 
 set aside, the two former divided between them the 
 supreme power. Anthony governed the eastern, and 
 Octavius the western part of the Roman dominions. 
 The issue of'the civil war, which broke out between 
 them is known to every reader of history. The naval 
 engagement of Actium decided the affair. Marc An- 
 thony being defeated fled into Egypt, where both he 
 
 * Plutarch in Julio Caesare. 
 
 and
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 101 
 
 and Cleopatra fell by their own hands. In Cleopatra, 
 the illustrious race of the Ptolemies was extinct, and 
 Egypt was reduced to a Roman province. From that 
 period Octavius being left without either associate or 
 rival, was honoured with the title of Augustus, and 
 reisrned sole sovereign of the Roman world. 
 
 O O 
 
 Rome being at this period arrived at the height of 
 her power and glory, her military system, which ena- 
 bled her to make so brilliant a figure in the annals of 
 the world, .naturally excites our curiosity, and attracts 
 our attention. 
 
 The constitution of the Roman republic was, in 
 theory and practice, completely military. Rome might 
 have been considered as a camp, as all her citizens 
 were soldiers. Every Roman citizen, before he at- 
 tained to the age of forty-six, was obliged to serve ten 
 years in the cavalry, or sixteen in the infantry, except 
 those who were placed in the census below the rate of 
 400 drachmas, and who, after th'e Romans had esta- 
 blished a marine, were all reserved for the sea service. 
 In case of any pressing danger, the time of military 
 service was extended to twenty years ; and no citizen 
 could be admitted as a candidate for any of the offices 
 of the state till he had served ten campaigns.* 
 
 In the primitive ages of Rome, the use of arms was 
 wholly restricted to those classes of citizens who had 
 a property to defend. The requisite qualification for 
 a Roman soldier was the possession of valuables to 
 the amount of about 40/. sterling ; a very consider- 
 able sum at that early period. The soldier, as he 
 served without pay, was supposed to be capable of 
 providing for his own maintenance, at the same time 
 that he defended his property and his country. At 
 * PoKb. Mist. Gen. Ext. 2. 
 
 11 3 the
 
 102 ITALY. 
 
 the siege of Veii, which continuing the long space of 
 ten years, imposed great hardships on soldiers thus un- 
 provided for by the state, a regular pay was first esta- 
 blished.* The Roman soldiers, however, like those of 
 all ancient nations, depended chiefly on plunder for the 
 acquisition of wealth. Numerous instances also shew, 
 that their emoluments, arising from immense dona- 
 tives, amounted to more than their regular pay ; and, 
 consequently, that the profits of a military life were, 
 in every respect, irregular and indeterminate, but ge- 
 nerally very considerable.^ In process of time, war 
 was improved into an art, and converted into a trade. 
 The qualification of property began to be disregarded. 
 Caius Marius was the first of the Roman consuls who 
 indiscriminately admitted the lowest classes of the peo- 
 ple into the legions. His example was followed by 
 other commanders ; and the legal qualifications being 
 set aside in the choice of soldiers, the personal requi- 
 sites of age, strength, and stature, alone regarded. The 
 legions, however, when recruited in the most distant 
 provinces, and consisting of men of different nations, 
 were considered as composed of Roman citizens. That 
 distinction, when no longer regarded as a legal qualifi- 
 cation, being converted into an honourable recom- 
 pence, every legionary soldier became, in virtue of his 
 enrolment a citizen of Rome. 
 
 The number of soldiers of which the Roman legion 
 was composed was varied at different periods. Under, 
 the emperors it consisted of 6,100 infantry, and 726 
 
 * The siege of Veii commenced in the 104th year of the Roman repub- 
 lic ; and according to Russel, in the 345th, or together accounts, the 
 349th year after the building of Rome. And. Genea). Tab. 46. 
 
 t These donatives were exceedingly increased under the emperors, as 
 will shortly be observed, 
 
 1 cavalry.
 
 HISTORICAL 
 
 cavalry. The latter, however, although regulariy con- 
 nected with the legion, was occasionally separated from 
 it in order to compose the wings of the army * The 
 defensive arms of the legionary infantry consisted of a 
 helmet with a lofty crest, a breast-plate, or a coat of 
 mail, greaves on their legs, and a buckler on their left 
 arm. The buckler was a concave and oblong, four feet 
 in length, and two feet and a half in breadth, made of 
 light wood covered with a bull's hide, and guarded 
 with plates of iron or brass. The offensive arms were 
 the spear, the pilum,- and the sword. f The pilum was 
 a ponderous javelin about six feet long, and termi- 
 nated by a massive triangular point of steel. When 
 this formidable weapon was thrown by a skilful Ro- 
 man hand, no shield or corslet could resist the impe- 
 tuosity of the stroke, and no cavalry durst approach 
 within its reach.:}: As soon as the Roman soldier had 
 darted his pilum, he drew his sword, and rushed on the 
 enemy. The sword having a double edge and a sharp 
 point, was equally formed for striking or pushing j 
 but the soldier was instructed to prefer the latter me- 
 thod. The defensive, arms of the Roman cavalry were 
 the helmet, the oblong shield, light boots, and a coat 
 of mail. The javelin and the long broad sword were 
 the principal offensive weapons. The horses were 
 mostly of the Spanish or Cappadocian breed. The 
 cavalry of the republic was composed of the noble 
 youths of Rome and Italy, who performed their mili- 
 tary services oil horseback ; and in expectation of ad- 
 vancement to the public offices and honours of the 
 
 * Vegetios, lib. 2, c. C. t Lipsius dc Milit. Komana, lib. 3. 
 
 J The modern reader will readily perceive how much the Roman pi- 
 lum, of which the effect depended on one single throw or cast, was inferior 
 to uur fire-arms. 
 
 u 4 state,
 
 104 ITALY. 
 
 state, recommended themselves by deeds of valour to 
 the future suffrages of the citizens.* Under the impe- 
 rial government, the cavalry was generally raised and 
 recruited in the same manner as the infantry. A cer- 
 tain number of auxiliaries furnished by the dependent 
 princes of states, who under the name 'of allies held 
 their precarious freedom by the tenure of military ser- 
 vice, was also attached to each legion, which, with this 
 additional force, composed a formidable body of at 
 least 12,000 men, and was furnished with ten of the 
 larger and above fifty of the smaller kind of military 
 engines. Of these, a description would here lead to 
 prolixity. Their construction and use have been ex- 
 plained by various authors: the battering ram, used in 
 sieges, is minutely described by Josephus, the Jewish 
 historian, who says that no tower or wall was suffi- 
 ciently strong to resist its repeated assaults.^ The 
 camp of a Roman legion, was a regular fortification, 
 exactly quadrangular, surrounded with a deep ditch, 
 a high rampart, and a strong palisade. All these were 
 the works of the soldiers. The Roman legionaries 
 were as well trained to the use of the spade and the 
 pick-axe, as to that of the sword and the pilum. In- 
 stances of extraordinary works of this kind are met 
 with in Roman history, particularly the circumvalla- 
 tion ,of a town of the Atuatici in Gaul, by Caesar's 
 legions. Not less remarkable was the wall of nineteen 
 miles long and sixteen feet high, with a proportiona- 
 ble ditch, constructed by one legion assisted by some 
 auxiliary troops, in one of Caesars expeditions! against 
 
 * Livy, cap. 43. t Jos. de Bello Judaico, lib. 3. 
 
 + Caesar Conaru. de Bello Gallico, Jib. 1, cap. 6. When both the Con- 
 suls were present the camp was double, and consequently oblong. Foiyb. 
 Extract 2. 
 
 the
 
 HISTOK/CAL VIEW. 105 
 
 the Helvetii. The fortifications which he raised he- 
 fore Alexia HI Burgurtdy, for the protection of his 
 army against an innumerable host of enemies, were 
 sufficient to excite astonishment.* But the most 
 wonderful performance of this nature was the immense 
 works .extending from sea to sea, with which he shut 
 up Pompey and his army in Dyrrachium ; and of 
 which Lucan gives so magnificent a poetical descrip- 
 tion.-^ 
 
 The laborious exercises to which the Roman sol- 
 diers were perpetually trained, fitted" them for sup- 
 porting such fatigues as may seem astonishing to 
 modern effeminacy. They were diligently taught to 
 march, to run, to leap, to swim, to use every kind-of 
 defensive and " offensive arms. Military exercises 
 were daily repeated, and from these even the most 
 accomplished veterans were not excused ; and the 
 arms appropriated to this imitation of \\ar, were of 
 double the weight of those used in real action. On a 
 march, besides their arms, the legionaries were laden 
 with their kitchen furniture, the instruments of fortifi- 
 cation, and provisions for several days.;}; Under this 
 cumbrous weight, they were trained to march near 
 twenty miles in the space of six hours. On the ap- 
 pearance of an enemy, they instantly deposited their 
 baggage, and by rapid evolutions converted the co- 
 lumns of march into an order of battle.|| The legion 
 was generally drawn up eight deep, the regular dis- 
 tance of three feet being left between the files as well 
 
 * Comm. de Bell. Call. lit). 7. cap. 66, &c. t Lucan, lib. 6. 
 
 * Joseph, dc hello Judaic", lil>. 3. r. 5. 
 
 Vegptins de re MilitJiri, vol. 1. p. 9. Mem. dc 1'Acad. des Inscrip. 
 rip Gibbon, Dec. 1. ch. 1. p. 26. 
 || (juicli. Nouv. Mem. torn. 1. 
 
 at
 
 106 ITALY. 
 
 as the ranks. The cavalry, especially the auxiliaries, 
 formed the wings. In every respect, the Roman dis- 
 cipline was extremely rigid.* The centurions were 
 authorized to chastise with blows; the generals to 
 punish with death. On the other hand, besides the 
 substantial rewards of regular pay, occasional dona- 
 tives, and a stated recompense after the appointed 
 time of service, every artifice was devised to influ- 
 ence the imagination, excite enthusiastic courage, 
 and inspire the mind of the soldier with exalted ideas 
 of military glory. Every thing that could strike the 
 eye, and fill the imagination with a view of the ma- 
 jesty of Rome, and of the exploits of her heroes, 
 was pompously displayed. The painted representa-^ 
 lions of captured cities and conquered armies, the arms 
 and spoils of the vanquished enemies, the military 
 bands of music, the general arrayed in robes of pur- 
 ple embroidered with gold, and exalted on a trium- 
 phal car, followed by the victorious army marching 
 in solemn procession through the streets of Rome, 
 altogether formed a spectacle indescribably magnifi- 
 cent and impressive.-}- It is impossible to read the 
 description of the triumphs of Paulus Emilius, of 
 Pompey, of Caesar, of Aurelian, of Probus, and other 
 generals and emperors, without conceiving the 
 highest idea of Roman grandeur. But amidst this 
 splendid pomp, a spectacle was always exhibited 
 which, to a modern reader, must appear an indispu- 
 table proof of Roman cruelty and barbarism. A train 
 of illustrious captives, kings and commanders, in 
 
 * For the military institutions and discipline of the Romans. See 
 Polvbius, extracts. 
 
 t See the circumstantial account of the triumph of Paulus Emilius ove^ 
 Perseus, king of Macedonia. Plutarch in Vita. P. Emilii. 
 
 chains,
 
 HISTOBICAL VIEW. 10? 
 
 chains, following the triumphal car of the conqueror, 
 swelled the insulting pride of the Roman people ; and 
 after the close of the pompous procession, were put 
 to a cruel death; while the multitudes of inferior 
 warriors who had fallen into the same calamitous cir- 
 cumstances, were condemned to perpetual slavery.* 
 
 The number of the Roman legions varied in diffe- 
 rent periods according to the particular exigencies of 
 the state. The peace establishment of Adrian and 
 the Antonines consisted of thirty legions, amounting, 
 with their auxiliary troops, to about 375,000 ineii.-j- 
 The nayal force of the Roman empire seems to have 
 been inadequate to its greatness. Their two princi- 
 pal Meets were stationed at Ravenna and Mi sen um: 
 the former commanding the eastern, the latter the 
 western part of the Mediterranean. Other squadrons 
 also guarded the southern coast of Gaul, 'the British 
 channel, and the Euxine. Muinerous vessels were like- 
 wise maintained on the Danube and the Rhine, in 
 order to intercept the passage of the barbarians. Tha 
 whole marine of the Romans, consisting only of gal- 
 lies, would appear inconsiderabJe in a comparison 
 with the naval armaments of modern Europe; but as 
 none of the barbarous nations had any great maritime 
 force, the Roman marine was sufficient for everv use- 
 ful purpose. A modern historian considers 450,(;00 
 men the highest computation that can be reasonably 
 made of their whole military and naval establishment 
 of the empire. 
 
 Previous to the siege of Veii, the citizens of Rome, 
 as already observed, made war at their own private 
 
 * Aurelhin shewed his clemency towards Zenobia & Telricus; but 
 instances of Roman clemency towards captives are extremely rare, 
 t Gibbon Dec. Iloiri. Kiup. vol. 1. p. 29. 
 
 expence ;
 
 108 ITALY. 
 
 expence ; but a regular pay being thus establisl>ed, a 
 public fund became necessary, and a tax was levied 
 in proportion to property. This must have fallen 
 heavy on the citizens during the punic wars, when the 
 Italian states paid their tribute in military services, 
 and the Romans themselves supported the expences of 
 the mighty contest with Carthage. But after the 
 wealth of Syracuse, of Carthage, of Macedonia, and 
 Asia, was brought in triumph to Rome, the citizens 
 were delivered from taxation. The tributes of the 
 provinces was found sufficient to defray the public 
 expenditure till the reign of Augustus. That emperor 
 again introduced taxation, which increased in success- 
 ive reigns, and at last became intolerably burdensome.* 
 Mr. Gibbon, after confessing himself lost in the en- 
 quiry into the amount of the Roman revenue, con- 
 cludes by a loose estimate between the extremes of 
 15,000,000 and 20,000,000/. sterling. 
 
 The celebrated Roman republic was under Octavius 
 Augustus, changed into a monarchy ; it still retained 
 the republican offices, dignities, and forms. The 
 senate still existed, and consuls as usual were elected. 
 The title of Imperator, by the moderns translated 
 Emperor, signified no more than the commander-in- 
 chief of the military force of the republic. The con- 
 stitution of the empire was limited in theory, but des- 
 potic in fact. Augustus, that consummate master of 
 the art of governing mankind, sensible how much 
 men are attached to forms and names, instead of 
 abolishing the republican offices and dignities, con- 
 trived to unite most of them in his own person. He 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Horn. Emp. vol. I. book 4. Augustus compiled an 
 Accurate statement of the revenue and expenditure of the empire. Tacit. 
 Ann. lib. 1. p. 11. 
 
 was
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 was careful, at the same time, to reject such tides as 
 were displeasing, aud refused that of Dictator, which 
 had appeared so odious in Sylla and Julius Caesar. 
 His successors imitated, ia this respect, his example ; 
 and the republican dignities and forms were conti- 
 nued to the last period of Roman power as an osten- 
 sible veil for despotism. But in the Roman empire, 
 as in other military governments, the sovereign power 
 was at last usurped by the soldiery. The popular as- 
 semblies having been suppressed, not even an ostensi- 
 ble share of the government was left to the citizens.* 
 And while the senate was made use of only as an en- 
 gine of state, to sanction the decrees of imperial des- 
 potism, the emperors themselves were no more than, 
 instruments in the hands of the soldiers, who advanced 
 them to the imperial dignity, and hurled them from 
 their high elevation, according to their approbation or 
 disapprobation of their conduct. The senate, over- 
 awed by the soldiery, was glad to exercise an osten- 
 sible authority in ratifying the military elections, and 
 the emperors raised by the legions, or the prsetoriaa 
 guards, were sensible that their standing depended on 
 their favour and support.f 
 
 The unbounded licence of the soldiery did not ap- 
 pear in its full extent, and with all its pernicious con- 
 sequences, till after the death of Commodus ; when 
 the conspirators, who had terminated the life of the 
 tyrant, appealed to the praetorian guards for their ap- 
 probation and support in the elevation of Pertinax tt 
 the imperial purple. That body, now sensible of its 
 
 * At the beginning f UK: reign of Tiberius, tlie assemblies of (! 
 people were suppressed and the flections transferred to the senate, 
 Tacit. An. vol. 1. p. !.*. 
 
 t lloutenquie* de lu Grand tt la Decad. da* llom, oh. l 
 
 uncoiitrolabk-
 
 110 ITALY. 
 
 uncontrolable authority over the city, assumed the 
 sole disposal of the empire. Rome then exhibited a 
 a phenomenon to which history affords no parallel. 
 Discontented at the choice which they had made, or 
 at least supported, of an emperor who, instead of en- 
 couraging licentiousness, aimed at the restoration of 
 discipline, the praetorian soldiers hurled Pertinax from 
 the elevation to which he had been raised by their 
 power. A party of 30O or 400 of the most desperate 
 among them marched to the imperial palace, assassi- 
 nated the virtuous emperor, placed his head on a 
 lance, and carried it in triumph to their camp. This 
 military corps, now possessing an uncontrolable power, 
 and proceeding to an excess of licence unexampled in 
 the annals of nations, exposed the sovereignty of the 
 Roman world to sale by public auction. Didius Juli- 
 anus, a wealthy senator, and Sulpicianus, father-in- 
 law of Pertinax, whose wild ambition the sight of the 
 bloody head of the murdered Emperor could not re-* 
 strain from aspiring to the precarious dignity, bid 
 against each other at the rampart of the praetorian 
 camp. Julianus was the highest bidder, and pur- 
 chased the blood stained robes of imperial majesty by 
 a donative of upwards of 200/. sterling to each soldier.* 
 The gates of the camp were instantly thrown open. 
 The purchaser was declared emperor. The soldiers, 
 placing him in the middle of their ranks, conducted 
 him in close order of battle through the streets of 
 Rome. The senate was commanded to assemble, and 
 the senate house being filled with armed soldiers, the 
 election was immediately confirmed. 
 
 Thus ended this singular transaction. But although 
 the praetorian guards had sold the empire, the legions 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Erap. vol. 1, p. 173. 
 
 ia
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. Ill 
 
 in the distant provinces refused to ratify the infamous 
 contract. In Britain, Clodius Albinus ; in Syria, Pis- 
 cennius Niger; and in Illyricum, Septimus Severus, a 
 native of Africa, were, by their respective armies, pro- 
 claimed emperors.* All three were men of abilities ; 
 they were all of them esteemed by the soldiers; and, 
 on this important occasion, omitted no measures that 
 could .further conciliate their affection. Severus, in 
 particular, assembling his troops, painted in the most 
 lively colours the insolence of the praetorian guards, 
 and animated the legions to arms and to glory, in 
 avenging the insult offered to Rome and her victorious 
 armies. But his peroration was stamped with a pe- 
 culiar species of eloquence: he promised to each sol- 
 dier what he called not a bribe, but an honourable 
 donative of about 400/. sterling, double the sum for 
 which the praetorians had sold the empire.f Such 
 rhetoric was irresistible : he was instantly proclaimed 
 emperor, and saluted by the title of Augustus. 
 
 Augustus Severus, without loss of time, took every 
 measure which his situation required. In his gradual 
 ascent from an obscure station^ his daring ambition 
 had never been diverted from its steady course, bytbe 
 allurements of pleasure, the apprehension of danger, 
 or the feelings of humanity. On this important occa- 
 sion, therefore, it is no wonder that he acted with all 
 the vigour that marked his character. He immedi- 
 ately began his march from the banks of the Danube 
 towards Rome, and having the sovereignty of the 
 world in view, cheerfully sustained all the hardships 
 of the meanest soldier. The distance was about 800 
 miles, which he marched on foot and in complete 
 
 * Severus had been educated at Rome. Anderson's Roy. Gencal. 
 p. 43W. t Oibbon Dec. Rom. Emp. vol. 1. p. 181. 
 
 armour
 
 112 1FALV. x 
 
 armour, at the head of his warlike columns. On his 
 approach towards Rome, he made an offer of pardon 
 to the praitorian guards, on condition that they should 
 abandon their emperor; and the perpetrators of the 
 murder of Pertinax. These licentious and unwarlike 
 soldiers gladly complied with such easy terms. They 
 immediately seized their comrades who had perpe- 
 trated the murder, and signified to the senate that they 
 no longer supported the cause of Julianus. That as- 
 sembly immediately pronounced a sentence of depo- 
 sition and death against the unfortunate prince, and 
 acknowledged Severus as lawful emperor. Julianus 
 was then beheaded as a common criminal, after having, 
 through an ambitious infatuation, employed his im- 
 mense treasure in the purchase of an anxious and pre- 
 carious reign of only sixty-six days. Severus immedi- 
 ately] advancing to Rome, was vested with the impe- 
 rial purple, and- attained the highest object of human 
 ambition, without drawing his sword. His two rivals, 
 however, Albinus in the west and Niger in the east, 
 were still in arms. The emperor having celebrated 
 the obsequies of Pertinax, and cashiered the praeto- 
 rian guards, made but a short stay in Rome, before 
 he set out on his march against Niger. This expedi- 
 tion being successfully terminated, he turned his arms 
 against Albinus, and a battle fought at Trevoux, about 
 ten miles from Lyons in France, brought the war to a 
 conclusion.* The contest between the British and the 
 Illyrian legions was long and doubtful : the personal 
 bravery of the emperor cast the scale, and victory 
 declared in his favour. Albinus was afterwards 
 taken and put to death, a fate which Niger had al- 
 ready undergone ; and Severus, without a competitor, 
 * Tillemout Hist, des Emp. tom. $. 
 
 9 was
 
 HISTORICAL YIEW. 113 
 
 was left in the undisputed possession of the em- 
 pire. 
 
 The Praetorian guards owed their institution to Au~ 
 gustus. Their original number was about 9000 or 10,000- 
 They were distinguished by double pay and superior 
 privileges. At the first only three cohorts were sta- 
 tioned in Rome, and the rest were distributed in the 
 neighbouring towns. Tiberius, under pretence of 
 improving their discipline,, but most probably in order 
 to overawe the capital, assembled them at Rome in a 
 permanent and strongly fortified camp,* placed in a 
 commanding situation, on the broad summit of the 
 Quirinal and Viminal hills, and close to the walls of the 
 city.f Vitellius increased them to 1 0,000, which was 
 afterwards generally their number.;}; Such was the 
 origin of the Praetorian guards, at first so necessary, 
 afterwards so dangerous to imperial despotism. Con- 
 scious that the seat of empire and the person of the 
 sovereign was in their power, they had, since the ac- 
 cession of Claudius, exacted from every emperor a 
 liberal donative. Marcus Aurelius, with his colleague 
 Lucius Verus gave IfiO/. to each of the Preetorian 
 guards ; and Adrian complained that the promotion 
 of a Ctcsar had cost him 2,500,000/. sterling. This 
 military corps having, as already observed, been 
 cashiered by Scverus, his next step was to re-establish 
 the institution on a new model, but increased to four 
 times the former number.^ A new body of Pra-torian 
 
 * Tacit. Hist. vol. 3. f Nardini ct Donal. ap. Gibbon, vol. 1. p. 172. 
 
 $ Lip<-ii I de Magnit. Roinan:i, vol. l. 
 
 Gibbon Dec. Rom. Km. vol. 1. p. 171, ct anctor. cit marginal note. 
 Mr. Gibbon seems here to have made a confused calculation, lie cli- 
 mates llie new praetorian guards at 50,000; but Tour times li>,GOO u 
 tti,WO, ami foui time* 10,000 is only 40,000. 
 
 YOL. in. i
 
 114 ITALY. 
 
 guards, consisting of above 50,000 men, was formed 
 of soldiers distinguished for valour, strength, and 
 fidelity, draughted from all the legions of the empire. 
 This formidable force, which was to be constantly 
 recruited in the same manner, was thought sufficient 
 to crush every attempt at rebellion among the 
 Romans, and to deter the legionary commanders 
 from erecting the standard of revolt. The sequel of 
 Roman history, however, proves the latter supposition 
 to have been ill-founded. The command of this 
 corps now became the first office of the empire. The 
 Praetorian prefect, who was formerly a mere military, 
 commander, was placed at the head of the finances 
 and of the law. In every department of the admini- 
 stration, he represented the person, and exercised the 
 authority of the emperor.* 
 
 In the reign of Scverus the imperial government 
 of Rome degenerated into an undisguised military 
 despotism. Setting aside even the ostensible au- 
 thority of the senate, wbich had hitherto been re- 
 spected, he assumed the style as well as the conduct 
 of an .absolute sovereign, and exercised, without dis- 
 guise, the legislative as well as the executive power. 
 His government was severe, but characterised by at- 
 tention and discernment, and although a tyrant to the 
 senate, he was a friend to the people, and generally 
 favoured the poor and oppressed. Many cities owed 
 to him their prosperity, and by public monuments 
 attested their gratitude. He revived the glory of the 
 Roman name, and carried his victorious arms as far 
 as Selucia and Ctesiphon, the two principal cities of 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Iloin. Eiup. vol. 1, p. 201. The praetorian prefect 
 after this new regulation, united to the command of the guards, the ollice 
 fiord chancellor and that of chancellor of the exchequer. 
 
 the
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 115 
 
 fhe Parthian monarchy. From the east he turned his 
 attention to the west, passed over into Britain, and, 
 penetrating almost to the northern extremity of the 
 island, reduced the fierce Caledonians to a temporary 
 submission. He died, at York, in the year 210, in 
 the sixty-fifth year of his life, and die eighteenth of 
 a glorious and successful reign. Severus could justly 
 hoast that, having received the empire involved in 
 foreign and domestic wars, he left it triumphant over 
 every enemy, and established in universal peace. 
 
 Salutary laws executed with inflexible firmness, 
 had, during the reign of Severus, corrected a multi- 
 tude of abuses ; but gratitude, misguided policy, or, 
 perhaps, necessity, induced him to relax the nerves of 
 military discipline, and an eminent modern historian 
 considers him as the principal author of the decline of 
 the empire.* He also increased the pay of the sol- 
 diers beyond the example of former times. In this, 
 his conduct can scarcely be worthy of censure ; for 
 those who fight and bleed in their country's cause 
 certainly deserve encouragement. But his profuse 
 liberality, which taught them first to expect, and then 
 <o claim extraordinary donatives on every occasion 
 of public festivity or danger, gave rise to various dis- 
 contents, while the relaxation of discipline rendered 
 them averse to subordination. One of the greatest 
 evils, however, that resulted from his reign, was the 
 misfortune of his leaving behind him such a son and 
 
 O 
 
 successor as Caraccala. 
 
 From the death of Severus, A.D. 211, to the eleva- 
 tion of Decius, A.I). 249, 11 the sovereigns of the 
 Roman world miserably perished by violence. In the 
 hort space of thirty-eight years no less than twelve 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. 1, p. 203. 
 
 i 2 emperors
 
 IK) ITALV. 
 
 emperors successively fell by secret conspiracy, or open 
 rebellion, a circumstance, perhaps, unparalleled in 
 history. Gctavvas murdered by his brother, Caracalla 
 suffered the same fate from the Praetorian guards, who 
 elevated their prefect Macrinus to the imperial pur- 
 ple. This emperor fell by the sword of rebellion. 
 The vicious Elagabalua was massacred by the Prae- 
 torian guards ; and Alexander Severus, whose whole 
 reign was spent in continual struggles against the 
 corruption of the age, and in unavailing efforts for the 
 restoration of military discipline and subordination, 
 met with a similar fate. Maximinus, originally a 
 Thracian peasant, afterwards a soldier, a man of ex- 
 traordinary strength and stature, was by the army 
 raised to the purple, and afterwards murdered in his 
 tent. The two Gordians, father and son, perished in 
 civil contest. Maximus and Balbinus were seized in 
 the imperial palace, by the Prastorian guards, dragged 
 through the streets of Rome, and afterwards put to 
 death. The third Gordianus was by this military corps 
 invested with the purple, and afterwards murdered at 
 the instigation of Philip their proefect. Philip, an 
 Arab by birth, and originally a robber by profession, 
 having, by his courage and conduct, risen to the rank 
 of Praetorian prefect, was, by his licentious band, 
 raised to the sovereignty of the world, and in his 
 turn fell in a contest with the revolted legions of 
 Mcesia. Decius, the leader of this revolt, was then 
 universally acknowledged emperor.* The exaltation 
 and downfall of those monarchs of the Roman world, 
 would only serve to blacken the page of history, did 
 not such a rapid succession of bloody transactions 
 e.xhibit the turbulent despotism and anarchy of the 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Horn, Etnp. vol. \, p. 202 to 310, &c. 
 
 Roman
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 117 
 
 Roman state, in which the emperor was only the 
 minister of a military government, and elected tor the 
 particular benefit of the soldiers. Events of a different 
 nature, and of greater national importance, began in 
 the reign of Decius to attract the attention of the 
 Roman people. 
 
 The northern nations, whose invasions were long 
 formidable, and at last fatal to Rome, now com- 
 menced those inroads which, during more than two 
 centuries, gave almost constant employment to her. 
 arms, and finally annihilated her power. Rome had 
 twice before been endangered by the ferocious attacks 
 of the nations inhabiting the vast countries situated 
 heyond the Danube. The formidable invasion of the 
 Cimbri hud been repelled by the Consul Marius, and 
 the war \\ith the Marcomanni and Quadi, who in- 
 habited Bavaria and Austria, had been successfully 
 conducted by Marcus Aurelius. Ever since the reign 
 of Augustus, however, Rome had always found it 
 necessary to guard the banks of the Danube, and 
 constantly stationed a number of her warlike legions 
 on the Illyrian frontier, which extended from the 
 head of the Adriatic to the shores of the Euxine. In 
 the reign of Deems, the G.oths, who afterwards acted 
 so conspicuous a part in the subversion of the empire, 
 begin to be noticed in Roman hisiory. The origin 
 of this celebrated people, like that of all other nations, 
 is buried in obscurity, and while some bring them 
 from the shores of the Euxine and Caspian seas, in 
 two grand divisions, spreading themselves one over 
 Germany, and the other over Scandinavia, at a period 
 long before the Christian sera, others content them- 
 selves with tracing them to the latter country, \vith- 
 
 I 3 out
 
 J18 ITALY. 
 
 out seeking a remoter antiquity, or a more distant 
 origin.* 
 
 Passing over the dark ages of fable, consistent 
 history informs us, that from the Christian aera to 
 the age of the Antonines, the Goths were established 
 about the mouth of the Vistula ; and westward along 
 the coasts of the Baltic were seated the various tribes 
 of the Vandals. During the interval which elapsed 
 between the reigns of M. Aurelius and Alexander 
 Severus, they had emigrated further south, and being 
 joined by numerous advanturers from the Vandalic 
 nations, and their army farther increased by the ac- 
 cession of various barbarian tribes, they advanced 
 into the Ukraine and took possession of that fertile 
 country.f They seated themselves soon after in 
 Dacia, and even passed over the Danube, took 
 Philopopolis by storm, and massacred 100,000 in- 
 habkants. The Emperor Decius marched against 
 those formidable invaders, and, after gaining many 
 signal advantages, he and his son were both slain in 
 buttle. The Roman army being driven into a morass, 
 the emperor's body was never found. Callus, his 
 successor, purchased a peace from the victorious 
 Goths, by leaving in their hand their booty and 
 their prisoners, and engaging to pay them an annual 
 tribute. This ignominious treaty, however, far from 
 assuring peace to the empire, was an encouragement 
 to new invaders, who spread devastation thoughout 
 the Illyrian provinces. These being repelled by 
 
 * See on this subject Gib. Dec. Rom. Emp. vol. 1, p. 388, and 
 authorities. Tooke's Hist Russia, vol.1. 
 
 t Tacit. An. vol. 2, p. 62. Ptolemy ap. Gibbon, vol. 1, p.*392. 
 Ainmian Marccil. lib. 31. 
 
 Emilianus,
 
 HISTORICAL V1SW. 119 
 
 Emilianus, Governor of Parmonia and Moasia, the 
 fortunate general was proclaimed emperor by the 
 army. Gallus advancing against him was abandoned 
 by his forces and slain, together with Volusianus his 
 son. The senate ratified the election of Emilianus; 
 but in less than four months, the soldiers, who had 
 raised him to the purple, imbrued their hands in his 
 blood. Valerianus, a commander of singular merit, 
 was next elected emperor. The beginning of his 
 reign was prosperous, and his virtues promised the, 
 restoration of Roman virtue and glory. But having 
 undertaken an unsuccessful expedition against the 
 Persians, he had the misfortune to be made prisoner, 
 and kept in perpetual captivity. 
 
 The succeeding reign of Gallienus was peculiarly 
 unfortunate. Sapor, the Persian monarch, devastated 
 Syria and the greater part of the lesser Asia, of which, 
 if he had not preferred spoil to conquest, he might 
 probably have remained master. The Goths, the 
 Franks, the Allemanni harrassed with, repeated in- 
 vasions the whole length of the Roman frontier, from 
 the Euxine to the mouth of the Rhine. The Goths, 
 in their fleets, composed of small vessels, carrying 
 from twenty-five to thirty men, issuing from the 
 mouths of the Nieper and the ports of Taurida, 
 ravaged not only the countries on the southern shores 
 of the Euxine, but passing through the Bosphorus 
 and the Hellespont spread devastation through Greece 
 and Asia Minor.* All the large and opulent cities of 
 these countries were plundered. The spoils were im- 
 mense, and the number of captives incredible. The 
 historian of the decline of the empire relates three of 
 
 Z'jiinus ap- Gibbon Dec. Rom. Trap. ol. 1, p. 439. Strabo, 
 lib. 11. 
 
 i 4 these
 
 10 ITALY. 
 
 these naval invasions, in the last of which, Athens, 
 the ancient seat of the muses, was sacked, and the 
 famous temple of Ephesus, which the arts of Greece 
 and the wealth of Asia had concurred to render one 
 of he wonders of the ancient world, was involved in 
 the general scene of destruction.* While the Goths 
 were thus ravaging the east, similar troubles agitated 
 the west. The Franks bursting out from their 
 morasses near the banks of the lower Rhine, passed 
 that ancient barrier of the Roman empire, ravaged 
 Gaul, crossed the Pyrenees, and having carried terror 
 and devastation through Spain, extended their des^ 
 tructive inroads into Africa. The Allemanni, a nation 
 inhabiting the middle parts of Germany, at the same 
 time made dreadful incursions into Italy, advanced as 
 far as Ravenna, and displayed their victorious banners 
 almost within siglit of Rome. The armies of the 
 empire were then occupied in the east and the west 
 against the Persians and the Franks ; and Italy was 
 left almost defenceless. At this tremendous crisis 
 the luxurious inhabitants of the metropolis of the 
 world, were under the necessity of providing for their 
 own security. The senate drew out the Praetorian 
 guards, who had been left to garrison the city, and 
 enlisted numbers of stout volunteers ; and the Alle- 
 manni, terrified at the appearance of such an army, 
 retreated into Germany with an immense spoil, the 
 principal object of their expedition. 
 
 Civil war, as well as foreign invasion, convulsed the 
 empire in this calamitous reign. No less than nine- 
 teen usurpers, in different provinces, erected the 
 
 * Gibbon, vol. 1, p. 424, 426, 428. This famous temple had been 
 several times before, if not destroyed, at least greatly defaced, and had 
 always been restored with increased splendour. Ibid et Auctor. 
 
 standard
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 standard of revolt, and assumed the imperial dignity.* 
 Of these Tetricus alone was a senator, and Piso a 
 patrician. Most of the others having originally been 
 peasants, had enlisted into the legions as private 
 soldiers, and been promoted by their valour to mili- 
 tary command. It would here be of no use to detail 
 the sanguinary contests, the temporary successes, and 
 the final catastrophe of those various pretenders to 
 empire. Every one of them died a violent death. 
 No sooner were they invested with the bloody purple 
 than they found themselves, encompassed with the 
 threefold dangers of secret conspiracy, military sedi- 
 tion, and civil war. They stood on the edge of pre- 
 cipices, and after a short period of splendid trouble 
 aud anxiety, met with inevitable destruction. In this 
 time of universal confusion, the transitions from the 
 cottage to the throne, and from the throne to the 
 grave were rapid and perpetual. 
 
 But if the elevation and downfall of these pre- 
 carious monarchs, individually considered, be of little 
 moment in national history, the subject will appear of 
 greater importance when connected with its destruc- 
 tive effects on the welfare of the people. The price 
 of their fatal elevation, was immediately paid to the 
 troops in immense donatives drawn from the ex- 
 hausted provinces. They were under the necessity of 
 supporting their usurpation by frequent acts of rapine 
 and cruelty. The perplexity of their situation often 
 compelled them to burden the people with oppressive 
 contributions, in order to purchase the neutrality or 
 even the services of the barbarians. In Gaul, 
 Posthumus had a body of Franks in his service ; 
 bands of the lioxelani were entertained by Regillianus 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Emp. vol. 1, ch. 10, p. 441. 
 
 in
 
 122 ITALY. 
 
 in Illyrinm ;* while Gattienus, the only crapcror re- 
 cognized at Rome, subsidised a body of the Heruli r 
 and invested their chief with the ornaments of the 
 consular digmty.f Thus was adopted the fatal mea- 
 sure of introducing hostile barbarians, into the heart 
 of the empire, in the character of auxiliaries, and of 
 making them acquainted not only with the opulence 
 but with the military discipline of the Romans. 
 During this general distraction of the empire, the 
 fertile island of Sicily was ravaged by numerous 
 troops of banditti, composed of peasants and slaves, 
 and multiplied by impunity and success. Egypt ex- 
 hibited a similar scene of disorder. The anarchy 
 which prevailed throughout the Roman dominions 
 had extinguished the authority of the laws, and in- 
 troduced an ungovernable spirit of riot and licentious- 
 ness. Alexandria was the theatre of a civil war r 
 which, with short -intervals, continued the space of 
 twelve years. All intercourse was cut off between the 
 different quarters of the city ; every street was con- 
 certed into a field of battle, and every building of 
 strength into a citadel. Before these troubles sub- 
 sided a great part of that commercial and opulent 
 city was reduced to a heap of ruins.J The conse- 
 quences of these commotions in Sicily and Egypt 
 were in all probability more severely felt in the 
 metropolis of the empire, than the effects of the bar- 
 barian invasions, as those countries were reckoned the 
 granaries of Rome, and the principal estates of Sicily 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Emp. vol. 1, p. 451, margin note. 
 
 f Sjncellus aj>. Gibbon, vol. 1, p. 431. This was one f the cbiel 
 causes of the finul downfall of the empire. 
 
 J Eusebius. Ilitst. Eccles. lib. 7, cap. t\, with the note* of Valesiu* 
 nd others. 
 
 in
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 123 
 
 in particular were the property of the senators and 
 opulent citizens. All those tumults and commotions 
 did not, indeed, take place throughout the whole 
 empire at one precise time ; but they all happened 
 within the space of fifteen years, from A.D. 253 to 
 A.D. 268, during the joint reign of Valerian and 
 Gallienus, and that of Gallienus alone, the former a 
 period of about seven and the latter of about eight 
 years, and, therefore, are here exhibited in a general 
 view. 
 
 These destructive scenes of human contention, 
 however, were not the only misfortunes of this cala- 
 mitous period. Famine and pestilence, those terrible 
 scourges of mankind, appeared in their most terrific 
 forms ; the former was the necessary consequence of 
 the civil wars and foreign invasions, which ruined 
 agriculture; the causes of the latter are less apparent, 
 but its effects were dreadfully conspicuous. From 
 the year 2^0 to 265 it raged, without intermission, 
 through every province and city of the empire. 
 During some time it carried off about 5000 persons 
 daily, in Rome, and several towns were entirely depo- 
 pulated. A modern historian supposes, on probable 
 grounds of conjecture, founded on particular facts 
 and various authorities, that during tha period here 
 under consideration not less than half the population 
 of the Roman empire was consumed by the joint 
 calamities of war, famine, and pestilence.* 
 
 Gallienus having been assassinated by conspirator* 
 at the siege of Milan, the removal of an effeminate 
 and indolent prince made way for a succession of 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Fin p. vol. 1, ch. 10, p. 456. Mr. Gibbon savs 
 half of the human species, but it i evident that lie can mean only the 
 .inhabitants of the Roman empire. 
 
 1 heroes.
 
 124 ITALY. 
 
 Sj and the Roman empire, which seemed to be on 
 the verge of destruction, was saved by a series of war- 
 like emperors, who derived their obscure origin from 
 the martial provinces adjoining to the banks of the 
 Danube. Claudius was the immediate successor of 
 Gallienus. The flattering fictions of writers during 
 the reigns of the Flavian family, have endeavoured 
 to give him an illustrious genealogy, but the obscurity 
 of his origin betrays the meanness of his extraction. 
 Authentic history can only discover, that he was a 
 native of Illyrium, that he had spent his life in arms, 
 and risen to promotion by his merit. His actions, 
 however, were sufficient to ennoble his name, and 
 lender it immortal. He almost totally annihilated 
 the immense armament of the Goths, who, passing 
 in an incredible number of vessels through the Bos- 
 phorus, had renewed their invasions in a still more 
 formidable manner than in the preceding reign. In 
 the complicated operations of this dangerous war, he 
 performed exploits worthy of the greatest heroes, 
 and was considered as the Saviour of the empire. 
 This great emperor dying of the plague at Sirmium, 
 nominated Aurelian, one of his generals, as his suc- 
 cessor. Aurelian, originally a peasant of Illyrium, 
 had enlisted into the army as a common soldier, and 
 passing through all the gradations of military promo- 
 tion, had in every station distinguished himself by 
 matchless valour, rigid discipline, and prudent con- 
 duct. When vested with the imperial purple, he 
 eminently sustained his former character. Every 
 moment of his short reign of four years and nine 
 months was signalized by some glorious achievement. 
 He subdued all the foreign and domestic enemies of 
 
 O 
 
 the empire, and with a prudent policy ceded to the 
 
 Goths
 
 HISTORICAL V1E\T. 125 
 
 Goths the Roman province of Dacia, established by 
 Trajan beyond I he Danube. In consequence of this 
 judicious cession of a country always exposed to hos- 
 tile inroads, the civilized Goths erected in Daeia a 
 kingdom, which for some time served the Roman 
 empire as a barrier against the more northern barba- 
 rians. This emperor subdued the famous Zenobia 
 Queen of Palmyra, whom history describes as one of 
 the most accomplished women that -ever existed, a 
 prodigy of beauty, valour, and learning. In the reiga 
 of Aurelian, and during his absence in Panwonia, tlue 
 Allemanni made that formidable incursion into Italy, 
 which threatened Rome, and induced the terrified 
 citizens to construct new walls, encompassing a larger 
 space than the ancient precincts of the city. The 
 precaution, however, proved unnecessary. The em- 
 peror advancing by hasty marches to provide for the 
 safety of the capital, totally defeated, and almost 
 annihilated the invaders. Having re-established not 
 only the tranquillity but the glory of the empire, he 
 returned to Rome, and displayed his grandeur in a, 
 triumph conducted with extraordinary pomp and 
 magnificence. Conscious, however, that his talents 
 shone most resplendent in war, and judging a foreign. 
 expedition necessary, in order to exercise the restless 
 disposition of the legions, he conducted his- army 
 against the Persians, but was slain in his march bj 
 conspirators. 
 
 The administration of Aurelian was vigorous, bill 
 severe and despotic. As he had saved, so he also 
 governed the empire by the sword. lie was a war- 
 like prince, and an useful though severe reformer of 
 a degenerate state. His death was regretted by the 
 soldieri, who admired his military abilities; and 
 
 9 nothing
 
 ITALY. 
 
 nothing can be a greater proof of the change which 
 his rigorous government had effected, than the amic- 
 able manner in which the senate and the army referred 
 to each other the choice of his successor, unless it 
 be the tranquillity that reigned during the space of 
 eight months before a new emperor was elected. 
 During this interregnum, the Roman world remained 
 without a sovereign, without any military sedition, 
 and without any civil commotion, exhibiting a picture 
 extremely different from that of the preceding times. 
 After a variety of deliberations, Tacitus, a venerable 
 and aged member of the senate, was elected by that 
 body, and acknowledged first by the Pra3torian guards, 
 and afterwards by the whole army. His reign 
 promised to be useful and glorious had it been longer. 
 Licentiousness, however, began again to prevail 
 among the soldiers, and after having reigned less than 
 a ypar, it is uncertain whether this emperor fell by 
 sickness or assassination.* 
 
 Probus, another Illyrian peasant, who like Claudius 
 and Aurelian had owed his promotion in the army to 
 military merit, assumed the purple. He was the 
 favourite of the soldiers, and the senate willingly con- 
 firmed their choice. Rome, in fact, had need of such 
 an emperor. The barbarians on every side had again 
 burst into the empire. They were all vanquished and 
 expelled by the courage and conduct of Probus. 
 Every frontier of the empire witnessed his exploits. 
 The east and the west were the theatres of his vic- 
 tories. Having delivered Gaul from a formidable in- 
 vasion of the Franks, he passed the Rhine, pene- 
 trated into the heart of Germany, and displayed his 
 
 * Concerning the doubtful accounts of his death, as well as of the 
 length of his rfeign, see Gibbon's Dec. Rom. Erap. vol. 2, p. 70. 
 
 invincible
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 127 
 
 invincible eagles on the banks of the Elbe and the 
 Neckar. All his measures were directed with un 
 remitted attention and activity to the happiness as 
 well as the glory of the empire. His prudence was 
 always equal to his valour, and in every undertaking 
 he was invariably successful. It would be impossible 
 even to enumerate in this compendium the great 
 things that he performed. The single point in which 
 he seemed to forget the rules of moderation, was the 
 rigid discipline which he introduced among the troops, 
 on whom he imposed severe and incessant labours, 
 exercising them in draining marshes, improving waste 
 grounds, constructing useful or ornamental edifices, 
 and other toilsome tasks, whenever they were nol 
 employed in military operations. He is also said to 
 have imprudently expressed a hope, that by the estab- 
 lishment of universal peace, he should render a stand- 
 ing army unnecessary.* This impolitic avowal of his 
 inattention to the interests of the soldiery, that formi- 
 dable power of which every Roman emperor was only 
 the minister, proved fatal to Probus. While in one 
 of the hottest days of summer he was severely urging 
 the toilsome labour of draining the marshes of Sir- 
 mium, the soldiers, impatient of fatigue, suddenly 
 threw down their tools, seized their swords, and 
 plunged them into the breast of the emperor. Probn* 
 ascended the imperial throne at forty-four years <>l 
 age, and in a reign of six years rivalled the fame of 
 the greatest heroes whose names are recorded in 
 history. 
 
 Claudius, Aurelian, and Probus, are deservodlv 
 esteemed the restorers of the Roman empire, which, 
 during the rei<ni of Gallienus had been brought to the 
 
 wo o 
 
 * Vopiscus ap. Gibbon, vol. S, p. 90. 
 
 verge
 
 ITALY* 
 
 verge of dissolution. Nor did the effects of their 
 vigorous administration terminate with their lives. 
 
 O 
 
 Their camps were the great schools of military science 
 and discipline, and produced pupils of distinguished 
 eminence. The emperors Carus, Dioclesian, Maxi- 
 mianus, Constantius Chlorus and Galerius, with a 
 number of other celebrated commanders, were trained 
 to arms under their victorious banners. Probus was 
 succeeded by Carus, whose short reign was signalized 
 by his extraordinary successes against the Persians. 
 He made himself master of the great cities of Selemia 
 and Ctesiphon, and displayed the Roman eagles be- 
 yond the Tigris. Being struck dead in his tent by 
 lightning, his two sons Carinus and Numerian were 
 acknowledged emperors. Numerian was in the camp 
 and beloved by the troops; Carinus lived detested at 
 Rome. The former dying in his tent to which his 
 disorder had for some time confined him, Aper the 
 Praetorian prefect concealing his death continued to 
 govern in his name, but the cheat being discovered, 
 bis policy proved fatal. Being brought to account 
 for his conduct before a great military council of the 
 generals and tribunes, Dioclesian, whom the army 
 had destined to the purple, plunged his sword into 
 the breast of the prefect, and was immediately pro- 
 claimed emperor. Carinus made preparations for a 
 war against his rival, but being killed by one of his 
 officers, whose wife he had seduced, civil discord was 
 extinguished, and Dioclesian remained sole master of 
 the Roman world. The origin of Dioclesian was 
 more abject and obscure than that of any of his pre- 
 decessors, his father being only a slave. The aspiring 
 son enlisting into the army, talents and fortune sup- 
 plied the deficiency of birth. He had risen by his 
 
 merit
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 129 
 
 merit from the lowest to the highest rank, and hav- 
 ing been successively promoted to the government of 
 Moesia and the consular dignity, was thought worthy 
 of ruling the empire. His prudent administration 
 justified the public opinion, but the events of his 
 reign, however important, are too numerous to be 
 related in this historical sketch. Conscious of the 
 weighty task which he had undertaken, and in order 
 to provide at the same time for the security of the 
 east and the west, he gave himself in the second year 
 of his reign, A.D. 286, a colleague in the person of 
 Maximian.* Dioclesian, though a pupil of the camp, 
 was famous rather as a statesman than a warrior, 
 being as much distinguished by his artful policy, as 
 Maximian, who was also a soldier of fortune and 
 an lllyrian peasant, was for his ferocious courage and 
 cruelty. Either through superstition or vanity, or 
 probably from a mixture of both, the former of these 
 emperors took the name of Jovius, the latter that of 
 Herculius. Maximian soon after his elevation, quelled 
 a formidable revolt of the peasants of Gaul. This 
 tremendous insurrection of the populace, appears to 
 have been in its nature, its causes, and consequences, 
 similar to those of the peasants of France in the reign 
 of Charles V, and of England in that of Richard If. 
 But a disorderly and licentious multitude was easily 
 subdued by Maximian with his veteran legions. The 
 two emperors, in order to lighten their own load of 
 public affairs, and to provide more effectually for the 
 safety of the state, made choice of two caesars, 
 whom they adopted as their sons, and employed as 
 their lieutenants. These were Galerius and Constan- 
 tius Chlorus, afterwards emperors. Dioclesian in 
 
 * Tillemont Hist, des Emp. torn. 4. 
 
 YOL. in. K person
 
 130 ITALT. 
 
 person reduced Egypt, which, since the reign of 
 Gallienus, had incessantly relapsed into rebellion. 
 He also prohibited the study of alchemy, to which 
 the Egyptians were greatly addicted, irnd committed 
 to the flames all the books which treated of that 
 illusory science.* In the East, a war disastrous at its 
 commencement, but afterwards successful, was carried 
 on against Persia, and finally terminated by an advan- 
 tageous peace, which continued above forty years. 
 "Rome was now in high prosperity, freed from the 
 invasions of the barbarians, as well as from the evils 
 of anarchy, and rendered victorious over all her ene- 
 mies, by a series of warlike peasants from the banks 
 of the Danube. In the year 303 of the Christian 
 sera, the twentieth of the reign of Dioclesian, and 
 the nineteenth of Maximian, these joint emperors 
 celebrated their victories by the solemn pomp of a 
 triumph, the last that Rome ever beheld.- Soon after 
 this period that city ceased to be the capital of the 
 empire. A very remarkable and important change 
 in the Roman state was introduced under these em- 
 perors. They were the first who abandoned the im- 
 perial city, and fixed their ordinary residence in the 
 provinces. Maximian established his court at Milan, 
 a station indeed more convenient than Rome for 
 v.-atching the motions of the German barbarians. 
 .Dioclesian chose ISicomedia, in Asia Minor, for his 
 imperial'seat; and till he celebrated his triumph in 
 the twentieth year of his reign, it does not appear 
 that he had ever visited Rome. Even on that 
 
 * Alchemy is the pretendud art of making gold and silver. The <\rab 
 after the conquest of Egypt, revived and diffused tliatfallacioussciet-.ee. 
 It has since been frequently revived in Europe, but is now exploded by 
 philosophy and experience, 
 
 memorable
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 131 
 
 memorable occasion, he remained there only 
 months. This dereliction of the ancient capital, was 
 attended with considerable changes in the system of 
 government. Under Tacitus and Probus, the senate 
 had resumed some appearance of its constitutional 
 authority, but after Rome was no longer the residence 
 of the emperors, this august body lost even that 
 shadow of importance which it had hitherto retained. 
 The sovereigns laid aside the titles of consul, pro- 
 consul, tribune, &c., which, even united with impe- 
 rial despotism, still indicated the republican origin of 
 the Roman constitution. The title of Imperator was 
 still retained, but it acquired a new signification, and 
 that of Dominus, or Lord, began to be superadded. 
 Dioclesian, and his colleague Maximian, exercised 
 the legislative as well as the executive power, without 
 ever consulting the senate. The senatorial dignity 
 was till the last period of the empire considered as 
 an honorary distinction ; but the senate, as a consti- 
 tutional assembly, losing all connection with the im- 
 perial court, sunk into oblivion. The manners of the 
 court of Rome, were also quite laid aside in that of 
 Kicomedia. Dioclesian, instead of the Roman, in- 
 troduced the Persian magnificence, with all the 
 
 O * 
 
 formality of Asiatic despotism, and assumed the 
 diadem, which the Romans detested, as the ensign of 
 royalty. His person was of difficult access, and when- 
 ever a subject was admitted to his presence, he was 
 obliged to prostrate himself according to the Eastern 
 fashion before his absolute lord and master. 
 
 The constitution of the empire, as well as that of 
 
 the imperial court, was new modelled. Dioclesian, 
 
 from his own experience and that of his predeces- 
 
 ors, had reason to think that the activity of one 
 
 K 'i single
 
 132 1TAIY. 
 
 single man, whatever might be his abilities, was in- 
 adequate to the government of aa immense an empire, 
 and the defence of so extensive a frontier. He had, 
 therefore, chosen a colleague, each had his ea^sar or 
 lieutenant, who being theitf natural or adopted heirs, 
 should supply an unintervupted succession of em- 
 perors. He also imagined, that the strength of the 
 Roman legions being placed in the hands of four 
 partners in the sovereignty, interested in each other's 
 support, ajid properly stationed in four different 
 quarters ojf the empire, the improbability of succes- 
 sively vanquishing four, such formidable- opponents, 
 would deter any aspiring general from erecting tha 
 standard of rebellion. The views of the most pro- 
 found politicians, however, are often illusory. The 
 system of division first introduced by Dioclesian, 
 after being productive of those civil wars whjoh it 
 was intended to pvevent, finally proved the principal 
 cause of the subversion of the Roman power. All 
 historical evidence concurs to shew that the division 
 of empire has almost ever been attended with dts-r 
 a&trous consequences. The system introduced, by 
 Dioclesian, was also attended with another material 
 disadvantage. Instead of one imperial co,rt at 
 Rome, several courts were established in different 
 provinces, where the emperors and the caasars vied 
 with the Eastern monarchs in pomp and magnificence. 
 An immense expenditure and heavy taxation was the 
 necessary consequence of this arrangement. The 
 glory and wealth of Rome began to decline after that 
 city was no longer the imperial residence. 
 
 Milan and Nicomedia began to rival the ancient 
 capital of the empire in magnificence, although so 
 greatly inferior in extent and population. Maxi- 
 
 uiian
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 133 
 
 mian modelled his government after the maxims 
 and example of Dioclesian, and a systematic plan of 
 oriental despotism was gradually introduced into Italy. 
 The politic Dioclesian committed to his ferocious 
 colleague every task that was likely to excite any 
 uncommon degree of popular odium, and Maximian 
 gladly undertook that of oppressing the senate hy 
 involving the most illustrious of its members in ficti- 
 tious criminations.* The camp of the praetorians 
 under the walls of Rome, was incompatible with the 
 maxims of Dioclesian's government, but by his art- 
 ful measures the numbers of that military corps were 
 insensibly reduced.f Two Illyrian legions, under the 
 new titles of Jovians and Herculians, were chosen 
 for the important and honorable service of guarding 
 the persons of the emperors, and the praetorian guards 
 had the mortification of seeing their privileges, as 
 well as their numbers, diminished. After having 
 established the peace and security of the empire, and 
 effected such material alterations in its constitution, 
 Dioclesian and Maximian astonished the world by 
 the voluntary resignation of the imperial dignity. On 
 the same day, 1st. May A.D. 305, the resignation of 
 both the emperors took place.;}: Dioclesian had pre- 
 viously constructed for himself a magnificent palace 
 at Salona, a town of Dalmatia, near the shores of the 
 Adriatic, in a dry, pleasant, and healthful situation, 
 commanding a most beautiful prospect of land and sea. 
 
 * Lactantius de Mort. Persecutoruni, cap. 8. 
 
 t It lias already been observed, that a new prxtorian guard had been 
 instituted by Sereru*. f Tillemont. Hist, des Enip. torn. 4. 
 
 Sen Adam's Antiq. of Dioclesian's palace, Loud. 1764. From this 
 work, which exhibits a splendid set of engraving!, and from that of the 
 Abbfc Fortis, Gibbon nppci^rs to have collected his description of this 
 imperial retreat, 
 
 K 3 Here
 
 134 ITALY. 
 
 Here that extraordinary man, who from a ser- 
 yile origin had raised himself to the sovereignty of 
 the world, passed the last nine years of his *Jife in 
 retirement, employing himself in superintending his 
 buildings, ^plantations, and gardens. Unfortunately 
 the troubles which afflicted the empire after his abdi- 
 cation, and especially the misfortunes of his wife and 
 his daughter, must have embittered the concluding 
 scene of his life, and the opinions of posterity are 
 divided on the mode of its termination. Maximiau 
 possessing less relish for retirement, resumed the 
 purple, and at last engaged himself in schemes of 
 ambition, which cost him his life. 
 
 Scarcely eighteen months had elapsed since the 
 resignation of the emperors, before tremendous revo- 
 lutions shewed the imperfections of Dioclesian's system 
 of division, and eighteen years of discord and con- 
 fusion ensued. During this period no less than five 
 civil wars convulsed the empire, and each interval of 
 peace was no more than a suspension of arms. 
 
 On the abdication of Dioclesian and Maximian, the 
 imperial dignity devolved, according to the new con- 
 stitution, on the two cffisars, Galerius and Constan- 
 tius Chlorus, who, in consequence, assumed the title 
 of August! ; but two new caesars were to occupy 
 their former situations. These were chosen by Gale- 
 rius, without paying any attention to the interests of 
 Constantius or Maximian. The persons whom Gale* 
 rius promoted, were Maximin bis nephew, and Severus, 
 a general greatly attached to his interest. Constan- 
 tine, afterwards emperor, and deservedly honoured 
 with the epithet of Great, then resided at the court 
 of Galerius, but receiving intelligence of his father's 
 sickness at York, he made his escape from Nicomedia, 
 t and
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 1SS 
 
 ai?d by a hasty journey arrived only in time to 'receive 
 his dying exhortations, with his nomination to the 
 succession of the western part of the empire. 
 
 The capital at this time, as well as the provinces, was 
 burdened with the weight of taxation, which was' 
 even enforced by torture.* The inhabitants of the 
 imperial city were cysgusted with the new system, 
 which reduced Rome to the state of a tributary pro- 
 vince, while the seat of empire was removed to Nico- 
 rnedia. The praetorian guards were not less exasper- 
 ated at the reduction of their numbers, and the 
 abolition of their privileges. They were even appre- 
 hensive, and not without reason, that their dissolu- 
 tion was intended. This general dissatisfaction of 
 the citizens and soldiery, was fomented by the senate, 
 and every rank of people in Rome resolved to shake 
 off the yoke of their distant sovereigns, and to elect a 
 prince, who, by fixing his residence among them, might 
 deserve the title of a Roman emperor. In consequence 
 of this disposition of the public mind, the capital erected 
 the standard of revolt, and Maxentius r the son of Max- 
 imian, and son-in-law to Galerius, was unanimously 
 elected emperor. Maximian also himself, at the re- 
 quest of the senate, left his retirement, and re-assumed 
 the purple in conjunction with his son. Severus, 
 whom Galerius had promoted from the rank of Caesar 
 to that of Augustus, commenced against the joint 
 emperors a war, which terminated in his defeat and 
 death. Galerius, exasperated at the fate of Severus, 
 immediately resolved to direct the whole force of the 
 East acruinst his son-in-law and the Romans. Invad- 
 
 \J 
 
 ing Italy with his numerous legions, he shewed him-. 
 ,ielf a true barbarian, ravaging the country, and 
 
 * Lact. dc Mort. Persccutorira, cap. 26. 
 
 K 4 threatening
 
 1S6 ITALY. 
 
 threatening the imperial city with total destruction. 
 But his plans being every where disconcerted, by the 
 cautious conduct and military skill of Maximian, he 
 was obliged at last to make a disgraceful retreat. 
 Galerius, after his unsuccessful expedition into Italy, 
 invested Licinius, his friend and former companion 
 in arms, with the vacant purple of Severus, and re- 
 signed to his immediate command the Illyrian pro- 
 vinces. Maximin, on receiving intelligence of this 
 transaction, assumed the dignity, and extorted from 
 Galerius the title, of emperor. Constantine had, in 
 pursuance to his father's nomination, as well as by 
 military election, been invested with the imperial 
 purple at York, and the Roman world was now 
 governed by six emperors. Constantine commanded 
 in Britain and Gaul, Maximian and Maxentius at 
 Rome, Licinius in lllyrium, Galerius in Asia Minor, 
 and Maximin in Egypt and Syria. Maxentius, how- 
 ever, and his restless father, could riot long agree in 
 the exercise of an undivided authority; both laid 
 claim to the supreme command, but the praetorian 
 guards considering Maximian as the enemy of their 
 corps, espoused the party of Maxentius. The old 
 emperor, as his last refuge, fled to the court of his 
 son-in-law Constantine. Here he resigned the purple 
 a second time, but during that emperor's absence in 
 an expedition against the Franks, he again placed him- 
 self on the throne. On Constantine's approach, he 
 retired to Marseilles, and prepared for a vigorous 
 defence ; but the soldiers abandoning his cause, pur- 
 chased their pardon by surrendering the city, and de- 
 livering up the person of Maximian. He was soon 
 after put to death, but it was published to the world, 
 that stung with remorse he strangled himself with his 
 
 own
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 137 
 
 own hands. The next year, A.D. 311, Galerius died 
 at Nicomedia of the morbus pediculosus.* His name. 
 is infamous in history; he was an enemy of civil and 
 religious liberty, a tyrannical emperor, and a bloody 
 persecutor of his Christian subjects. The number of 
 emperors was now reduced to four. An alliance was 
 formed between Constantine and Licinius, Maxentius 
 and Maximin formed a similar connection, and the 
 Roman world was divided into two great parties, hav- 
 ing opposite interests and hostile views. 
 
 Constantine had employed the time since his acces- 
 sion in repelling the inroads of the Franks, and provid- 
 ing for the security of Gaul, while Maxentius Was by 
 his vices and follies rendering himself infamous and 
 detested at Rome. The characters of princes are too 
 frequently misrepresented by the flattery or enmity of 
 faction, and unmerited censure or applause is often 
 transmitted to posterity. But all writers of every party 
 agree in describing Maxentius as a monster of tyranny 
 and wickedness. Rome, which had formerly regretted 
 the absence, now abhorred the presence of her sove- 
 reign, and ambassadors were privateK sent to Con- 
 stantine, requesting him, in the name of the senate 
 and the people, to undertake their deliverance from 
 their oppressor. The enterprise was glorious, but not 
 lees hazardous ; and although Constantine must have 
 viewed the situation of the Romans with compassion, 
 he prudently wished to decline a war, with the diffi- 
 culties and dangers of which he was fully acquainted. 
 Maxentius, however, who openly avowed his preten- 
 tions to the whole empire of the west, and had already 
 collected a vast body of forces for the invasion of 
 GauJ, rashly ventured to provoke a formidable enemy. 
 
 * Lact. de Mort. Pcrsecut. p. 33. The lousy disease. 
 
 The
 
 138 ITALY. 
 
 The backwardness of Constantine to enter on the con- 
 test was highly excuseable. The disproportion of 
 forces was immense. The soldiers were the only order 
 of men whom Maxentius had ever studied to please ; 
 he indulged them in all manner of licentiousness, and 
 suffered them to oppress and plunder the people with 
 impunity. Considering the prsetorian guards as the 
 firmest support of his throne, he had restored their 
 privileges, and increased their numbers to the ancient 
 establishment; and with the rest of the Italian troops, 
 they composed a formidable body of 80,000 men. 
 The whole army of Maxentius amounted to 170/XX) 
 foot and 18,000 horse, and immense magazines of corn 
 and other provisions were formed for their supply. 
 The whole force of Constantine consisted of no more 
 than 90,000 foot and 8,000 horse, and the defence 
 of the Rhine required at least the half of that number. 
 But time no longer remained for deliberation. Max- 
 entius was ready to enter Gaul, and Constantine there- 
 fore resolved to anticipate him by carrying the war 
 into the heart of Italy. At the head of about 40,OOO 
 men, he marched to encounter an enemy whose army 
 was more than four times the number of his own.* 
 It was at this critical juncture, that he saw in the air 
 the famous vision of a resplendent cross, as related by 
 Eusebius.f In another work I have entered into an 
 investigation of that miraculous circumstance, a repe- 
 titkm of the enquiry would therefore be useless.^; 
 If numbers, however, gave an apparent superiority 
 to Maxentius, the advantages of military skill and 
 discipline were on the side of Constantine. The 
 
 * Gibbon's Dec. Rom. Erap. 2. ch. 14, et auctor. cit. 
 
 t Eusebius Vita Constantini, cap. 38. 
 
 | See Letters on Ancieutand Mod. Hist. London, 1804, 
 
 troops
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 139 
 
 troops brought into the field by the former, were little 
 accustomed to the practice of war, and enervated by 
 the luxuries of Rome, which they left with reluctance : 
 those of the latter were hardy \ 7 eterans, long inured te 
 the exercise of arms against the barbarians of the 
 Rhine. The characters of the two 'commanders were 
 as different as those of the armies. Maxentius, im- 
 mersed in debauchery and vice, was inexperienced in 
 arms: the intrepid mind of Constantkie had, from 
 early youth, been formed to war, and his eyes been ac- 
 customed to its bloody scenes. 
 
 This skilful and enterprising leader had deliberated 
 with caution, but he acted with vigour. Having con- 
 ducted the veteran legions of Gaul across the Alps, he 
 descended into the plains of Piedmont, before Maxen- 
 tius had received any certain intelligence of his march. 
 The city of Susa was immediately taken by assault, 
 and most of the garrison put to the sword. Advancing 
 to the plains of Turin, he found his march intercepted 
 by a fonui liable army under the conduct of the lieu- 
 tenants of Maxentius. The contest was bloody; but 
 Constantine, by his rapid and skilful evolutions baffling 
 the massy columns of the Roman cavalry, proved in 
 the end completely victorious. Turin, Milan, and all 
 the cities between the Alps and the Po, acknowledged 
 his power, and zealously embraced his party. But the 
 rules of military prudence did not yet permit him to 
 advance against Rome. ' A formidable army of Ita- 
 lians in the neighbourhood of Verona was ready to 
 oppose his progress or to intercept his retreat, in case 
 of his proving unfortunate. He saw the expediency 
 of directing his arms to that quarter, where he de- 
 feated the enemy with great slaughter, and captured 
 
 Verona.
 
 140 ITALY. 
 
 Verona.* Pompeianus, a lieutenant of Maxentiu*, 
 distinguished by hiscourrige and abilities, here bravely 
 fought, and gallantly fell, in the cause of an unworthy 
 master. While Constantine was signalizing his cou- 
 rage and conduct in the field, the sovereign of Italy, 
 immersed in luxurious pleasures, appeared insensible 
 of the dangers that menaced his throne. The rapid 
 progress of Constantine, however, at last roused him 
 from his fatal security ; and the experienced officers, 
 who had served under the banners of Maximinian, 
 were at length obliged to inform him of his real situa- 
 
 O O 
 
 tion, and to urge the necessity of vigorous exertions. 
 Though his armies had suffered two Woody defeats at 
 Turin and Verona, he still possessed ample resources. 
 The praetorian guards considered their interest and 
 importance as connected with his cause ; and a nu- 
 merous army was soon collected. The tyrant, con- 
 scious of his want of talents for war, trembled at the 
 thought of so dangerous a contest; but necessity and 
 shame obliged him to take the field in person against 
 his antagonist. As superstition is generally the con- 
 comitant of fear, Maxentius, before his departure 
 from Rome, consulted the Sibyline books. And the 
 guardians of these ancient oracles, who, as a modern; 
 historian observes, " were as well versed in the arts of 
 the world as they were ignorant of the secrets of fate," 
 gave him this doubtful answer, " hostum RomanormiK 
 esse periturum;" " the enemy of the Romans was shortly 
 to perish." As the vanquished commander would, by 
 the victor, be certainly declared the enemy of Rome, 
 those artful interpreters of the will of Heaven secured 
 
 * For an illustration of the siege of Verona, vide Massei Verona Illus- 
 toata, part i. 
 
 their
 
 HISTORICAL YIEW. 141 
 
 their own reputation, whatever might be the event of 
 the war. 
 
 On the 28th of October, A.D. 312, this important 
 contest was decided.* Constantine had long been ap- 
 prehensive that his antagonist, instead of risking the 
 issue of the contest in a general engagement, would 
 shut himself up in Rome, where immense magazines 
 would secure him against the danger of famine. It 
 was therefore with equal surprise and pleasure that, on 
 his arrival within about nine miles of the imperial city, 
 be discovered the army of Maxentius drawn up in or- 
 der of battle, on a%pacious plain, with the Tiber in their 
 rear, ao injudicious position, precluding the possibility 
 of a. retreat. Constantine, on this memorable occa- 
 sion, displayed all the talents of the general and the 
 soldier. Having disposed his troops with consum- 
 mate skill, he charged in person the enemy's cavalry ; 
 and his irresistible attack determined the fortune of 
 the day. The praetorian guards distinguished them- 
 selves by the most desperate valour ; but all their ef- 
 forts were unavailing : the confusion became general, 
 and the flying: troops of Maxentius rushed by thou- 
 sands into the Tiber, where most of them were drown- 
 e.d. The emperor attempted to make his escape back 
 into the city, over the Milvian bridge; but the crowd 
 pressing on him, forced him into the river; and the 
 weight of his armour immediately sunk him to the bot- 
 tom.-f- His body being soon afterwards found, was 
 exposed to the view of the populace. His two sons 
 were put to death, and his whole race extirpated ; u 
 
 * Gibbon t)c. R&m, Emp. vol 2, cli. 14 S>30 Tcllemont Hist, dc* 
 Emp. torn. 4, par. 1. 
 
 t It appears that the breaking down of tin- bridgr, as related bv sonic 
 historians, is It mistake. See Gibbon, vol. 2, ch. 1J, and Tcllemoni, toin. 
 4, par. 1, 
 
 treatment
 
 145 ITALY. 
 
 treatment which, how severe soever it may appear, 
 was only the same that awaited the person and family 
 of Constantine, had he heen vanquished. 
 
 Constantine, now master of Rome, was caressed by 
 the senate and ( people : games and festivals were insti- 
 tuted to commemorate his victory, and a triumphal 
 arch was erected to his honour. The final abolition 
 of the praetorian guards was one of the immediate con- 
 sequences of this revolution. Their fortified camp 
 was destroyed, and such of the praetorians as had es- 
 caped the sword were dispersed among the legions on 
 the frontier. Constantine now formed an alliance with 
 Licinius the Illyriah emptror, and in order to cement 
 the union of their families and interests, gave him his 
 sister Constantia in marriage. But Constantine's pre- 
 sence being necessary on the banks of the Rhine, 
 Maximin, the sovereign of the Asiatic part of the em- 
 pire, resolved on a war with Licinius. The issue of 
 which was in favour of the latter ; who by the supe- 
 riority of his military skill, and the firmness of his II- 
 lyrian legions, gained a decisive victory over the nu- 
 merous fores of his antagonist. Maximin did not 
 long survive his defeat.* After his death the pro- 
 vinces of the East acknowledged the sovereignty of 
 Jliicinius. 
 
 These incessant revolutions must have afforded to 
 Dioclesian, in his retreat at Salona, ample subjects of 
 reflection ; and he could scarcely fail of congratulating 
 himself on his happy retirement from the tumultuous 
 scene. But the melancholy catastrophe of his wife 
 and his daughter, must have excited very different sen- 
 timents. Those two unfortunate princesses, whose 
 august dignity the Romans had so long been accus- 
 
 * Lact. de Mori. Persecutorurn, cap. 45. 
 
 tomed
 
 HISTORICAL YI^W. 143 
 
 tomed to revere, after having suffered a variety of 
 persecutions and insults from Maximin, were put to 
 death by Licinius, and their bodies ignominiously 
 thrown into the sea. History is silent concerning 
 their crimes, and the affair must for ever remain in- 
 volved in mysterious obscurity. But history informs 
 us that Dioclesian ineffectually endeavoured by entrea- 
 ties to alleviate their misfortunes. He humbled him- 
 self so far as to send a suppliant message to Maximin, 
 who owed to him his promotion to greatness and em- 
 pire.* But past favours were forgotten, and grati- 
 tude was a virtue unknown to the tyrant. When Dio* 
 clesian wore the purple at the head of his legions, he 
 was used to command ; but now he could only suppli- 
 cate, and his supplications were rejected. If ever he 
 repented of his resignation of the sovereign authority, 
 it must have been on this melancholy and humiliating 
 occasion. 
 
 By the death of Maxentius and Maximin, the num- 
 ber of emperors was reduced to two. Licinius and 
 Constantine divided between them the whole Roman 
 world ; the former ruling the East, and the latter the 
 West. But scarcely a year had elapsed since the death 
 of Maximin, before a war took place between the two 
 emperors. Two decisive victories, gained by the su- 
 perior abilities of Constantine, obliged Licinitrs to sue 
 for peace.f A reconciliation was effected, which 
 during the space of eight years, preserved the internal 
 tranquillity of the empire. Constantine employed this 
 interval in repelling his foreign enemies. The warlike 
 nation of the Goths had been so completely humbled 
 
 * Lact. de ^Jort. Persecutorum, cap. 41. 
 
 t Gibbon Dec. Rum. Emp. vgl. 2, <;!). 14, chiefly on the authority of
 
 141 ITALY. 
 
 by Claudius, Aurelian, and Probus, as to have long re- 
 spected the majesty of Rome. So great, indeed, had 
 been their dread of the Roman arms, that even during 
 the intestine divisions of the empire, they had not ven- 
 tured to make any hostile incursions. But the lapse 
 of almost fifty years had, at length, produced new sen- 
 timents and views.. The strength of the nation was 
 recruited, a new generation had arisen, and the mis- 
 fortunes of former days were forgotten. The Goths 
 and the Sarmatians, uniting their force, invaded the 
 provinces of lllyrium. Constantine marched against 
 those formidable enemies, and after meeting with an 
 obstinate resistance, not only expelled them from the 
 Roman provinces, but passing the Danube, penetrated 
 into the interior of Dacia, and restored the ancient 
 frontier established by Trajan. Crispus, his son, who 
 was dignified with the title of Caesar, displaying in ano- 
 ther quarter of the empire his conduct and valour, 
 \vas equally successful against the Franks and the Al- 
 lemanni on the banks of the Rhine. 
 
 Constantine, now every where victorious, resolved 
 to reign over the whole empire. In the year 323 he 
 entered on his grand contest with Licinius, who, at 
 this momentous crisis, displayed the greatest activity ; 
 and vigorously exerted those abilities which had for- 
 merly raised him to the purple. He called forth his 
 immense resources, collected all the forces of the East, 
 and filled the plains of Adriauople with his troops. 
 His army consisted of 150,000 foot, and 15,000 horse : 
 that of Constantine assembled at Thessalonica, 
 amounted to about 120,000 infantry and cavalry, com- 
 posed of the warlike legions of Europe,* whose disci- 
 pline was confirmed by action, and whose courage was 
 
 * For the numbers, see Gibbon, vol. 2, ch. 14. 
 
 1 elated
 
 HISTORICAL A'IEW. l4$ 
 
 Elated by a long series of victories. With these ve- 
 teran troops he marched to attack Licinius, who re- 
 mained strongly encamped near Adrianople, with the 
 river Hebrus in his front. The battle was extremely 
 obstinate and bloody, but the military skill and he- 
 roism of Constantino overcame all opposition. The 
 fortified camp of Licinius was taken by assault, 39,000 
 men are said to have been slain, and great numbers 
 surrendered themselves prisoners* 
 
 Licinius being now unable to keep the field, shut 
 himself up in Byzantium; the fortifications of which 
 had, during the civil wars, been repaired and strength 
 ened. The siege of that place was immediately uu- 
 dertaken by Constantine ; but it proved a laborious 
 and difficult enterprize. As Licinius was master of 
 the sea, Byzantium constantly received fresh supplies 
 of provisions. Being master of Asia Minor and Egypt, 
 the most commercial provinces of the empire, his ma- 
 rine consisting of 350 galleys of three ranks of oars, 
 was greatly superior to that of his rival, who had only 
 about 200 small vessels. Notwithstanding, however, 
 this disparity of force, Constantine gave orders to force 
 the passage of the Hellespont, where the fleet of Lici- 
 nius remained inactive, and in that narrow strait could 
 not avail itself of the superiority of numbers- He 
 intrusted to the Caesar, Crispus his eldest son, the exe- 
 cution of this difficult enterprise, which he performed 
 with singular success. The engagement continued 
 two days. The issue of the first day's encounter was 
 indecisive, and the loss nearly equal. On the second 
 day, Crispus taking advantage of a strong south wind, 
 which carried up his vessels against those of Licinius, 
 gained a complete victory.* The loss of the enemy 
 * Zosimus, lib. 1, up. Gibbon, ubi tupra. 
 
 VOL. )II. L
 
 14f) ITALY. 
 
 was about 5,000 men, 130 vessels were destroyed, and 
 the rest of the hostile fleet escaped with great diffi- 
 culty to the coast of Chalcedon in Asia. Crispus dis- 
 tinguished himself on this occasion by his conduct as 
 well as his courage, and the fruits of his victory were 
 the constant supplies which the open passage of the 
 Hellespont poured into the camp of the besiegers, 
 together with the facility of intercepting those of the 
 enemy. Constantine, in the mean while, pressed the 
 siege of Byzantium, raising mounds, and employing 
 all the military engines then in use. The battering 
 rams having already shaken the walls, Licinius retired 
 with his treasures to Chalcedon, and collected a new 
 army of near 60,000 men. Constantine, ever watch- 
 ful over the motions of his antagonist, transported 
 part of his army over the Bosphorus ; and the last de- 
 cisive engagement took place on the heights of Chry- 
 sopolis, at present Scutari, opposite to Constantino- 
 ple. The troops of Licinius fought with desperate 
 but unavailing valour; and their total defeat, with the 
 loss of about 25,000 men, terminated the war. Lici- 
 nius, retiring to Nicomedia, entered into a negotia- 
 tion, by which, through the intercession of his wife, 
 Constantia, the sister of Constantine, he obtained a 
 promise of life with the enjoyment of peace and afflu- 
 ence on condition of resigning the purple and retiring 
 to a private condition. But notwithstanding this sti- 
 pulation, he was afterwards executed on a charge of 
 secret conspiracy, the truth or falsehood of which his- 
 tory is unable to develope.* The transactions of this 
 age are all clouded with obscurity, misrepresented by 
 the spirit of party, or too highly coloured by panegy- 
 ric. 
 
 * Vide Gibbon Dec. Horn. Emp. vol. 2, ch. 14> ct auct. 
 
 Such
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 147 
 
 Such was the series of great events \vhich raised 
 Constantine to the undivided sovereignty of the Ro- 
 man world ; and the consequences of his elevation 
 have rendered his reign one of the most distinguished 
 epochs in the history of mankind. Amidst a long train 
 of political changes, following one another in rapid 
 succession, amoral and intellectual revolution of a more 
 important and extraordinary nature had been gra- 
 dually taking place in the world. The Christian reli- 
 gion spreading from Judea, had made its way into 
 every corner of the Roman empire. The fantastic 
 ideas of the pagan mythology, which, from time imme- 
 morial had darkened the human mind, began to be 
 gradually dispelled, and a celestial light dawned on the 
 intellectual world. The Christians were long stigma- 
 tized as atheists, and often persecuted as despisers of 
 the gods of Rome. A multitude of priests and other 
 persons interested in the support of paganism directed 
 the superstition not only of the people, but also of the 
 emperors, in subserviency to their designs, and pro- 
 cured the imperial sanction to intolerance and perse- 
 cution. In another work already mentioned, 1 have 
 endeavoured concisely to exhibit the progress of 
 Christianity, and to trace to their first principles those 
 bloody persecutions which vainly threatened its ex- 
 tinction.* Jn this place it will therefore suffice briefly 
 to mention a few leading facts. Ai'ter many alternate 
 periods of persecution and tranquillity, the Christian 
 Church had received the last and most terrible shock 
 in the joint reign of Dioclesian and Maximian. The 
 persecution which then commenced, and which Dio- 
 desian sunc'ioned with reluctance, was the hist strug- 
 gle of declining paganism, and the most tremendous 
 
 * LctU-rs on Ancient ami Modern Hist. Loiidun, 33U1. 
 
 L 2 effort
 
 148 ITALY. 
 
 effort that ever had been made for the extirpation of 
 Christianity. The cruelties exhibited in other parts 
 of the empire were never admitted into the provinces 
 under the command of the equitable Constantius, who 
 considered himself as the common father of all his 
 subjects, and the Deity as the universal parent of all 
 mankind. The enlightened and liberal conduct of 
 Constantius was, through policy, adopted by Maxen- 
 tius, who judged it prudent to secure the fidelity of 
 so considerable a body of subjects.* Galerius, the 
 implacable enemy of the Christians and the first mover 
 of the persecution, labouring under a painful and in- 
 -curable disease, and struck with remorse, at length 
 published an edict of toleration, and even conde- 
 scended to solicit the pious prayers of those Chris- 
 tians whom he had so cruelly endeavoured to extermi- 
 nate.f Maximin, shortly after succeeding Galerius, 
 affected at first to adopt the same prudent measures.^ 
 But cruelty and superstition were interwoven in his 
 character; and nature had fitted him for a persecutor. 
 He adopted a plan for the annihilation of Christianity, 
 more systematic than those of his predecessors ; and 
 his infamous agents adding violence to policy, inflicted 
 on the Christians the most cruel and ignominious pu- 
 nishments.^ But in the space of a few months the 
 tolerating edicts of Constantine and Licinius, obliged 
 him to suspend the prosecution of his designs ; and a 
 few days before his death he published an edict of to- 
 leration, in which he endeavoured to exculpate him- 
 self, by imputing the sufferings of the Christians to his 
 judges and governors.)! His death delivered the church 
 
 * Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 8, cap. 14. 
 
 t Lact. de Murt. Pcrsecutorum, cap. 34. 
 
 J Eusebius ubi supra, lib. 9, cap. 1. .$ Ibid. cap. 4, 5, 6, and 7. 
 
 |j Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. 10, cap. 5. 
 
 from 
 i
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 149 
 
 from the last of her persecutors, and insured her tran- 
 quillity. From tranquillity she rose to triumph ; and 
 the despised symbol of the Cross was displayed on the 
 banners of the empire. 
 
 Constantine and Licinius, in their interview at Milan, 
 had published their famous edict of universal liberty 
 of conscience througout the Roman world.* After 
 the last civil war had given Constantine the undivided 
 possession of the imperial power, he determined to 
 carry into execution the design, which he appears to 
 have long revolved in his mind, of embracing Christi- 
 anity and rendering it the national religion of the 
 Empire. At the same time he resolved for ever to re- 
 move the imperial residence from Rome, and to found 
 a new capital which might exist as a memorial of his 
 glory and power ; and perpetuate the splendor of his 
 reign. His supposed motives for these extraordinary 
 measures, I have endeavoured to discuss in a series of 
 enquiries, which it is useless here to repeat.^ Calce- 
 don and the ancient Troy, are said to have been suc- 
 cessively chosen for the situation of this new metropo*- 
 Jis of the world. Various considerations, however, 
 pointed out for that purpose, Byzantium on the banks 
 of the Bosphorus, a city deservedly esteemed the key 
 of Europe and Asia. 
 
 About the year 324 of the Christian aera, the foun- 
 dations of Constantinople were laid, and the seven 
 eminences on which it was built, although less distinct-* 
 ly marked by abrupt vallies than those of Rome, gave 
 it, in this respect, some resemblance to that ancient 
 capital of the empire. The circumference of the 
 new city was something more than ten Roman milea 
 
 * Eusebius Hist. Ecclesiast, lib. 10- cap. 5. 
 t Letter* ou aucjtut and modern History, 
 
 L 3
 
 150 ITALY 
 
 and its area about 2,000 English acres.* Architect* 
 aud artificers were collected from all parts of the 
 empire, and multitudes of labourers were employed 
 to bring the great work to a conclusion. The cities, 
 and temples of Greece and Asia were despoiled of their 
 finest ornaments, for the embellishment of the new 
 capital. The sovereign lord of the Roman world, 
 the absolute master of the lives and fortunes of 
 180,000,000 of subjects, left nothing undone that un- 
 bounded power and immese resources could accom- 
 plish, in order to complete his design. Obligations 
 were imposed,and encouragements held out in order to 
 attract the senators and opulent inhabitants of Rome, 
 and the provinces, to fix their residence in the new 
 metropolis. Palaces built in various quarters of the 
 city were, by the emperor, bestowed on his favourites. 
 Pensions and lands were assigned them for the sup- 
 port of their dignit} T ; and hereditary estates were 
 granted from the imperial demesnes, on the easy 
 tenure of maintaining a house in the new capital. 
 But obligations and encouragement soon became 
 superfluous, and were gradually abolished.f In the 
 space of ten years, the original plan appears to have 
 been completed, and in the year 334 the dedication 
 of the city took place. 
 
 Constantine having accomplished his two great 
 objects, of changing the religion, and removing the 
 seat of the empire, directed his attention towards 
 regulating the church, and rendering Christianity 
 permanent. He reigned with unparalleled glory and 
 splendor the space of about thirty years and ten 
 
 * Gibbon cli. i7, with tlie accurate investigations of d'Anville Mem. 
 <iel. acadera. torn. 35. Thevenot Jib. 1 cap. 15. 
 
 t Gibbon ubi supra gn the authority of the Theodosian Code, torn. 6. 
 
 months,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 151 
 
 months, a longer period of sovereign sway than had 
 been allotted to any of his predecessors -since Au- 
 gustus ; and at the mature age of sixty-four ended 
 his memorable life, A.D. .337. Victorious over all his 
 enemies, his steady and vigorous hand crushed all 
 domestic opposition, and repelled all foreign aggres- 
 sion. His fame was so widely extended, that am- 
 bassadors from India came to congratulate the splendor 
 and prosperity of his reign, and declared that the kings 
 of those remote countries had erected statues to hjs 
 honour.* His reign is certainly one of the most me- 
 morable in history.-f- He was an especial instrument 
 in the hand of Divine Providence for the general 
 establishment of the Christian religion. But while 
 Christianity became triumphant, its spirit was ex- 
 tinguished. Christians plunged themselves into those 
 vices, and disgraced themselves ,with those crimes, 
 which had so long been the reproach of paganism, 
 In another work I have concisely delineated the state 
 of the church, during the reigns of Constantino and 
 his successors, and related the principal transactions, 
 which took place in the empire. I shall for the sake 
 of connection only remark, that Constantine, having 
 put to death his promising son Crispus, divided the 
 empire, at his own decease, among his other three 
 sons, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius. Con- 
 stans fell by the arms of his brother Constantine, 
 who in his turn suffered the same fate by the rebel 
 Magnentius. Constantius having again united in his 
 own person the whole Roman sovereignty, died, with- 
 out issue, in Sfil, and thus the posterity of the great 
 
 " Euscb. vita Constantine, lib. 4, cap. 50. 
 
 t For the family of Constantine, sco Anderson's Roy. Geneal. tabl* 
 J33, and a chronological account of his successors. Ibid, table 11.'). 
 
 j, 4 Constautiue
 
 '** ITALY. 
 
 Constantine being extinct, in the first generation, 
 Julian, his nephew, and cousin to the last emperor* 
 succeeded to the imperial throne.* In the former 
 work here alluded to I have given a sketch of the 
 character of Julian, and a summary account of his 
 fatal expedition into Persia, with some remarks on 
 the fall of that persecuting apostate. In Julian the 
 family of Constantine was extinct, and Jovian suc- 
 ceeded by military election. His short reign was 
 productive of no considerable event. The succeed- 
 ing joint reign of Valentmian and Valens, the former 
 in the west, the latter in the east, was unprosperous. 
 A numerous horde of Goths, computed at 200,000 
 armed men, besides women and children, making a 
 body of about 1,000,000, being expelled from their 
 country by the Huns, appeared on the banks of the 
 Danube and craved an asylum in the Roman do- 
 minions,t on condition of allegiance and military 
 service. This being granted, another immense horde 
 presented themselves with the same request, which 
 being refused, they passed over on rafts without per- 
 mission and joined their countrymen. In circum- 
 stances of so extraordinary a nature, it was almost 
 impossible that differences should not arise. The 
 immense Gothic hordes being united were distressed 
 for provisions. Mutual suspicions arose, and reci- 
 
 * In the Letters on ancient and modern History, a work extensively 
 circulated both in Great Britain and America, I havo made numerous 
 remarks on the state of society among the Romans, and on the series of 
 events which ushered in the downfall of Rome. To that work, therefore, 
 the reader must be referred. 
 
 t Gibbon Dec. Rom. Eiup. ch. 26, p. 303. Among a variety of 
 authors Gibbon seems to have borrowed all that can be deemed authentic 
 relative to these transactions from Aiumian. Marcelin, and his references 
 are generally accurate, vide Am. Marcel, lib. 31, ch. 4, p. 13. 
 
 4 proca.1
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 153 
 
 procal complaints of injuries, and infraction of treaties 
 at last broke out into open hostilities between the 
 Goths and the Romans. A bloody engagement took 
 place in the plains of Adrianople, in which the 
 Romans were totally defeated, and Valens, the em- 
 peror, who was never more seen, is supposed to have 
 perished in the flames of a house, in which he had 
 taken refuge. This defeat was one of the most fatal 
 that the Romans had ever experienced, and from this 
 period the visible decline of the empire may with 
 certainty be dated. The Gothic war was at last 
 terminated by the great Theodosius, in the best mode 
 that the impolicy of his predecessors allowed him to 
 adopt. After repeated engagements, most of the 
 Goths were domiciliated in the empire. They re- 
 tained their own laws, and were governed by their 
 own chiefs, who were appointed by the emperor. 
 An army of 40,000 was maintained for the service of 
 the empire, and not only distinguished by peculiar 
 ornaments, but indulged with liberal pay and licen- 
 tious privileges.* Thus was formed that singular im- 
 perium in imperio, which aftcwards proved fatal to 
 Rome. During the reign of Theodosius the Gjeat, 
 \vho reunited under his sole sovereignty the whole 
 Roman world, the empire governed by his steady 
 hand experienced no other convulsion of so dangerous 
 a nature. This emperor, in all his measures, religious, 
 political, and military, appears to have adopted the 
 conduct of Constantine, and his reign was distinguished 
 by a similar train of glory and success.f But he also 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Emp. ch. 26, p. 439. 
 
 t The senate of Rome was converted, and paganism, hitherto tolerated, 
 was abolished by an edict of Tbeodosius, A.D. 88. Gibbon Dec. Rom. 
 $mj. ch. 28. 
 
 imitated
 
 154 ITALY. 
 
 imitated him in the partition of ll^e empire between 
 his two sons, Arcadius and Honorius, to the former 
 of whom he assigned the eastern, to the latter the 
 western part. This was the last fatal division of the 
 empire, and one of the principal causes of the subver- 
 sion of the Roman power in the west. This was 
 effected not by absolute barbarians, like those who 
 had formerly harrassed the empire with their desul- 
 tory inroads, but by the Goths, who had been enter- 
 tained in the imperial service, and who were conse- 
 quently not unacquainted with the military discipline 
 and arms of the .Romans. Theodosius the Great had 
 not been many months in the grave before the Goths, 
 who had been overawed by his political and military 
 genius, rose in arms against his weak successors, who 
 had diminished the subsides which these dangerous 
 mercenaries were accustomed to receive. They 
 ranged themselves under the banners of Alaric their 
 chief; and innumerable bands of these warlike ad- 
 venturers, from the other side of the Danube, passed 
 over and flocked to his standard. Being thus rein- 
 forced, he ravaged all the provinces of Greece, and 
 spread consternation and alarm to the gates of Con- 
 stantinople. On the conclusion of peace, Alaric was 
 declared master-general of Illyrium, for the Emperor 
 Arcadius, and, at the same time, the whole nation of 
 the Visigoths, uniting themselves under his victorious 
 standard, elected him for their king. Thus did the 
 Romans put arms into the hands of their enemies; 
 and Alaric, invested with the double power of a 
 Roman general and a Gothic sovereign, being seated 
 on the verge of the eastern and western empires, al- 
 ternately sold his services, or, at least, his promises, 
 to the co'urts of Arcadius and Honorius, till an 
 
 opportunity
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW.. 
 
 opportunity offered itself for the invasion of Italy. 
 Having renounced the service of the eastern emperor, 
 he entered into that of Honorius, and was declared 
 master-general of the Roman armies throughout the 
 praefecture of lilyrium.* At last the court of Honorius 
 being divided by factions, and his empire endangered 
 by revolts, he began, under various pretexts, to throw 
 off the mask, and making some proposals which were 
 rejected, he entered Italy, appeared before Rome, 
 'A.D. 409, and after a close blockade, in which the 
 citizens had long suffered all the miseries of famine, 
 the mistress of the world was obliged to purchase, 
 with a large ransom, the retreat of the enemy. Soon 
 after he returned to the sie^e, which he ao-ain raised 
 
 O ' ^J 
 
 on certain conditions. In the year 410, Alaric be- 
 sieged Rome for the third time. The senators adopted 
 the resolution of making a desperate defence ; but 
 the populace, either through fear or treachery, opened 
 the gates to the enemy. Eleven hundred and sixty- 
 three years after the foundation of the city, imperial 
 Rome, after having conquered and civilized the prin- 
 cipal part of the then known world, saw, for the first 
 time, a victorious enemy within her walls. Her im- 
 mense wealth, acquired by so many centuries of suc- 
 cessful war, became a prey to the Gothic invaders, 
 and that vast city, the largest, and, in all probability, 
 the richest of the ancient or modern world, exhibited 
 an universal scene of pillage. The churches alone, 
 with their sacred ornaments, were exempted from 
 plunder ; for the Goths were zealous Christians, 
 though mostly of the Arian sect, and testified, on 
 every occasion, the greatest veneration for every 
 
 * Gib!>on, ch. 30, p. 234. Gibbon here refers to Buat. Hist, des 
 IVuple lie I'Euiope, torn. 7. 
 
 ihiug
 
 156 JTALY. 
 
 tiling consecrated to religion.* Rome, which had 
 extended her conquests and her rapine over so many 
 countries, and had concentered within her walls the 
 wealth of the plundered world, being now in her 
 lurn become a prey to barbarian pillage, no more 
 raised her drooping head, but fell successively under 
 the assaults of different enemies.^ During these trans- 
 actions, the imperial court, consulting its own safety, 
 remained closely shut up in Ravenna, a city which, 
 being surrounded by impassable morasses, was im- 
 pregnable to every attempt of an enemy. But Italy 
 and all the other parts of the western empire was 
 ravaged by different hordes of barbarians. Attila, 
 king of the Huns, after his bloody defeat at Chalens, 
 in Champagne, turned his arms against Italy and 
 ravaged the country. In the year 455, Rome was again 
 plundered by Genseric, king of the African Vandals, 
 The pillage lasted fourteen days ; and all that the 
 Goths had left forty-five years before, or that had 
 since been accumulated, was carried away to Africa, 
 In contemplating the revolutions of mundane affairs, 
 it is not amiss to observe, that the spoils of the Tem- 
 ple of Jerusalem, which had been 400 years before 
 brought to Rome, and ostentatiously displayed in the 
 triumph of Titus, were now torn from the Temple of 
 Peace, where they had been deposited, and carried 
 into Africa by a barbarian invader.J At this time 
 also the rich gilding of the capitol, which had cost 
 the enormous sura of about 2,400 ; 000/. sterling, wa?. 
 
 Augustin. de Civitatc Dei, Jib. 1. The Goths had received Chris- 
 tianity by missionaries from Constantinople, most of whom were Arians. 
 
 t The introduction of Arian Christianity among the Goths ii ascribed 
 to the Emperor Valens. Tillemont Mem. Eccles. torn. 6. 
 t Gibbon Dec. Rom. Erap. ch. 36, 
 
 torn,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 17 
 
 torn down to increase the booty of the conquerors.* 
 It would, in this compendium, be as impossible as it i 
 useless to commemorate all the barbarian invasions 
 that desolated Italy, as well as the other provinces of 
 the western empire, which, under successive emperors, 
 dragged out a precarious existence until the year 476, 
 or according to some 479 ; when Odoacer, a chief of 
 the Heruli, who like many others of these barbarian 
 warriors had been long entertained in the service of 
 the empire, placed himself on the throne of the 
 Caesars, and put a final period to the Roman do- 
 minion. Other barbarian nations seized the different 
 provinces of the empire. The Goths and the Vandals 
 seated themselves in Spain and Africa. The Franks 
 made themselves masters of Gaul, and the Saxons 
 seized on Britain. The empire of the east saw with 
 little concern the downfall of that of the west, and 
 Constantinople appeared indifferent to the calamities 
 of Rome. Nothing can more evidently shew that the 
 fatal division of the empire, not the mere removal of 
 the imperial residence, was one of the principal causes 
 of its dissolution. .The introduction of the northern 
 barbarians into the empire, in the character of 
 auxiliaries, was another grand cause which concurred 
 to produce that effect. Ever since the time of Marius, 
 the nations on the north of the Danube had appeared 
 terrible to Rome. They frequently harrassed her im- 
 mense frontier, and at different periods penetrated 
 far into her provinces. They were, however, con- 
 stantly repulsed, or exterminated by bloody defeats. 
 But in the reign of Gallienus they were introduced 
 into the heart of the empire, and entertained in the 
 
 * Donat. Ilora. Ant lib. 2. It seems strange, however, that Alaric 
 hould have overlooked the rich spoils of this ancient scut of paganism. 
 
 service
 
 133 ITALY. 
 
 service of that emperor, as well as of the various 
 usurpers, who during that convulsed period assumed 
 the imperial purple. Under the vigorous administra- 
 tion of active and warlike princes, like Aurelian, 
 Probus, Dioclesian, Constantino, and Theodosius, 
 those mercenary bands, acting in due subordination, 
 might render essential service. But during the feeble 
 reigns of Honorius and his successors, instead of 
 auxiliary subjects, they became insolent masters. The 
 Roman soldiers, when called into the field, continued 
 to support their former reputation ; but amidst a scene 
 of intestine faction and foreign war, a pusillanimous 
 court, which abandoning Rome, and shutting itself 
 up in Ravenna, had lost the affections and confidence 
 of the people, placed its principal security in the 
 valour of the mercenary strangers, who sometimes 
 protected and sometimes insulted and ravaged the em- 
 pire. Thus the fate of imperial Rome, at last depended 
 on the sword of those formidable barbarians, who now 
 being improved in the art of war, for a while supported 
 and then overturned her power.* 
 
 Odoacer reigned fourteen years over Italy, during 
 \vhich time he endeavoured, in some measure, to 
 repair the damages which the country had sustained 
 from almost a century of continual wars and bar- 
 barian invasions. Italy was in the next place conquered 
 by Theodoric, king of the Goths, who was coinmis-* 
 sioned and subsidised by the court of Constantinople, 
 which now claimed the sovereignty of the whole 
 Roman empire. This prince reigned over Italy under 
 the authority and sanction of the eastern emperor. 
 He preserved the Goths and the Italians as two 
 
 * Vide Robertson's observations Hist. ch. 5, book \, p. 10 ; and 
 Mautcsquieu dc la Grand, aud le decade des 11 jiuains. 
 
 distinct
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 distinct nations, reserving the former for the employ- 
 ments of war, and leaving to the latter the arts of 
 peace. Theodoric, although totally ignorant of let- 
 ters, was a prince of great political talents, and Italy 
 began to flourish under his-reign. At his decease his 
 kingdom devolved on his beautiful and accomplished 
 daughter Amalasontha. But the Goths, in the year 
 535, deposed this princess, and refused to acknow- 
 ledge the paramount sovereignty of the imperial court 
 of Constantinople. Justinian, who then reigned over 
 the east, sent the celebrated Bellisarius to attempt the 
 conquest of Italy. That great general entered Rome, 
 The Gothic army advanced, and the imperial city 
 sustained, during the whole of the year 537, one of 
 the most bloody and obstinate sieges recorded in 
 history. On the arrival of a second army from Con- 
 stantinople, the Goths were obliged to relinquish their 
 enterprise, and Bellisarius, marching out of Rome, 
 completed the conquest of Italy. After the depar- 
 ture of Bellisarius, the Goths again revolted, and that 
 general a second time entered Italy. Rome was cap- 
 tured by the Goths, A.D. 546, and two years after 
 retaken by Bellisarias, who being recalled, the im- 
 perial city again fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 The command of the army and the government of 
 Italv, being then conferred on Narscs the Eunuch, a 
 person of consummate military skill and of the most 
 daring courage, that great commander defeated the 
 Goths, A.D. 532, slew Totila, their king, and made 
 "himself master of Rome. In another biuody engage- 
 ment he defeated and slew Tcias, who had succeeded 
 Totila and entirely subverted the Gothic kingdom of 
 Italy. Nariqs alo defeated with prodigious .slaughter 
 
 y ibe
 
 1GO ITALY. 
 
 the numerous armies of the Franks and Allemanrri, 
 which hud made a formidable irruption into the 
 country ; and every enemy being subdued, Italy was, 
 in 554, made a province of the eastern or Byzantine 
 empire. Narses, who had distinguished himself by 
 the most signal display of military talents and daunt- 
 less courage, was its first exarch or governor. 
 
 After the subversion of the Gothic kingdom, Italy 
 was divided between the Grecian or eastern emperor 
 and the kings of Lombardy ; the former possessing the 
 south and the middle, the latter the northern part. 
 The wars and commotions which incited the bishops 
 of Rome to call in the Franks in order to support them 
 against the oppression of the Lombards, as well as the 
 final extinction of the kingdom of Lombardy, have 
 been already mentioned.* In the year 800, Charle- 
 magne, king of France, being crowned Emperor of 
 the Romans, the western empire, the image of that of 
 ancient Rome, was revived. Italy having long been 
 weary of its dependence on the eastern empire, from 
 whence it derived but little assistance in time of dan- 
 ger, as well as disgusted at the conduct of the Icono- 
 clast emperors, and alienated from their obedience by 
 the commencing schism between the Greek and Latin 
 churches, Rome renounced all political connection 
 with Constantinople. The eastern emperors retained 
 some possessions in the south, from which they were 
 finally expelled by the Normans in the eleventh cen- 
 tury, as will be observed in speaking of Naples and 
 Sicily. The rest of Italy constituted part of the em- 
 pire of Charlemagne. 
 
 The general history of this country, until the reiga 
 
 * See historical view of France.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. l(3l 
 
 of Frederic II, is consequently involved in that of the 
 empire to which the reader must be referred.* It 
 must here suffice briefly to trace the formation of cer- 
 tain characteristical features, which gradually deve- 
 loped themselves during the confusion of the middle 
 ages. In treating of the contests between the popes 
 and the emperors, I have concisely exhibited the gra- 
 dual rise of the papal, and the decline of the imperial 
 power. While the Roman empire existed, it was na- 
 tural that the bishops of the imperial city should ac- 
 quire a sort of superior influence over those of the 
 provinces ; and that their authority should be regarded 
 with a peculiar deference. The removal of the impe- 
 rial residence from Rome, contributed to augment the 
 influence of its bishop ; and after the fall, first of the 
 western empire, and then of the Gothic kingdom of 
 Italy, the feeble and precarious power of the Greek 
 emperors in that country, caused the Roman prelate 
 to be regarded as a kind of secondary sovereign. The 
 destruction of the kingdom of Lombardy, and the ele- 
 vation of Charlemagne to the throne of the West, laid 
 the foundation of the temporal power of the papal see. 
 Its spiritual power was a natural consequence of the 
 piety of the barbarous conquerors of the empire, who 
 entertained a high degree of veneration for the Roman 
 name, and were ambitious of Roman dignities and 
 titles. f The exorbitant power of the church was the 
 necessary consequence of the state of the European 
 world. The clergy were almost the only persons who 
 had any knowledge of letters, and who were capable 
 of exercising the various functions of a regular go- 
 
 * See historical chapters of France and Germany, 
 t This is exemplified in Alaric, Theoduric, and several others of the bar- 
 barian invaders of the empire. See Gibbon, ubi supra. 
 
 VOL. in. M vermnent.
 
 162 ITALY. 
 
 vernment. The bishops composed in every country 
 of the western Europe a leading branch of the national 
 assemblies. They were introduced into the cabinets 
 of princes, and acted a conspicuous part in every de- 
 partment of the administration. Amidst the tumult 
 of barbarian conquest, the ferocious chieftains might 
 direct the operations of irregular warfare, and super- 
 intend the scenes of rapine and destruction ; but as 
 soon as the conquering nations were established on 
 the ruins of the Roman power, the complex affairs of 
 political and civil government required the talents of 
 men more acquainted with civilized life. The prelates 
 of the church soon gained an ascendency in the state, 
 and the dignity of their sacred character secured the 
 respectful submission of the people. The same causes 
 produced the same veneration for the monastic orders : 
 the abbots as well as the prelates had seats in the na- 
 tional senates, and like them were employed in various 
 departments of government. The ecclesiastics were 
 almost the only persons who, in those times of barba- 
 rism and ignorance, were qualified for such important 
 offices: and they were careful to turn these circum- 
 stances to advantage. An eternal Providence governs 
 the world by laws which frequently baffle the superfi- 
 cial investigations of man; but none of its dispensa- 
 tions are without their utility. Perhaps the exorbi- 
 tant elevation of the church was necessary for pre- 
 serving the existence of the Christian name, during a 
 'long succession of illiterate ages, and amidst the tu- 
 mults of barbarian anarchy. It is easy at least to per- 
 ceive, that priestly power naturally arose from the cir- 
 cumstances, as well as from the spirit of the times- 
 Among the new nations most of the first clergy were 
 ef Roman descent, so that modem Europe received 
 
 in
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 163 
 
 in a great measure, her religion and learning from 
 Home. The church became all powerful; the laity 
 were superstitiously attached to its ordinances ; the 
 force of ancient prejudice, and the former fame of the 
 imperial city, excited a peculiar deference for its pre- 
 lates. The bishops of Rome made the best possible 
 use of these favourite circumstances for placing them- 
 selves at the head of the church. After many strug- 
 gles this point was accomplished. Another more diffi- 
 cult still remained : in order to render the victory com- 
 plete, they resolved to exalt the pontifical power 
 above all secular monarchies. This was a contest 
 which endured many ages : Rome, however, at last, 
 was the conqueror. By the use of spiritual arms, the 
 popes acquired temporal power; This was the grand 
 principle of their politics. Details on this subject 
 would be tedious. It suffices to say, that through a 
 masterly train of politics Rome obtained, by her spi- 
 ritual arts, as extensive and perhaps as powerful an 
 empire as she had formerly acquired by her temporal 
 arms. 
 
 I have endeavoured concisely to sketch the inces- 
 sant convulsions of Italy, while that country was sub- 
 ject to the German emperors, and its reiterated efforts 
 to shake off their yoke.* After ages of contest, this 
 was at last accomplished, and Italy renounced its de- 
 pendence on Germany. Any attempt to trace the. 
 origin and progress of all the petty states which rose 
 on the ruins of the imperial, as well as of the feudal 
 power, would lead to prolixity and confusion. It will 
 suffice to exhibit a general view of the whole, and a 
 particular sketch of the principal states. 
 
 The cities of the Roman empire enjoyed their munici- 
 
 * See historical view of Germany. 
 
 M 2 pal
 
 10-i ITALY. 
 
 pal laws, which were in general extremely favourable 
 to liberty. Each corporation had its senate; and the 
 privileges of the citizens were extensive. Some of the 
 principal cities, even after the Barbarian conquests, 
 are supposed to have retained their municipal govern- 
 ment.* But the number of these was extremely small. 
 Under the feudal system, the cities in general, although 
 retaining some peculiar privileges, owd allegiance to 
 the great barons, in whose territories they were situ- 
 ated, and had scarcely any other law than the will of 
 their superior lords. The cities of Italy recovered 
 their rights sooner than any others in Europe. The 
 authority of the German emperors in Italy was always 
 extremely feeble and precarious. The cities began at 
 an early period to enrich themselves by commerce, 
 and easily obtained immunities from the emperors. 
 They began, in the next place, to shake off the autho- 
 rity of the barons ; and instead of owning their sove- 
 reignty, they resolved to reduce them to subjection. 
 Under the Roman government, each city possessed 
 the circumjacent lands as the property of the corpora- 
 tion. These had been seized by the feudal lords, who had 
 erected their castles almost at the gates of the cities, 
 over which they extended their jurisdiction. But the 
 Italian cities no sooner began to feel their own strength 
 and importance, than they attacked those troublesome 
 neighbours, and dispossessed them of their territorities, 
 which they annexed to their communities. The am- 
 bition of the cities increasinsyivith their power, they 
 began to attack the baron^who were situated at a 
 greater distance. Wars between the cities and the 
 feudal lords, were general throughout Italy. The ba- 
 
 * Du Bos Hist. Critique de la Monarchic Francoise, torn. 1, and 2, 
 p. 18 p. 524. D' Archery Specileg, ap. llobertson, vol. I, note 16. 
 
 rons
 
 HISTOBICAL VIEW. 165 
 
 rons at last were subdued, and compelled to become 
 members- of the corporations, to take the oath of fide- 
 lity to the magistrates, to subject their lands to all 
 burdens and taxes imposed by common consent, to 
 defend the community against all enemies, and to re- 
 side each in his respective cityjduringa specified time, 
 every year.* This subjection of the nobility to the 
 municipal government, became almost universal ; and 
 in the reign of Frederic Barbarossa, in the latter part 
 of the twelfth century, there was scarcely a nobleman' 
 in Italy who was not a member of some city, and sub- 
 ject to its laws.f All the Italian barons, however, 
 were not brought into this state by compulsion : seve- 
 ral embraced it through choice. Observing the secu- 
 
 <-> O 
 
 rky, as well as the high degree of credit and estima- 
 tion, which the growing wealth and importance of the 
 cities procured to their members, they soon became 
 desirous of partaking of such advantages. In this 
 view many of the nobles became citizens ; and, aban- 
 doning their feudal castles, took up their residence in 
 the towns ; a practice which soon became general, and 
 which still subsists. 
 
 The introduction of the Italian barons into the mu- 
 nicipal corporations, did not, however, secure the 
 tranquillity of the cities. Forming powerful and dis- 
 cordant factions, they agitated the municipalities by 
 their hostile contests. Like the patricians of ancient 
 Rome, the Italian nobles aspired to all the powers of 
 the magistracy ; and the ambition of the aristocracy 
 being equalled by the turbulence of the people, every 
 city presented a ^cene of almost perpetual contest. 
 
 * Muratori Antiqutates Ilal. vol. 6, p. 104. 
 
 t Qtto Frisingensis De Gestis Frederi, rol. 1, ap Robertson Hist. 
 C'harls V, vol. 1, not 15, 
 
 M 3 The
 
 166 ITALY, ' 
 
 The annals of Florence are filled with relations of the 
 civil feuds of the citizens.* The constitutions of Ve-> 
 nice and Genoa became completely aristocratical. But 
 Rome, torn by intestine factions, fluctuated through 
 ages of anarchy, in which the power of the popes', the 
 nobles, and the people, alternately predominated, while 
 that of the emperor was the weakest of ali, and totally 
 incapable of checking the disorders of the state, Rome 
 having, therefore, no authority sufficiently stable and 
 vigorous to over-awe her rebellious sons, they dis- 
 dained the control ol* laws, and asserted by arms their 
 personal independence. All their palaces were forti- 
 fied castles, in most of the cities of Italy the nobles 
 had assumed the prerogative of fortifying their houses, 
 and erecting strong towers of defence. 
 
 During these calamitous times the number of inha- 
 bitants in Rome was greatly diminished ; but Mr. 
 Gibbon hesitates to believe, that in the fourteenth 
 century they were reduced so low as 53,000. In the 
 reign of Leo X. they had increased to 85,000. Since 
 the commencement of the fifteenth century Rome has, 
 in part, retrieved the misfortunes occasioned by so 
 many ages of anarchy. 
 
 The Italian cities had ho sooner subdued the feudal 
 "barons, than they resolved to shake off the imperial 
 authority. In exhibiting 'an historical sketch of Ger- 
 many, I have endeavoured briefly to develope the 
 leading train of events which raised the papal power 
 to its height, and enabled the Italian cities to throw 
 off their allegiance to the emperor. It suffices here 
 to say, that the imperial power might be said to ex- 
 pire in Italy at the death of Frederic II. in 1250, and 
 that before the end of the thirteenth century, almost 
 
 * Machiavel's Hist, of Florence, passim. 
 4 all
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. K)7 
 
 all the great cities, having shaken off every mark of 
 subjection to the empire, were become independent 
 sovereign republics.* Rome, after innumerable con r 
 tests with the emperors, had the same struggles to re- 
 peat with the popes. But the pontiffs, who always had 
 a preponderating influence, finally acquired the com- 
 plete sovereignty. It was not, however, till about the 
 year 1500, that they became absolute masters of the 
 city. It is not unworthy of observation, that the popes 
 found as much difficulty in establishing their domi- 
 nion over Rome, as over all the rest of Europe. 
 
 The papal empire was greatly retarded in its pro- 
 gress by its own divisions, and Rome was often con- 
 vulsed by the contests between popes and anti-popes, 
 each supported by powerful factions. The grand 
 schism which, from A. D. 1378 to A.D. J4 18, divided 
 the church, contributed to degrade the pontifical cha- 
 racter; and the councils of Constance and Basil con- 
 siderably weakened the papal authority. The ponti- 
 ficate of the ambitious and warlike Julius II, however, 
 raised the papal see to an elevated station in the poli- 
 tical system of Europe ; and the reign of Leo X. is 
 distinguished in the history of literature and the ele- 
 gant arts, as the second Augustan age of Italy. The 
 Grecian empire had long been tottering on the brink 
 of ruin, and its final dissolution might have been easily 
 foreseen. Several of the literati of Constantinople, 
 which, during the barbarous ages of Europe, had been, 
 the centre of learning as well as of magnificence, 
 judged it prudent to seek an establishment in other 
 countries, in order to avoid being involved in the ruin 
 of their own. About the year I3(JO, Leo Pilatus first 
 introduced the study of the Greek language into the 
 * Robertson's IJist. Ch. V, vyl. I, p.SOJ, 
 
 M 4 West
 
 168 ITALY. 
 
 West, and Florence was the first city in which it was 
 brought into fashion. His efforts were seconded by 
 Manuel Chrysolarus and a number of others; and 
 Grecian learning became a favorite pursuit among the 
 Italian literati. As Italy was first distinguished by the 
 revival of letters, they found in that country the most 
 liberal patronage. Cosmo and Lorenzo di Medici 
 are conspicuous in history as illustrious patrons of 
 learning and the arts. The efforts of some of the so- 
 vereign pontiffs, particularly the munificent Nicholas 
 V, were neither less vigorous nor less effectual at 
 Rome than those of the Medici were at Florence ; and 
 Italy saw the arts and literature of Greece resuscitated 
 on her shores, while the rest of Europe, after long 
 struggles and slow advances, had scarcely emerged 
 from barbarism. This pontiff, however, whose name 
 will ever be illustrious in history for his munificent pa- 
 tronage of letters and arts, reduced himself by his ex- 
 travagant expenditure to the necessity of having re- 
 course to the sale of indulgencies for supplying himself 
 with money. This measure, followed by a series of mis- 
 management in the court of Rome, introduced the refor- 
 mation, which gave a dreadful blow to the papal power.* 
 Amidst the convulsions arising from the ambi- 
 tion of the Christian princes, especially Francis I, 
 Charles V, and the sovereign pontiff, Clement VII, 
 not only the papal dignity was exposed to insult, 
 but the city of Rome suffered the most dreadful cala- 
 mities. The constable of Bourbon, who having de- 
 serted from the service of Francis I. commanded the 
 army of the emperor in Italy, being unable to satisfy 
 the demands of his troops, who mutinied for want of 
 pay, and incensed at the duplicity of the pope, led 
 
 * For some account of tbis great event, see Historical Sketch of Germany, 
 f tb.COJ.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. l6/9 
 
 them against Rome. The city, which was bravely 
 defended, was taken by assault in the year 1527. 
 The constable, Duke of Bourbon, fell in the assault 
 the moment that he ascended the wall. But no pen 
 can describe, nor imagination conceive, the horrors of 
 the scene that followed. Palaces and churches were 
 
 j 
 
 indiscriminately plundered. No age, character, or 
 sex, was exempted from injury. Cardinals, nobles, 
 priests, matrons, and virgins, were at the mercy of men 
 deaf to the voice of humanity. The booty was im- 
 mense; and the acts of violence that were perpetrated 
 innumerable. The conquering army, consisting of 
 about 25,000 men, was composed of three different 
 nations, Spaniards, Italians, and Germans; and. their 
 conduct in the sack of a city, which was at that 
 time regarded as the sacred metropolis of the Chris- 
 tian world, affords a memorable criterion of the mili- 
 tary licentiousness of that age. Rome had never ex- 
 perienced so cruel a treatment from the Arian Goths 
 and Vandals as at this time from the Catholic subjects 
 of a Catholic monarch.* The pope having retired into 
 the castle of St. Angelo, was besieged in that citadel. 
 The place was of no great strength ; but the licentious 
 troops being averse to discipline, and only intent on 
 pillage, pushed the siege with little vigour; and the 
 pope, after being long exposed to all the miseries of 
 famine, and even reduced to the hard necessity of 
 feeding on asses' flesh, was obliged to surrender on 
 very humiliating conditions. 
 
 At the period in which Rome was exposed to mili- 
 tary rapine, the reformation was making a rapid pro- 
 
 * For .1 more detailed account of tlic assault and sack of Rome, vide 
 "Robertson's Hist. Cli.V. vol. 2, book 4, nnd Lis original authorities, parti- 
 cularly Gtiicciaidini, lib. 18. 
 
 grcss
 
 170 ITALY. 
 
 gress in Germany ; and the popes were too much in- 
 volved in political intrigues to pay much attention to 
 the affairs of religion. The convocation of a general 
 council being neglected, or rather carefully avoided, 
 the breach became irreparable. Rome lost a great 
 part of her spiritual empire, and with it the source of 
 much of her temporal power and wealth. The autho- 
 rity of the papal see was rejected by one half of Eu- 
 rope, and greatly weakened in the other. After this 
 revolution, the pontifical court prudently changed its 
 system of politics. Instead of thundering out its ana- 
 themas, and attempting to rule by terror, it supported 
 by more conciliatory methods the remnant of its de- 
 clining-power. Since this period Rome had enjoyed 
 a long and prosperous calm till the late invasion by 
 the French, when she was involved in the general 
 wreck of the country. The papacy was abolished, but 
 afterwards restored. In the month of February, 1808, 
 however, the papal domination was again subverted, 
 and Rome, with all its appendages, annexed to the 
 kingdom of Italy. 
 
 Florence was one of + the cities of Italy which first 
 resumed its ancient rights, and by its industry rose to 
 wealth and eminence. It derived its origin from Fio- 
 sola, a Roman town in the environs, which being 
 seated on the summit of a hill, had, for the sake of con- 
 venience, established its market in the valley watered 
 "by the Arno. During the civil wars of the Roman 
 republic, many of the citizens leaving Rome, retired 
 to this place, and built the present city of Florence, 
 where the markets of Fiosola had usually been kept.* 
 Florence was destroyed by Totila in the Gothic war of 
 the sixth century ; and about '250 years after rebuilt 
 
 * Machiavel Hist. Florence, lib. 2, p. 5.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 171 
 
 by Charlemagne.* During the wars between the em- 
 perors and the popes, it followed the fortunes of the 
 most powerful party, and enjoyed as much tranquillity 
 as the nature of the times allowed. At length it be- 
 came convulsed with intestine factions among the 
 principal citizens.'}- It would afford little entertain- 
 ment or instruction to a modern reader to, relate the 
 particulars of those furious contests, sometimes of the 
 nobles against one another, and sometimes between 
 them and the people. All the disorders formerly oc- 
 casioned by the patrician and plebeian factions in 
 ancient Rome were revived in Florence until the fa- 
 mily of Medicis acquired the supreme ascendency. 
 But the most singular trait in the history of this city, 
 is the commerce, wealth, and population, to which 
 it attained in times so turbulent, amidst perpetual dis- 
 seritions and repeated changes in the form of its go- 
 vernment. It must, according to its historian, have 
 been one of the largest cities in Europe, at the time 
 of the pacification between the nobles and the people, 
 in 1298, as it then contained 30,000 righting men.J 
 In the great plague which made so dreadful havoc 
 throughout Europe, there is said to have died in 
 Florence, in the year 1348, not fewer than 90,000 
 persons ; an incontestible proof of its magnitude.^ 
 This wealth and population were the effect of an ex- 
 tensive manufacturing system. Florence, as well as 
 the Netherlands, wrought up great quantities of Eng- 
 
 * Machiavel Hist. Florence, fib. 2. p. 6. 
 
 t For these tlie reader may consult Machiavel, lib. 2. p. 7, 9, 22, 24, 
 40, 91. lib. 3. p. 45, 51. lib. 4. p. 65. Macbiavcl's history throughout, 
 is indeed crowded with accounts of the tumults, conspiracies, &c. of Flo- 
 rence. 
 
 J Hist. Florence, lib. 2. p. 30. And. Hist, Comm. vol. 1. p. 325. 
 
 lisk
 
 . ITALY. 
 
 Jish wool, besides its silk and rich brocades.* The 
 city must, indeed, have been eminently commercial, 
 in which so large fortunes were accumulated by trade. 
 The riches of the family of Medici were immense, and 
 wholly acquired by commerce. 
 
 The great Cosmo de Medici, who, from 1434 till his 
 death in 14t>4, bore the chief sway in the Florentine 
 republic, rivalled sovereign princes in wealth and in 
 the magnificence of his buildings, both public and 
 private. Besides a number of churches and convents, 
 which he built at his own expence, he had five mag- 
 nificent palaces, one in the city and four in the envi- 
 rons. He also expended immense sums in building, 
 at Jerusalem, an hospital for poor diseased pilgrims.^ 
 His liberality was equal to his opulence : he was the 
 munificent patron of learning and genius ; and to him, 
 more than to any other person except Leo X. may 
 be ascribed the revival of letters and the arts in Italy . 
 After the death of Cosmo, the factions of Florence 
 again revived. Peter, his son, narrowly escaped the 
 daggers of conspiracy. But the horrid plot formed 
 against Lorenzo and Julian de Medici, grandsons of 
 the great Cosmo, by Salviati archbishop of Pisa, Fran- 
 cisco Parri, Bernardo Bandini, and several other Flo- 
 rentine nobles, merited the eternal execration of pos- 
 terity. Julian de Medici was murdered by Parri 
 and Bandini in the cathedral church of Florence, 
 during the celebration of high mass. His brother 
 Lorenzo fortunately made his escape. The Archbi- 
 shop of Pisa, with others of the conspirators were, at 
 
 * And. Hist. Coram. vol. 1. p. 458. Federa 10th, quoted also by 
 Anderson. 
 
 t Machiavel Hist. Flor. lib. 7. p. 11. This was done by permission 
 of the Sultan. J Hist. Flor. lib. 7, p. 11. 
 
 the
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 173 
 
 the same time to seize on the public palace. All Flo- 
 rence was immediately in a tumult. The citizens 
 ranged themselves on the side of the Medici. The 
 archbishop, with Francis Parri, the two Salviati, and 
 Jacob Poggio, were hanged before the palace.* The 
 people immediately massacred all such of the conspi- 
 rators as could be found. Bandini having made his 
 escape and fled into Turkey, was, by the Grand Seig- 
 nior, delivered up to the Florentines, and received 
 the just reward of his crimes. Lorenzo de Medici 
 was now more than ever the idol of the citizens : he 
 held, till his death, which happened in 1492, all the 
 authority which his grandfather, the great Cosmo, 
 had possessed ; and, in all his conduct, followed the 
 example of this illustrious ancestor. Like him, he 
 was magnificent and liberal ; the munificent patron of 
 learning and genius.f After his death, the Florentine 
 republic relapsed into its former disorderly state, and 
 was incessantly convulsed by factions ; till the people, 
 encouraged by the Pope, elected Cosmo de Medici II. 
 for their chief magistrate, who assumed the title of 
 Grand Duke of Tuscany. The family of Medici be- 
 coming extinct in 1739, was followed by Francis Duke 
 of Lorrain, who was afterwards raised to the imperial 
 throne. He was succeeded by his son Peter Leopold, 
 who became emperor on the death of his brother 
 Joseph II. in 1790. Tuscany was afterwards erected 
 into a kingdom, under the ancient denomination of 
 Etruria, and assigned to a prince of Spain ; but, in 
 December 1807, it was annexed to the French em- 
 pire. 
 
 * See the account of tliis conspirac3 r in Michiavel's Hist. Florence, 
 lib. 8. p. 919. 
 
 t For the whole life and character of this famous Florentine, see 
 Roscoe's elaborate work. 
 
 Venice
 
 174 ITALY. 
 
 Venice, once so famous for commerce and so formi- 
 dable in arms, is generally supposed. to have derived 
 her origin from the invasion of Italy by Attila, king of 
 the Huns, about the middle of the fifth century. The 
 fact is not attested by any contemporary historian : but 
 from a mass of presumptive evidence, arising from i 
 a variety of circumstances, it appears incontestible.* 
 Until that period, the cluster of small islands, on 
 which Venice now stands, was destitute of culture and 
 probably of inhabitants. But many families of Apu- 
 lia, Padua, and other cities in the neighbourhood, 
 flying from the sword of the Huns, found there a safe 
 asylum, inaccessible to the inroads of an enemy. 
 
 The fugitives having abandoned their propert}', 
 were at the first in distressful circumstances. Almost 
 the only food which their situation afforded was fish, 
 and their only article of trade was salt extracted from 
 the sea. Such was the origin of Venice ; in after 
 times so famed for commerce, for wealth and magni- 
 ficence. The manners and habits of the Venetians, 
 were gradually formed by their situation. The want 
 of land obliged them to exercise their industry on the 
 sea. Their commercial views were, at the first, di- 
 rected towards the country .which they had left, and 
 with which they were so perfectly acquainted. They 
 began a feeble trade with the neighbouring coasts, 
 and afterwards penetrated by the Po and other rivers 
 into the interior of Italy. The foundation of their 
 commerce being thus laid, they increased both the 
 number and size of their vessels, and gradually ex- 
 tended their voyages to all the ports of the Adriatic. 
 We have very imperfect information relative to those 
 dark ages ; but if the Venetians began to build the 
 
 * Gibbon. Dec. Rom. Emp. vol. 6. p. 128, 128. 
 
 magnificent
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. J75 
 
 magnificent cathedral of St. Marc so early as the year 
 829, so expensive an undertaking shews that their 
 commerce and wealth had rapidly increased.* About 
 the commencement of the twelfth century, the history 
 of Venice begins to be less obscure, and its commer- 
 cial greatness is no longer problematical. In 1101, 
 the Venetians sent no fewer than 100 vessels to the 
 coast of Syria, to the assistance of the croisaders ; and 
 fourteen years afterwards, 20O of their ships having 
 de'feated a Saracen fleet of 700, obliged them to raise, 
 the siege of Joppa. At this time also they took the 
 city of Tyre, and dispossessed the Greek emperor of 
 the isles of Scio, Rhodes, Mytelene, and Samos. By 
 degrees they extended their conquests over most of 
 the Grecian islands. They made a distinguished 
 figure in the holy wars; and, in 1204, joined the 
 French croisaders in the conquest of Constantinople. 
 Those adventurers dividing among them the territo- 
 ries of the Byzantine empire, the Venetians acquired 
 almost all the maritime parts. Their dominions at last 
 extended over Dalmatia, and most of the maritime 
 provinces on the east of the Adriatic, over the Morea, 
 as well as over all the coasts of Greece and the isies of 
 the Archipelago, including those of Candia and Cy- 
 prus ; and their dominions on the continent of Italy 
 were at the same time considerable. This extension 
 of commerce and power gave rise to long wars be- 
 tween Venice and Genoa. This contest, which might 
 be justly denominated commercial, was often renewed 
 and long continued; and those two great rivals in 
 trade and maritime strength disputed, for the space of 
 two centuries, the dominion of the Levant and Medi- 
 terranean seas. 
 
 *, And. Ilist. C9tura. vol. 1, p. 77. 
 
 Many
 
 176 TTALY. 
 
 Many naval engagements took place, with various 
 success, often to the disadvantage of the Venetians. 
 In 1252, they lost almost their whole fleet of gallies, 
 and 500O of their mariners were carried prisoners to 
 Genoa.* In 1298, they suffered from ihe same ene- 
 my a still greater defeat ; and a few years after were, 
 by a treaty of peace, prohibited from navigating the 
 Levant seas with armed vessels.*}- Before the middle 
 of the fourteenth century, Venice found a new enemy 
 in the Turks; but her contests with Genoa did not 
 cease. In 1379, the Genoese fleet having defeated 
 that of Venice, advanced with its whole force up the 
 Adriatic, and made a formidable attack on the capital 
 of the republic. But the senate took such prudent 
 and vigorous measures, that the Genoese fleet, which 
 was manned with above 20,000 mariners and soldiers, 
 after having laid some time before Venice, and even 
 carried some outposts, was obliged to retire with pro- 
 digious loss. From this time, Venice seems to have 
 acquired an ascendency over Genoa. The Venetians 
 had at this time learned the use of artillery, of which 
 the Genoese seem to have, about three years before, 
 been entirely ignorant. J They appear to have first 
 made use of cannon in 1376, when Tenedos was at- 
 tacked by the Genoese, who were repulsed by the fire 
 of those terrible engines. From the commencement 
 to the middle of the fifteenth century, Venice seems 
 to have been in the height of her prosperity. Genoa 
 being subjected to the Duke of Milan, her maritime 
 strength had greatly declined. Venice was mistress 
 of the navigation of the Levant and the Mediterranean 
 seas, and in a great measure engrossed the trade of 
 
 * De Mailty Hist, de Genes, vol. 1. f Baptista Burgos de domini- 
 Ceu. vol. 2, * Cheval. De Mailly Hist, de Ge:ie, vol. 1. ' 
 
 the
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 177 
 
 the East. But the increase of the Turkish power, 
 gradually diminished that of the republic. In 1429, 
 the Turks made themselves masters of Thessalonica, 
 and soon after dispossessed the Venetians of most of 
 their Levantine isles. In 1462, Venice lost Negro- 
 j*ont and the Morea. She retained Cyprus till 1570, 
 and Candia till 1669. Thus all her possessions to the 
 east of the Adriatic, except the coast of Dalmatia, 
 was swallowed up in the Ottoman empire. The Porr 
 tugueze, in the mean while, having discovered the 
 passage round the Cape of Good Hope to India, gave 
 the finishing blow to her Oriental trade, by which 
 she had acquired such enormous wealth and power. 
 Since that time Venice has flourished by her former 
 acquisitions, rather than by her modern commerce. 
 But although she has of late possessed little maritime 
 strength, Venice is a place of considerable resort for 
 the trading vessels of all nations. In the year 17-59, 
 no less than 1781 ships of all sizes entered that 
 port. 
 
 The history of Genoa may be said to run parallel 
 to that of Venice. Its greatness arose from the same 
 cause, and, from the commencement of the twelfth 
 to the end of nearly the fourteenth century, tiiese two 
 rival republics kept nearly an equal pace HI aggran- 
 dizement. Genoa had, during a considerable time, 
 the ascendency over \ enice ; but sooner began to 
 decline. Venice was frequently at variance, but 
 Genoa almost always in amity, with Constantinople; 
 where-, so long as the Greek empire existed, h>.i citi- 
 zens enjoyed peculiar privileges. By a specs xl per- 
 mission of the Greek emperors, the Genoe<: tmilt the 
 suburb of Peru, adjoining to Cou&tautiuuple, and 
 established a colony iu the Crimea, where they rebuilt 
 
 YOL. in. n the
 
 178 ITALY: 
 
 the ancient city of Theodosia, since called Caffa, and 
 opened a trade with India through Bucharia and Sa- 
 marchand, by way of the river Oxus and the ports of 
 the Caspian and Euxine seas. During some time the 
 Genoese had a strong rival in the Pisans, who were 
 then a formidable naval power. The contest between 
 these two rival and neighbour states continued, with 
 various intervals, from 1125 to 1283, when Pisa was 
 totally vanquished, her maritime power annihilated, 
 and that commercial republic sit last sunk under the 
 power of Florence, and became part of the Grand 
 Duchy of Tuscany. The fall of the Greek empire 
 was a fatal blow to the greatness of Genoa. She then 
 lost the suburb of Pera, with her lucrative commerce 
 of Constantinople; and in 1474, the Turks con- 
 quered her possessions in the Crimea. The discovery 
 of the passage round the Cape of Good Hope, gave 
 the last decisive stroke to her lucrative commerce, as 
 well as to that of Venice. In regard to these states, 
 we may conclude with this general observation, that 
 the Italian cities, especially Pisa, Genoa, and Venice, 
 first revived the spirit of commerce in Europe after 
 the fall of the Roman empire. They were followed 
 by the Flemings and the Hans towns in the north . 
 and, during the middle ages, these merchants of the 
 south and the north managed all the trade then carried 
 on in this quarter of the globe. For the maritime 
 strength of Venice and Genoa, we have only to reflect 
 on their numerous fleets, and their bloody naval en- 
 gagements during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth 
 centuries ; and, although their vessels were far inferior 
 to our ships of war, they were the largest then in use ; 
 and their engagements, although they were destitute of 
 artillery _, were attended with as great an effusion of 
 
 t blood
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 179 
 
 blood as those of modern times. The opulence of 
 those commercial cities corresponded with their ex- 
 tensive trade. During the middle ages, the magnifi- 
 cence of Venice, Genoa, and several other cities of 
 Italy and the Netherlands, formed a striking con- 
 trast with the meanness of those of other parts of 
 Europe.* 
 
 Milan, like the other great cities of Italy, shook off 
 the imperial authority during the distracted state 
 of that country, in the wars between the popes and 
 the emperors. It did not, however, acquire inde- 
 pendence; but fell under the dominion of the Visconti, 
 one of the most powerful families of Milan. The 
 Visconti, having expelled the rival family of La Torre, 
 assumed the sovereignty, and reigned for several ge- 
 nerations as Dukes of Milan. It would be impossible 
 here to relate all the revolutions of this duchy, to 
 which its situation rendered it peculiarly liable.^ From 
 the family of Visconti it passed to that of Sforza, was 
 sometimes conquered by the French, and at last fell 
 under the dominion of the House of Austria. It 
 flourished, however, exceedingly during the middle 
 ages; and, about the year 1367, appears to have 
 been in the meridian of its glory. At that time Gal- 
 eazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan, stipulated to give his 
 daughter a marriage portion of 200,000 gold ducats 
 of Florence ; a sum which, if we calculate the in- 
 trinsic value of money and'thc rate of living in our 
 
 * The reader may, on this subject, consult the Chevalier de Mailly's 
 Iliitoirc de Genes, from which this short sketch is chiefly extracted. It 
 will not, however, be amiss to caution him against some improbable ac- 
 counts which are met with in that author. 
 
 t Vide Macliiavel Hist. Flor. lib. 4, ;>, 6, 7, 8. and Robertson Hist. 
 Ch. V. vol. 2. p. ','04. 207, 280, 282, 314, 342, 3ot. k vol. 3. p 41', 130. 
 
 N '2 days,
 
 180 I'TALY. 
 
 days, must he considered as an equivalent to a much 
 greater number of pounds sterling at the commence- 
 ment of the nineteenth . century.* It was certainly 
 such a sum as scarcely any other sovereign of Europe, 
 in that age, could have disbursed on such an occasion. 
 The vast wealth of Milan was owing to its manufac- 
 turing trade; but, in later times, this has greatly de- 
 clined, although it may yet be regarded as consider- 
 able. This city is at present the capital of the king- 
 dom of Italy. 
 
 *Federa, vol.6. 
 
 CIUP.
 
 181 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Present State, Political and Moral Religion Government Laws 
 Army Navy Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population 
 Political Importance and Relations Language Literature Polite 
 Arts Education Manners and Customs National Character. 
 
 Religion.] LN the present state of things this chapter 
 requires brevity. It is generally known that the Ro- 
 man Catholic religion is professed throughout Italy . 
 but its genius is mild ; and though, in the ecclesiasti- 
 cal states as well as in Sicily and some other parts, no 
 other worship be publicly tolerated, no denomination 
 of dissenters are persecuted. 
 
 Government, Laics.'] It is difficult, at present, to 
 say any thing of the political systems of Italy, as no 
 accurate information can be obtained respecting the 
 change which the French conquest may have effected 
 in the different governments. 
 
 Army, Navy.] Of the military force of Italy, no 
 statement can, with any degree of accuracy, be given; 
 and the naval strength of the Italian states is insignifi- 
 cant. Naples had, at the commencement of the war, 
 an army of about 40,000 men, with a navy consisting 
 of about four ships of the line and a few frigates. 
 
 Revenues.] The public revenues of Italy are, since 
 
 the late revolutions, a subject of still greater uncer- 
 
 tainty. Those of Naples were about 1, 500,0001. 
 
 sterling. The revenue of the Pope, arising from 
 
 N J the
 
 182 ITALY. 
 
 the ecclesiastical states, was computed at about 
 350,000/. 
 
 Commerce.'] From what has been said in the last 
 chapter, it is evident that the commerce of Italy has 
 greatly declined. Previous to the late revolutions, 
 however, it was not inconsiderable, although mostly 
 carried on in foreign bottoms. The principal ports for 
 the Italian trade are Genoa and Leghorn, and lately 
 Venice and Naples, with Messina and Palermo in 
 Sicily. 
 
 Manufactures.'] The manufactures have been men- 
 tioned in speaking of the principal cities. Those in 
 other parts of the country are, in general, of a similar 
 nature. 
 
 Population] The population of Italy is variously 
 estimated. Zimmermann, on a medium of six diffe- 
 rent writers, fixes it at 16,000,000, and the superficial 
 content at 90,000 square miles, with 177 inhabitants 
 to each.* 
 
 Political Relatiom.] Italy has now no political re- 
 lations independent of those of France. 
 
 Language.'] The Italian is a mixture of Latin and 
 Gothic, composing a language flowing, sweet, and 
 harmonious. 
 
 Literature.'] The literature of Italy might be made 
 a copious subject of investigation. Since the revival 
 of letters, Italian authors have distinguished them- 
 selves in every department of literature arid science. 
 Galileo, Torricelli, Malphigi, Borelli, and several 
 others, have shone in the mathematics and natural 
 philosophy. Machiavel, Strada, Guieciardini, Ben- 
 tivoglio, Davia, and Giannone, are famous as histo- 
 rians ; and Father Paul's History of the Council 
 * Zimtnerin. Statist. Tab. 
 
 of
 
 EDUCATION. 183 
 
 of Trent will stand the test of criticism in all a;es. 
 
 O 
 
 In regard to the purity and correctness of style, Boc- 
 caceis esteemed one of the chief of their prose writers. 
 He is an accurate delineator of life and manners. 
 His productions, however, are considered as too 
 licentious ; but he drew his pictures from nature, and 
 the originals ought to be condemned rather than the 
 painter. A long list of Italian poets might be enume- 
 rated ; but Dante, Ariosto, and Tasso, are the most 
 eminent. Petrarch, however, who wrote with great 
 elegance both in Italian and Latin, is distinguished as 
 the first who revived, among the moderns, the genius 
 of ancient poesy. In the fine arts, the Italians have 
 hitherto excelled all the other nations of Europe, and 
 their architects, painters, sculptors, and musicians 
 are unrivalled in numbers as well as in excellence. 
 Bramante, Bernini, and several others, in architec- 
 ture ; Raphael, Romano, Veronese, Carraccio, Cor- 
 regio, and Titian, in painting; and Michael Angelo, 
 equally great in architecture, sculpture, and paint- 
 ing, are names too celebrated to need any encomium. 
 The genius of Italy, however, now seems to lie dor- 
 mant, and to rely on its ancient fame rather than its 
 present exertions. 
 
 Education] No great praise is bestowed by tra- 
 vellers on the general mode of Italian education. 
 There are several universities. That of Rome has 
 long been celebrated. Naples, Salerno, and Perusia, 
 Florence and Pisa, have also their universities. And 
 the provinces which now compose part of the king- 
 dom of Italy, contained those of Milan-, Venice, 
 Padua, Verona, Mantua, Parma, Bologna, and Fer- 
 rara. Popular education, however, has been greatly 
 
 N 4 neglected
 
 JS4 ITALY. 
 
 neglected in Italy as well as in almost every otber 
 country in Europe. 
 
 Manners and Customs.'] The manners and customs 
 of the Italians, varying in the different states and 
 districts, from the indolence and luxury of the Nea- 
 politans to the aborious industry and frugality of the 
 Genoese, what has already been said in describing 
 the principal cities may suffice in regard to this sub- 
 ject. It may, however, be observed, that the inha- 
 bitants of Lucca and St. Marino cannot be surpassed 
 in industry. 
 
 National Character.] The national character of the 
 Italians, like that of all other nations, is formed by 
 the influence of their national circumstances. They 
 have been represented as jealous, vindictive, and 
 effeminate. It lias already been remarked that the 
 furious jealousy by which they were formerly charac- 
 terized scarcely 'any longer appears, and their revenge- 
 ful spirit is proportionably less observable. Their un- 
 warlike disposition has been ascribed to effeminacy ; 
 "but it has been found in several modern instances that 
 the Italian officers and soldiers, when properly trained 
 to arms, have shewed themselves worthy of their Ro- 
 man ancestors. Of this, the Italian bands under the 
 Duke of Parma in the low country wars, furnished a 
 memorable proof. In regard to genius, none will 
 deny to the Italians a place in the first rank of Euro- 
 pean nations. 
 
 HEL-
 
 185 
 
 HELVETIC REPUBLIC. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of the Country Mountains- 
 Rivers Canals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil Cli- 
 mate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities Anti- 
 quities and artificial Curiosities. 
 
 Situation, Extent, ^c.] SWITZERLAND was 
 Anciently distinguished by the names of Helvetia and 
 Rhetia, the former comprizing the western, and the 
 latter the eastern part ; divisions of which modern 
 geographers do not know the precise boundaries. The 
 districts which, ever since the famous revolution of 
 1308, have been comprehended under the collective 
 name of Switzerland, are bounded on the west by 
 France, on the south and south-east by the kingdom 
 of Italy, and on the north and north-east by Germany. 
 The extent from east to west is about 200, and from 
 north to south about 130 English miles. 
 
 Face of the country.'] IS o country on the surface of 
 the globe exceeds Switzerland in the diversity of- its 
 appearance. The enormous chains of its towering 
 Alps, with their tremendous precipices, regions of 
 perpetual snow, and glaciers resembling seas of ice, 
 form a sublime contrast to the luxuriant vineyards and 
 cultivated fields, and the warm and verdant vallies 
 with their chrystal streams and tranquil cottages. 
 
 * Mountains.
 
 ISO SWITZERLAND. 
 
 Mountains."] To describe the mountains of Swit- 
 zerland, whould be little less than entering into the 
 topography of each particular district. In point of 
 elfevation, they are supposed to be inferior to none in 
 the world, except the Andes in South America. Mont 
 Blanc, of which M. de Saussure first reached the sum- 
 mit, is generally supposed to be the most elevated 
 point of the old continent,* being about 14,700, or 
 15,662 feet English by Sir George Shuckborough's 
 measurement ; and the mountains of Finsteraar and 
 Schreckhorn are of a height not much inferior, being, 
 according to Saussure, about 13,200 feet above the 
 level of the sea.t In a general point of view, the 
 Alps extend in a semicircular form from the Gulph of 
 Genoa, through Piedmont, Savoy, and Switzerland, 
 and close in the carnic Alps, on the north of the Adri- 
 atic. Those mountains have, by both ancient and 
 modern geographers, been divided into distinct por- 
 tions, and known by different appellations. The ma- 
 ritime Alps, rising from the Gulph of Genoa, although 
 for the sake of uniformity mentioned in this place, are 
 now within the limits of France and the kingdom of 
 Italy ; and Mont Blanc itself being within the new 
 boundary, must be considered as belonging to France.^ 
 The central part of the grand Alpine chain is divided 
 into two ridges, .running from the south-west to the 
 north-east. The first is that of the Helvetian Alps, of 
 which the most elevated points are the Gemmi, the 
 Schelenhorn, the Jungfrati, the Schreckhorn, the 
 
 * Four thousand feet of the perpendicular height of Mont Blanc, towards 
 the summit, are always covered with snow. Coxe, vol. 1. letter 36. p. 413. 
 
 t Saussure, vol. 7. p. 193. 
 
 f Mont Blanc is described in this place for the sake of comprizing the 
 whole regi:i of the Alps in one view. 
 
 Grimsel,
 
 RIVERS. 187 
 
 Grimsel, and the famous Mount Gothard, which if of 
 great extent, with many elevated peaks. The south- 
 ern ridge of the central Alps, which belongs rajther to 
 Italy than Switzerland, is supposed to be higher than 
 the northern, and is also better known, having been 
 explored by M. de Saussure. This prodigiously ele- 
 vated range, beginning at Mont Blanc, and embra- 
 cing the great St. Bernard, Mount Cervin, and Mounl 
 Rosa, in height very little inferior to Mont Blanc, 
 stretches under different names into Tyrol. Enter- 
 prizing travellers have, in the last century, disclosed 
 many of the wonders of the Alpine regions, ascended 
 some of the most elevated summits, and visited seve- 
 ral of their most secret and tremendous recesses. No- 
 thing, indeed, could be more tempting to adventu- 
 rous curiosity. No description, however, that can 
 be given in any book of general geography, can 
 convey just ideas of the Alpine regions. For an. 
 accurate display of those magnificent features of na- 
 ture, it is necessary to consult " Saussure Voyages 
 dans les Alps," and " Bourrit's Description des Gla- 
 ciers," in order to acquire a general knowledge of this 
 extremely diversified country and its inhabitants 
 Mr. Coxes "Travels in Switzerland," may also be 
 recommended to the perusal of those who are desirous 
 of information on these interesting subjects. 
 
 Rivers.] The mountains of Switzerland would af- 
 ford matter for volumes of description ; but its rivers 
 are a much iess copious subject ; for none of them are 
 of any importance, in regard to navigation or trade, 
 until they have nn-^cd the boundaries of this Alpine 
 country. The Rhhie and the Rhone, two of the. 
 principal rivers of Europe, with several others which 
 they receive in their course, issue from the recesses of 
 
 the
 
 18? SWITZERLAND. 
 
 the Alps ; and their source's in the stupendous glaciers 
 of those elevated regions, may be classed among the 
 
 most magnificent scenes of nature.* The Reuss is- 
 
 
 sues from the lake of Locccndro, on the north-west 
 
 of Mount St. Gothard, and after a course of about 
 eighty miles joins the Aar; which rising from three 
 sources, one in the vicinity of the Schreckhorn, ano- 
 ther in Mount Grimsel, and a third in the glaciers 
 of Finsteraar, proceeds, after receiving the Reuss, 
 about, seventy miles, and then falls into the Rhine. 
 The Li 111 mat also runs about twenty miles, and then 
 joins the Aar, which also receives the Surra and the 
 Thure. Several other streams also contribute to swell 
 the Rhine. The Inn and the Adda rise in the coun- 
 try of the Grisons. The Rhone issues from an exten- 
 sive and stupendous glacier called the Glacier of the 
 Rhone, which is ably described by Saussure.-f* Many 
 of the torrents which fall from the mountains form 
 magnificent cascades. 
 
 Lakes.] Switzerland presents no canals, but its 
 lakes are numerous. The most considerable are those 
 of Constance and Geneva ; the former is about forty- 
 five miles h\ length, and in some places fifteen in 
 breadth; the latter extends in the form of a crescent, 
 about forty miles in length and nine at its greatest 
 breadth. Those of Zurich and Netifchatel are each 
 about twenty-five miles in length and four in breadth. 
 Besides these, there are many others of less consider- 
 able extent. All the lakes in. Switzerland swell in the 
 summer from the melting of the snow. 
 
 Mineralogy.] The mineralogy of Switzerland is not 
 
 Coxe's Travels, vol. 3. p. 243. ' 
 
 t Saussure, torn. 6. p. 284, 285. Compare Saussure with Mr. Coxe, 
 Trav. in Switzerland, vol. 1. letter 38. 
 
 80
 
 MINERAL WATERS SOIL CTIMATE. 189 
 
 *o rich as it might be expected in so mountainous a 
 country. Particles of gold' have been washed down in 
 some of the torrents; but the quantity is trifling, and 
 silver is equally rare. There is some copper and lead ; 
 but the most important mines are those of iron. 
 There are also valuable quarries of rock salt. Beauti- 
 ful marbles are found in some parts of the Alps, and 
 the summits of most of the mountains consist of gra_ 
 Dite.* Rock chrystal is found in pieces which weigh 
 seven or eight hundred weight, and supplies one of the 
 principal exports of the country. Near Chiavana is a 
 quarry of lapis ollaris, of a grey colour, which is 
 wrought into vessels that will bear the most violent 
 fire. 
 
 Mineral waters.] This country has mineral waters, 
 but none of distinguished fame ; tfiose of Leuk are the 
 most remarkable. There are warm springs at Fabera, 
 and the sulphureous water of Alvenew resembles those 
 of Harrowgate.-f- 
 
 Soil] The soil of so mountainous a country must 
 necessarily exhibit every variety, from luxuriance to 
 extreme sterility; but it may be readily conceived that 
 the latter predominates. 
 
 Climate] The climate has always been celebrated 
 as delightful and salubrious; but the winter is in many 
 parts extremely severe," and the summer heats in the 
 deep valleys are often oppressive.^ Cold gales also 
 frequently descend from the Alps, which cause a sud- 
 den transition, apparently unfavourable to health. 
 And it seems extremely probable, that the robust and 
 healthy constitution of the Swiss proceeds as much 
 from their temperance and rural occupations, as from 
 
 * Sassure, vol 2. p. 534. t Coxe, vol. 1. letter 33. p. 375. 
 
 J Sauibure, vol. 2. cli. 48. 
 
 any
 
 190 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 any particular salubrity of the climate. The goitre, a 
 disease peculiar to the inhabitants of mountainous coun- 
 tries, is prevalent in many parts of the Alpine districts. 
 Switzerland, notwithstanding its contracted limits, 
 exhibits all the variety of climates that distinguish the 
 different countries of Europe. From the warm valiies 
 opening on the Italian frontier, to the Alpine summits 
 covered with glaciers and perpetual snow, the travel- 
 ler experiences in succession the climates of Italy, 
 France, and Lapland. 
 
 Vegetable prod actions.'] The productions of the soil 
 are as various as the climate by which they are influ- 
 enced. In the lowest and warmest situations, such as 
 the broad valiies of Geneva, of Basle, of the Pais de 
 Vaud, of the Valteline, &c. are numerous vineyards, 
 with the trees and plants of Italy and the south of 
 France. The lower declivities of the hills, which 
 may not improperly be called the Subalpine regions, 
 are diversified with cornfields and meadows, and the 
 various kinds of trees that are seen in the south of 
 England, and the Northern and midland parts of 
 France and Germany. Above these, on the still rising 
 sides of the mountains, appear small woods of larch, 
 of pine, and fir, and other natives of Scandinavia. 
 But there is nothing that can be denominated a forest- 
 and such is the scarcity of wood and even of turf in 
 Switzerland, that the dried dung of cattle is frequently 
 used for fuel. These upper woodlands, however, af- 
 ford rich meadows and fertile pastures, luxuriant in 
 grass and clover, and embellished with an endless 
 variety of mountain plants. Rising still higher to- 
 wards the summits, extensive ranges of pasture 
 grounds occur, to which the cattle are brought to 
 graze during two or three weeks before and after mid- 
 summer.
 
 ZOOLOGY. 191 
 
 summer. The last stage of vegetation is a zone of 
 rocky pasturage, below the edge of the snow, covered 
 with a short kind of turf. Here the effect of cold is 
 strikingly displayed ; and all the plants #re alpine. 
 This is the native domain of the bounding Chamois 
 
 \J 
 
 but, during a few weeks in the middle of summer, it 
 affords some support to the sheep.* In a country like 
 Switzerland, tillage cannot be carried on to a great 
 extent. Most kinds of grain, however, are cultivated* 
 Barley and oats are produced in the higher, rye and 
 spelt in the lower situations; but the crops are far from 
 being productive ; and public granaries have been 
 found necessary to supply any eventual deficiency. 
 Industry, indeed, is not wanting in Switzerland ; but 
 although more corn might be produced, grazing is 
 found more profitable than tillage, in a soil that af- 
 fords but litile produce to repay the expence of cul- 
 tivation. Pasturage, therefore, is the most important 
 part of the system of Swiss farming; and their herds 
 of cattle being numerous, enable them to support 
 many swine with their butter milk and other refuse. 
 Their cattle, indeed, are the principal support of the 
 Swiss, and various preparations of milk constitute a 
 considerable part of the food, and even of the luxu- 
 ries of their peasantry. 
 
 Zoology.] The cattle of Switzerland often attain to 
 a good size. The horses, though not large, are full 
 of spirit and vigour. Among the animals peculiar to 
 the Alps are the ibex, the bonquetin, and the cha- 
 mois, to which may be added the marmot. Among 
 the birds may be reckoned the bearded vulture; which, 
 having the head and the neck covered With feathers, 
 
 * I'inKerton on the authority of Scheuchzur's first journey to the 
 Alps. I'ink. vol. 1. p. ~rt7. 
 
 is
 
 J02 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 is different from the rest of the vulture kind. It in- 
 habits the highest Alps, builds its nests in inaccesible 
 rocks, and preys on the chamois, the marmot, and 
 sometimes on lambs. 
 
 Natural curiosities.'] Almost the whole surface of 
 the country is an assemblage of natural curiosities. 
 The stupendous summits of the Alps, clothed in eter- 
 nal snow, the glaciers or seas of ice, intersected with 
 numerous deep fissures, the tremendous precipices, 
 the descending torrents, the lakes aad cataracts, are 
 curiosities of a nature singularly sublime and striking. 
 The avalanches, or masses of snow, which sometimes 
 roll down from the mountains and overwhelm whole 
 villages^ are extremely terrific. Sometimes also the 
 mountains have burst asunder and buried towns in 
 their fall. Such was the case of Pleurs, near Chiavana A 
 where the town was overwhelmed by the fall of a 
 mountain, and thousands of people perished. Recent 
 instances also are known of similar, though less tre- 
 mendous accidents. The glaciers have, of late, in a 
 particular manner, attracted the attention of naturalists 
 and travellers. That of the Rhone is magnificent and 
 sublime, beyond all the powers of description. 
 
 Artificial curiosities.'] This world of wonders, the Al- 
 pine region, is excellently displayed in miniature,by the 
 ingenuity and industry of General Plesser, who has accu- 
 rately delineated the surface of the most mountainous 
 district, in a model which deserves to be celebrated as 
 an artificial curiosity of the most interesting class. 
 This plan, of which the lake of Lucerne, at an ele- 
 vation of 1400 feet above the Mediterranean is the 
 centre, comprizes a space of eighteen leagues and a 
 half in length and eleven in breadth, and is composed 
 of 142 distinct compartments. The length of the 
 
 model
 
 ARTIFICIAL CURIOSITIES. 193 
 
 model is twenty feet, and the breadth twelve feet, ex- 
 hibiting 20;J| square leagues of country, in a paral- 
 lelogram of 2 10 square feet. The most elevated point 
 from the platform is ten inches, an inch on the model 
 representing 900 feet. The composition is a sort of 
 mastic, very hard and durable, and the whole is 
 painted with different colours, so as to represent the 
 objects exactly as they exist in nature. The woods of 
 oak, pine, fir, &c. are clearly distinguished, and even 
 the different strata of the rocks are marked. The 
 plan is so minutely exact, that it comprises not only 
 all the mountains in their proportional elevations, 
 with all the lakes, rivers, towns, villages, &c. but 
 every cottage, every torrent, every bridge, and every 
 road, is distinctly and accurately represented.* This 
 great work, which occupied general Plesser during 
 the space of twenty years, from the fiftieth to the 
 seventieth year of his life, was to be seen at Lucerne 
 when Mr. Coxe visited Switzerland. It is unique in 
 its kind, and highly merits the attention of the curi- 
 ous. Mount Pilate, near Lucerne, displays a singular 
 curiosity, to which the world perhaps affords nothing 
 parallel or similar. But whether it ought to be as- 
 cribed to nature, or to art, is a problem of difficult 
 solution. At the elevation of 5000 feet, and in the 
 most perpendicular part of the mountain, a colossal 
 statue of white stone is observed in the middle of a 
 cavern, hollowed in a black rock. It is the figure of 
 a man, in drapery, standing with one leg crossed over 
 the other, leaning one elbow on a pedestal, and is so 
 regularly formed, that it cannot be a lasus natur&.-\ 
 It is difficult, says Mr. Coxe, to imagine by whom, 
 
 * Coxe's Trav. in Switzerland, vol. 1, letter 23, P. S. 
 t Ibid. vol. 1, letter 23, p. 260, \c. 
 
 VOL. in. o or
 
 194 SWITZERLAND. ^ 
 
 * or |>y what means, tin's statue has been placed in 
 situation which has hitherto proved inaccessible to 
 all who have attempted to approach it. If indeed it 
 be in reality a work of man, and not a Itisus natune., 
 the side of the mountain must have once been more 
 sloping, and been rendered perpendicular by some 
 disruption. 
 
 The ancient monuments of Switzerland are not 
 numerous, consisting of only a few Roman antiquities. 
 But of the middle ages there are several interesting 
 remains, such as Gothic castles, churches, and monas- 
 teries ; among the latter, the abbey of St. Gal is the 
 most celebrated. The ancient castle of Hapsburg, 
 built by Warnet, Bishop of Strasburg, in the beginning 
 of the eleventh century, is venerable on account of 
 its being the cradle of the house of Austria, and re- 
 markable for its romantic situation. It is situated on 
 A lofty eminence, and commands " an immensely ex- 
 tensive view over hills and dales, plains and forests,, 
 rivers and lakes, towns and villages, mountains and 
 alps."* 
 
 * Coxe's Trav. vel. 1. p. 13(3. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 195 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 1'rincipal Cities and Towns Edifices. 
 
 oWITZERLAND contains no cities remarkable for 
 their magnitude, their commercial importance, or 
 their historical fame. 
 
 Basil.'] Basil containing the greatest population, 
 may be considered as meriting the first attention. It 
 is pleasantly situated on the banks of the Rhine, 
 which is here broad, deep, and rapid, suddenly turn- 
 ing from its westerly to its northerly course, and di- 
 viding the city into two parts united by a handsome 
 bridge.* The citjr is surrounded with thick walls, 
 flanked with towers and bastions. The cathedral is 
 an ancient Gothic edifice, and contains the tomb of 
 the great Erasmus. The town-house is embellished 
 with good paintings. The university has produced 
 some excellent scholars, among whom may be named 
 (Ecolampadius, Buxtorf, Euler, and several other 
 celebrated names. - The library contains a large col- 
 lection of books and manuscripts. Here the art of 
 making paper is said to have been first invented. 
 There are at present some manufactures of ribbands 
 and cottons, and on the whole this is the most trad- 
 ing town in Switzerland. The population is about 
 14,000, and the inhabitants being in general well 
 educated, are very intelligent. Travellers here re- 
 
 * Cosc's Trav. vol. 1, p. 149, &c. 
 
 o 2 mark,
 
 196 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 mark, as a singular circumstance, that the clocks are 
 always kept an hour too fast, in commemoration, as 
 it is said, of their being once hastened for the pur- 
 pose of defeating a conspiracy. 
 
 Bern.] Bern containing about 13,000 inhabitants, 
 is next to Basil in population, and excels it in elegance, 
 being the handsomest city in Switzerland. The houses 
 are of free stone, and rest on arcades ; in the prin- 
 cipal street they are all of an uniform height, and the 
 whole city has an appearance of regularity and beauty. 
 Bern can boast of several public libraries, and collec- 
 tions of natural curiosities. It is situated in a penin- 
 sula formed by the river Aar, which almost surrounds 
 the city. The environs are pleasant, the adjacent 
 country being rich and fertile, and the variegated 
 prospect of hills, lawns, wood and water, being bound- 
 ed at a distance by the long chain of the superior 
 Alps covered with snow, and rising like clouds above 
 the horizon, is sublime and delightful. 
 
 Zurich.'] Zurich is considered as the third city of 
 Switzerland. It is situated at the northern extremity 
 of the lake which bears the same name, in a populous 
 and fertile country, which produces wine sufficient 
 for home consumption. The rapid Limmat issuing 
 from the lake, divides the town into two unequal 
 parts.* Zurich is well built, the houses are high but 
 the streets are narrow. Here is a respectable college, 
 and the public library contains some curious manu- 
 scripts. Zurich was the first town of Switzerland 
 that separated from the church of Rome, being in- 
 duced to adopt that measure by the arguments and 
 influence of Zuinglius. In 1780 it contained 10,539 
 inhabitants.^ 
 
 * Coxe's Trav. roL 1, p. 75, &c. f Coxe > vol. 1, p. 77. 
 
 Lausanne*
 
 LAUSANNE. EDIFICES. ] 97 
 
 Lausanne.'] Lausanne in the canton of Bern, is 
 celebrated for the amenity of its situation, within 
 about a mile of the lake of Geneva, and about thirty 
 miles from that city. From the upper parts of the 
 town, the prospects are grand and extensive, com- 
 prehending the lake of Geneva, the Pais de Vaud, 
 and the rugged coast of Chablais. But it stands on 
 so steep an ascent, that in some places passengers 
 mount by steps from the lower to the upper parts of 
 the town. The church is a noble Gothic building, 
 and was once a cathedral. The town is supposed to 
 contain about 9000 inhabitants, Lausanne was the 
 favorite residence of our countryman, Mr. Gibbon, 
 who here composed his history of the Decline of the 
 Roman Empire, a work which, although it has been 
 severely, and in some respects not undeservedly criti- 
 cised, promises to be immortal. 
 
 The other cities of Switzerland are not of suffi- 
 cient importance to claim attention in a general view. 
 Geneva, the ancient ally of the Swiss cantons, con- 
 taining about 25,000 inhabitants, is now annexed to 
 France. 
 
 Edifices.'] Switzerland cannot boast of magnificent 
 edifices. The principal are in the cities, but few of 
 them have any claims to particular notice. 
 
 o Si CilAf
 
 198 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 historical View General Progress of Society, of Arts, Sciences, and 
 Commerce. 
 
 1 HE original population of Switzerland, is by some 
 supposed to have been Celtic, although this opinion 
 cannot be supported on any historical authority ; on 
 the contrary, there is every reason to conclude, that 
 the Helvctii were an ancient German colony, and 
 of the Gothic race. The Helvetii and the llhteti 
 having been conquered by Julius Caesar, remained 
 subject to the Romans till the Allemanni, in the be- 
 ginning of the fourth century, made an irruption into 
 the country, and almost extirpated the Helvetii. 
 Afterwards the eastern parts were subject toTheodoric 
 king of Italy, while the western districts composed a 
 part of the kingdom of Burgundy, which was sub- 
 dued, A.D. 634, by the Franks under Childebert 
 king of Paris, Clotharius king of Soissons, andTheo- 
 debert king of Metz, three of the sons of Clovis.* 
 It would be useless to trace the history of these ob- 
 scure and unsettled times ; but it may not be amiss 
 to mention, that about the beginning of the seventh 
 century Christianity spread from France into Switzer- 
 land by the pious labours of some Irish monks. 
 Towards the close of the ninth century, Rodolphus, 
 son. of Conrad count of Paris, erected the second 
 
 *> Ab. Chron, toin. 1, p. 9 an. 531, 
 
 kingdom
 
 HISTORICAL VI F.W. 199 
 
 kingdom of Burgundy, which comprehended Geneva, 
 Savoy, and Bugey, with the Valais and all the western 
 part of Switzerland, as far as the river Reuss.* lu 
 fjOy the Hungarians invading Germany penetrated 
 into Switzerland, and the country became a theatre 
 of furious contests during almost half a century; 
 when at last these barbarians were expelled by the 
 kings of Burgundy. 
 
 It appears that Switzerland was afterwards, like the 
 other countries of Europe, divided among a number 
 of feudal lords, although considered as a part of Ger- 
 many. Of these Swiss barons, the counts of Raps- 
 burg gradually became the most powerful, and ex- 
 tended their sway over the greatest part of the country, 
 llhodolph count of Hapsburg, was elected emperor 
 A.D. J273. About the year 1308, the Swiss being 
 greviously oppressed by the officers of the emperor, 
 Albert of Austria, presented petitions to the imperial 
 court for a redress of grievances, which produced no" 
 other effect than an aggravation of their evils. 
 Gresler, the governor, resolving to carry his wanton 
 tyranny to the highest pitch, placed a hat on a pole, 
 and commanded that the same respect should be paid 
 to that symbol of his greatness, as to his own person. 
 It was on this occasion that, according to the com- 
 monly received account, the famous William Tell 
 having been observed to fail in respect, was by the 
 governor condemned to be hanged, unless he could 
 with an arrow cleave an apple on the head of his own 
 son placed at a certain distance. Tell performed the 
 dreadful task, but the governor asking him why he 
 had brought another arrow, which he observed stuck 
 in his belt, the intrepid Swiss boldly answered, " This 
 
 * Hcu. Ab. ChroiL torn. 1, j>. 8v, ;m 83?, &c. 
 
 Q 4
 
 200 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 was intended for thy heart, had I been so unfortunate 
 as to have killed my son." Tell having on this been 
 imprisoned, made his escape. Seizing the first favor- 
 able opportunity he shot the tyrant, and being joined 
 by a patriotic band of his countrymen, laid the foun- 
 dation of Swiss independency. Such is the generally 
 received story, which, although commemorated by 
 historians, and embellished by poets, is of doubtful 
 credit, at least in regard to many of its circumstances. 
 But however this may be, it is certain, that about the 
 aera just mentioned, the three cantons of Schweitz, 
 Uri, and Underwalden, united together for the pur- 
 pose of mutual defence, and the house of Austria 
 being embarrassed by the factions which distracted 
 the empire, was unable to make any vigorous efforts 
 for their reduction. The confederated cantons having 
 subdued Claris and Zug, admitted them to an equal 
 participation of rights, and thus was gradually formed 
 the Helvetic union, to which, in 1353, Bern also ac- 
 ceeded. In 1383, Leopold Duke of Austria was de- 
 feated and slain in attempting to reduce the Swiss to 
 subjection; and in 1471, they were still further 
 strengthened by an alliance with the Grisons, who 
 had also revolted against the house of Austria. But 
 the arms of the Swiss first began to be regarded at 
 formidable at the famous battle of Nancy, against 
 that restless and warlike prince Charles the Bold, 
 Duke of Burgundy, who was there defeated and 
 slain.* 
 
 In consequence of this victory over Charles the 
 Bold, the Swiss acquired great reputation for martial 
 prowess. Their infantry was at this period esteemed 
 the best in Europe, and foreign princes were desirous 
 
 * Philip de Coinin. liv. 5. 
 
 of
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 201 
 
 of employing them in their armies, and Louis XL of 
 France, took 6000 of them into his pay.* His ex- 
 ample has been imitated by his successors, as well as 
 by other foreign powers. The conduct of the Swiss 
 cantons, in granting permission to their subjects to 
 enter into foreign service, has often been blamed by 
 political and moral writers. The conduct of the 
 government, however, might admit of a plausible, or 
 perhaps even a reasonable excuse ; for by this system 
 an opening was given to those restless and ambitious 
 spirits, who, wanting employments suitable to their 
 inclinations and enterprizing genius, might perhaps 
 have proved troublesome at home. 
 
 Since the period of the Burgundian war, which 
 terminated in the death of the duke, and the division 
 of his rich and extensive dominions, of which a part 
 was seized by France, and the rest in consequence of 
 the marriage of Mary his daughter and sole heiress, 
 with the Archduke Maximilian, devolved on the 
 house of Austria.-]- The Swiss have been engaged in 
 many contests with the neighbouring powers, but 
 without any important consequences. The principal 
 events in their subsequent history, are the introduction 
 of the reformation, the revolt of the peasants of Bern 
 in the middle of the seventeenth century, and the 
 late invasion and conquest of their country by the 
 French. In the first, the Swiss cantons acted a, con- 
 spicuous part, and produced some of the principal 
 reformers, as Zuinglius, QEcolampadius, &c. The 
 result, however, although it produced a religious 
 
 * Philip de Corarnines, torn. 1. p. 366. Hist, de la Milice Franjoisc, 
 torn. J. p. J<;2. 
 
 t Philip de Comra. liv. 5. cb, 15. Hen. Ab. Chron. torn. 1, Anno 
 1475. 
 
 division
 
 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 division among the cantons, did not dissolve their 
 political union. The insurrection of the peasantry 
 tvas occasioned by their aristocratical form of govern- 
 ment, which the people found extremely oppressive. 
 Some of their grievances were redressed, but a rooted 
 enmity seems to have subsisted between the aristo- 
 cratic and the democratic orders, which in the end 
 contributed greatly to diminish that patriotism for 
 which the Swiss had formerly been so distinguished ; 
 and probably facilitated, in no small degree, the pro- 
 ' gress of the French arms in the beginning of the 
 year 1798. It could scarcely, indeed, be expected, 
 that the cantons should be able, without an ally, to 
 withstand the overwhelming power of France ; but it 
 was also evident that their resistance was extremely 
 feeble, and shewed little of that energy which formerly 
 marked the Swiss character. The Bernese alone made 
 a shew of resistance, but the soldiers either wanting 
 patriotism, or despairing of success, mutinied, de- 
 serted their posts, and massacred some of their offi- 
 cers. The army was. by desertion, soon reduced to 
 about half of the original number, and Bern sur- 
 rendering by capitulation to general Brune, all the 
 other cantons submitted without further resistance, 
 The French having thus made a complete conquest 
 t>f Switzerland, changed the constitution, and even 
 the name of the country. Provincial councils were 
 established in different districts, and the cantons were 
 incorporated under the name of the Helvetic republic.
 
 203 
 
 CHAP. IF. 
 
 Present State, political and moral Religion Government Laws- 
 Army Navy Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population 
 Political importance and relations Language Literature Poliis 
 Arts- Education Manners and Customs National Character. 
 
 Religion.'] J. HE religion of some of the Swiss 
 cantons is the Catholic, and of others that of Calvin. 
 Schweitz, Uri, and Underwalden, the three cantons 
 which founded the liberty of Switzerland, with Lu- 
 cerne, Fribourg, Solothurn, Zug, part of Claims and 
 Appenzel, are Catholic. The Protestant cantons, 
 composing the most wealthy and populous part of 
 Switzerland, are those of Bern, Basil or Basle, 
 Schaffhausen, and Zurich, with the greatest part of 
 Glairus, and some portions of Appenzel. The inhabi- 
 tants of the Valais, a country in alliance with the 
 Swiss, are Catholic, although their ancestors were 
 noted for their disaffection to that religion, and for 
 the cruel persecutions which they suffered on that 
 account. The Grisons are chiefly Protestants. To 
 the honour of the Swiss it may be observed, that 
 religious prejudices have little influence over their 
 conduct, and that in general the Catholics and Pro- 
 testants live together in a laudable state of unity. 
 
 Government.'] The Swiss constitution has long been 
 a subject of discussion, but all its ancient govern- 
 ments are now annihilated by the ambition and rapa- 
 city of Fiance, It is here enough to say, that like 
 
 the
 
 204 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 the former United Provinces of the Dutch republic, 
 and the present United States of America, each can- 
 ton having its own constitution and laws, was inde- 
 pendent in regard to its internal concerns ; but all 
 were united in one political confederacy. Of some, 
 the government was aristocratical ; in others, the de- 
 mocratical power prevailed. Most of the smaller 
 cantons were democracies. The powerful cantons of 
 Bern and Zurich among the Protestants, and those of 
 Lucerne and Fribourg among the Catholics, had re- 
 tained much of the aristocratical form, and some of 
 them had become almost oligarchical. It must, how- 
 ever, be confessed, that the power of the nobles was 
 exercised with moderation, and the people enjoyed a 
 competent share of political happiness. Since the 
 conquest of the country by the French, a new con- 
 stitution has been modelled, apparently on the prin- 
 ciples of the latter period of the Galilean republic, 
 but as it is subject to the control of the court of St. 
 Cloud, it is impossible to calculate its duration. 
 
 Laws.'] The laws of the different cantons partook 
 of the nature of their different governments. At 
 present but little authentic information is to be had 
 concerning the legislative alterations that may have 
 taken place in consequence of the change in the politi- 
 cal system. 
 
 Army^\ Before the late conquest, the regular mili- 
 tary force of the cantons was computed at about 
 20,000 men, and there is said to have been twenty- 
 nine Swiss regiments in the service of foreign 
 powers. 
 
 Revenue.'] The whole collective revenue of Swit- 
 2erland, was formerly estimated at somewhat more 
 
 than
 
 COMMERCE, MANUFACTURE!, POPULATION, &C. 205 
 
 than 1,000,0007. sterling. At present, nothing can with 
 any degree of precision be said on the subject. 
 
 Commerce.] Commerce has never flourished to any 
 great extent in this inland country. Cattle constitute 
 the chief produce, and cheese is one of the principal 
 exports. It has already been said, that rock chrystai 
 is also one of the chief articles of trade. 
 
 Manufactures .] The manufacturing system is less 
 attended to than it ought to be, considering the 
 poverty and population of the country. Some manu- 
 factures, indeed, cannot be carried on to advantage 
 on account of the scarcity of fuel, but others might 
 flourish. There are some, however, of linen and 
 printed cottons, and a few of silk. Watches are also 
 a considerable article for sale ; but in general the 
 manufactures of Switzerland are not important. 
 
 Population. ,] The whole population is generally 
 estimated at about 2,000,000, which is about 13O 
 inhabitants per square mile for the whole country, 
 or 00 per square mile when the uninhabitable parts 
 are deducted. 
 
 Political importance and relations.'] The political 
 importance and relations of Switzerland are immerged 
 in those of France, and her dependence on that power 
 seems to be irrevocably fixed, unless her emancipa- 
 tion should be effected by some of those unforeseen 
 events, which lie beyond the reach of political con- 
 jecture. 
 
 Language.] The Swiss is a dialect of the German, 
 but the French is the fashionable language, which is 
 generally spoken among the gentry, and often em- 
 ployed by their best authors, as well as much dif- 
 fused in the country. 
 
 lal Mature.] In early times, Switzerland made no 
 
 very
 
 206 SWITZERLAND. 
 
 very conspicuous figure in literature; but since tTicf 
 revival of learning and the reformation of religion, 
 this country can boast of many eminent writers. 
 Among the most distinguished may be reckoned some 
 of those of the last century, as Haller, Conrad, Gesner 
 the natural philosopher, Solomon Gesner the poet, 
 Rousseau and Neckar natives of Geneva, Bernouilli 
 and Euler mathematicians, Scheuchzer the natural 
 historian, Zimraermann the physician, Leonard Meister 
 of Zurich, of whom a late traveller says, that " The 
 universality of his talents may be collected from a 
 bare catalogue of his works,* and the famous Lavbter 
 the physiognomist, a clergyman of Zurich, who has- 
 published four quarto volumes on that fanciful sub- 
 ject. 
 
 Education.'] Travellers have given us little precise 
 information relative to the system of education in 
 Switzerland; but as they testify their surprize at the 
 knowledge which is generally found among the pea- 
 santry, it is reasonable to infer, from this circum- 
 stance, that the important business of popular in- 
 struction is not 'so much neglected as in England, and 
 many other countries.^ 
 
 Universities,'] There is an university of considerable 
 repute at Basle, and another at Geneva, with colleges 
 at Bern, Zurich, and Lucerne. 
 
 Manners, Customs, $r.] The manners of the Swiss 
 have been so often depicted, that the theme has be- 
 come trite and trivial. They have been described by 
 a number of intelligent travellers; while Rousseau 
 and other celebrated writers have delineated them in 
 
 .. * Coxe'sTrav. vol. 1, p. 90. 
 
 t Mr. Coxe was informed, that in tbc canton of Zurich, each village 
 Las a schoolmaster, paid wholly, or in part, by government. Vol. I, 
 p. 109. 
 
 ever/
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 
 
 very point of view, and all concur in applauding 
 their frankness and simplicity. Among the superior 
 classes, French manners preponderate. The dress of 
 the inferior ovders is but little regulated by fashion, 
 and in some cantons sumptuary laws have been enacted 
 for the prevention of luxury in superfluous orna- 
 ment. The houses of the peasantry are generally of 
 wood, with the staircases on the outside, and con- 
 structed in a styk of simplicity corresponding with 
 that of their manners, as well as with the rude and 
 romantic appearance of their country. According to 
 the concurrent testimony of intelligent observers, the 
 fabled happiness and virtue of the Arcadian swains, 
 approaches nearer to realization among the Swiss pea- 
 gantry than any where else in Europe ; and all travel- 
 lers represent this country as a model of moral beauty, 
 as well as a subject of physical curiosity. 
 
 National character.] From what has already beer* 
 gaid, the national character, which in every country 
 is only the general result of established customs and 
 manners, readily presents itself to the view. The 
 Swiss are in person tall and well made, robust. and 
 handsome, and have long been esteemed for their 
 fidelity and courage. The Swiss regiments in foreign 
 service have always been ranked among the best 
 troops in Europe, and the issue of battles has often 
 been decided by their bravery. Among the national 
 characteristics may be reckoued an intense attachment 
 to their native countrv. 
 
 AUSTRIAN
 
 208 
 
 AUSTRIAN EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries- Face of the Country Mountains 
 Rivers Canals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil 
 Climate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities An- 
 tiquities and Artificial Curiosities. 
 
 1 HE Austrian empire is comprehended between 40* 
 and 52 north latitude, and between 12 and 27 east 
 longitude, and consists of the archduchy of Austria, 
 the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary, the duchy of 
 Transylvania, and the provinces of Slavonia, Croatia, 
 and part of Dalmatia. That part of Austria lying 
 south of the Danube was a part of the Roman 
 provinces of Parmenia ; the other part on the north 
 of that river was inhabited by the warlike nation of 
 the Quadi, so formidable in the days of Marcus 
 Aurelius. It was afterwards the easternmost province 
 of Charlemagne's empire. Hungary belonged in pait 
 to the ancient Dacia.* Bohemia was a central part 
 of ancient Germany, but was afterwards occupied by 
 a Slavomc nation, whose chiefs had the title of 
 duke. Transylvania and Buckovina were a part of 
 the Roman province of Dacia, founded by Trajan, 
 and ceded to the Goths. The whole length of the 
 Austrian empire, from the borders of Switzerland to 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom. Emp. vol. 1, p. 22. 
 
 * the
 
 FACE OF THE COUNTRY. 209 
 
 the frontier of Prussian Poland, is about 7CO, and 
 its irregular breadth, from the northernmost to the 
 southernmost extremity, about 520 English miles. 
 The contents may be vaguely computed at about 
 184,000 square miles. Towards the east, the Austrian 
 dominions border on those of Russia and Turkey; 
 and to the north, on those of Prussia, Upper Saxony, 
 Bavaria, and Suabia ; to the west, on the Helvetic 
 Republic ; and on the south they have the Turkish 
 dominions and the kingdom of Italy. The original 
 population is a mixture of various races, but chiefly 
 Gothic and Slavonic. The German Goths appear 
 to have been the first known inhabitants of all 
 the Austrian territories. The Slavonians afterwards 
 established themselves in Hungary, Bohemia, and 
 Moravia, as well as in Poland. The inhabitants of 
 the Austrian dominions v ere always esteemed by the 
 Romans an exceedingly warlike race. 
 
 Face of the country.'] The face of the country is, in, 
 general, rather mountainous than level, although it 
 presents many extensive plains. Southern Austria 
 consists chiefly of eminences rising almost from the 
 banks of the Danube, and gradually increasing in 
 height till they terminate in the mountains of Carniola 
 and Carinthia.* Bohemia and Moravia are champaign 
 countries, but surrounded with mountains. Hungary, 
 bounded on the north by the vast semicircular ridge 
 of the Carpathian mountains, and on the east and 
 south by lower elevations, presents in its central part 
 immense plains, in which a person may travel some 
 days without perceiving the smallest elevation. f 
 Transylvania is diversified with hills, valleys, and 
 voods, and almost entirely surrounded with moun- 
 
 Rcisbeck' Traveli, vol. 1. t Ibid, vol. 2, p.C5. 
 
 VOL, 111. f tains.
 
 <jJ10 AUSTRIA. 
 
 tains. Slavonia, Croatia, and Hungarian Dalmatia, 
 may be ranked among mountainous countries, al- 
 though they present no very great elevations. 
 
 Mountains.'] The Rhetian, or Tyrolcse Alps, were 
 well known to antiquity. They extend from south- 
 west to north-west, according to the general direction 
 of the Alpine chains. They resemble the Alps of 
 Switzerland, in numerous glaciers and other charac- 
 teristic features. The Rhetian Alps are, by modern 
 geographers, sometimes called the Brenner mountains. 
 The Brenner, or burning hill, properly so called, 
 which has derived iis name from the frequency of its 
 thunder storms, is about 5109 feet above the level of 
 the sea.* The Gefrorn, an immense mass of granite, 
 covered with perpetual snow, is one of the highest 
 peaks of the Tyrolese chain. The highest of the 
 Glockner, and the Ortel, is computed at about 1 1,500 
 feet, and that of the Hoch-horn, in the archbishoprick 
 of Salsburg, at 10,06:3 feet. The Lobel, which 
 separates Carniola from Carinthia, and the Carnic or 
 Julian Alps, which separate the latter province from 
 Italy, are considerable chains. Carniola is almast 
 entirely mountainous, and some of its peaks are 
 crowned with perpetual snow. The mountains which 
 encompass Bohemia and Moravia are not distinguished 
 by any great elevation or striking features, but they 
 form a variety of difficult passes and defiles, which 
 were esteemed of great importance in the wars be- 
 tween Austria and Prussia. The Carpathian chain, 
 which extends near 500 miles, in a semicircular form, 
 from the southern confines cf Silesia, to the borders 
 of Transylvania and Wallachia, may be considered as 
 .the most important of the Austrian mountains. But 
 
 * BeaumontVlVhcuan Alps, p. 59, 6<L 
 
 these
 
 RIVERS. 211 
 
 these, although famed from early antiquity, are im- 
 perfectly known. They have lately been visited by 
 Mr.Townson; and from his observations their highest 
 peaks do not appear to have much more than half 
 the elevation of Mont Blanc, and some others of the 
 Alpine summits.* He ascended the Krivan, situated 
 about <2Q, 45' east longitude from London, and com- 
 putes its height at 2781 yards. He supposes the 
 height of the Kenmark Peak, a perpendicular rock on 
 the edge of Hungary, to be about 2836 yards. But 
 he computes the summit of Lommitz, which he at- 
 tained with considerable difficulty, to be about 2S8O 
 yards above the level of the sea, and considers it as 
 the highest of the whole Carpathian chain. The 
 lower parts of these mountains are covered with, 
 forests of firs, which are succeeded by rocks of lime- 
 stone and granite. They also contain several re- 
 markable lakes. There are no glaciers, or other 
 tokens of eternal winter, such as are found in the 
 Alps; but Mr. Townson, who made his excursion in 
 the middle of summer, found many of their summits 
 covered with snow.-j- 
 
 Rivers.'] Among the Austrian rivers, the majestic 
 Danube, that celebrated boundary of the Roman em- 
 pire, has, from its ancient fame, its length of course, 
 and its importance to inland navigation and com- 
 merce, the principal claim to attention. This vast 
 stream rises in Suabia, and pervades the Austrian em- 
 pire almost in its greatest length. Although its 
 course be, in some places, impeded by small fulls 
 and whirlpools, it is navigable through a prodigious 
 extent of country; and after watering Suabia, Bavaria, 
 
 * Townsou'i Trv. p. 353, 378. t Ibid, p. 347. 
 
 p 2 the
 
 412 
 
 the archduchy of Austria, the kingdom of Hungary, 
 and European Turkey, it discharges itself by several 
 mouths into the Euxine Sea. The whole course of 
 the Danube is not less than 1300 English miles, and 
 about one-half of its progress is through the Austrian 
 territories. 
 
 The Teiss rises in the Carpathian mountains, and 
 receives, in its course, several other streams, which 
 issue from that Alpine range. At first it runs towards 
 the west, and then turning to the south falls into the 
 Danube, a little to the west of Belgrade, after a 
 course of about 420 miles. The Save, which rises not 
 far from Idria, in the mountains of Carniola, forms a 
 boundary between the Austrian and Ottoman empires, 
 and after a course nearly equal in length to that of 
 the Teiss, falls into the Danube at Belgrade. The 
 Drave runs about 350 miles from its source, in the 
 mountains of Tyrol, to its junction with the Danube 
 below Esseck. The Inn rises in the mountain of 
 Maloggia, in the county of the Grisons, and joins the 
 Danube at Passaw, after a course of about 250 miles. 
 This river is nearly equal to the Danube itself at their 
 junction. The Elbe derives its source from the 
 Sudetic mountains, which separate Bohemia from 
 Silesia, and passes through a considerable part of that 
 kingdom before it enters Saxony. The Muldaw, 
 which rises in the southern mountains of Bohemia, 
 and joins the Elbe at Melnick, after passing through 
 Prague, is only remarkable for having that city, the 
 capital of ,the kingdom, seated on its banks. The 
 Morau, from which Moravia derives its name, after 
 passing by Olmutz falls into the Danube, not far to 
 the west of Presburg. Several other rivers of inferio 
 
 note
 
 LAKES MINERALOGY. 213 
 
 note might be enumerated. But it is somewhat sur- 
 prising that the ample extent of the Austrian empire 
 exhibits no navigable canals. 
 
 Lakes.] The lakes, in several parts of the Austrian 
 dominions, are numerous, but few of them merit any 
 particular description, although some are of a consi- 
 derable extent. The largest are in Hungary, the roost 
 considerable of which is the Flatten Sea, extending 
 about forty-five English miles in length, by eight in 
 breadth, and abounding in fish. The Neusiddal lake 
 is chiefly remarkable for its vicinity to Eisenstadt, 
 the magnificent residence of Prince Esterhazi. This 
 piece of water, which lies about thirty miles south- 
 east from Vienna, is thirteen miles in length and four 
 in breadth. It is surrounded with fens, which render 
 ils borders extremely unhealthy.* 
 
 Mineralogy. ~\ The Austrian empire far excels all 
 the other countries of Europe, in the variety and 
 importance of its mineralogy. There is scarcely a 
 province of this extensive territory that cannot boast 
 of its mineralogical riches. The mines of Bohemia 
 are of ancient celebrity.^ Silver is found in many 
 parts of that kingdom. But tin is one of the princi- 
 pal productions of the Bohemian mines.* It appears 
 to be restricted to the western part of the kingdom, 
 and lead is also found in the same quarter, where 
 there is also, at Dreyhacken, a mine of very pure 
 copper. Quicksilver, iron, magnet, alum, sulphur, 
 vitriol, talc, terra sigillata, and coal, are also reckoned 
 among the productions of Bohemia. The beautiful 
 
 * Rci^bcck'sTrav. vol. 2, p. 67. Townon's Trav. p. 39. 
 t Buschines, vol. 6, p. 125, edit. Frai^oisc. 
 
 J Reisbcck reckons the Bohemian tin next to the English, vol. t, 
 p. S63. 
 
 r 3 Bohemian
 
 214 AUSTRIA. 
 
 Bohemian garnets are found chiefly in the mountains 
 of Stiefelberg whence they are carried to Bclen.* 
 Many hands are employed in preparing them for 
 necklaces and other ornaments. This branch of com- 
 merce is of great antiquity at Carlesbad and at Wal- 
 lurk, in Suabia, where twenty-eight mills are occupied 
 in this article. Moravia partakes with Bohemia in its 
 mineralogical advantages. Austria Proper displays a 
 less variety of mineral productions, but that province 
 contains .some mines of gold, and also of alum, and 
 furnishes saltpetre in great abundance. In 1754 a 
 valuable mine of silver was opened at a small distance 
 from St. Annaberg, in the southern part of Austria. 
 The provinces of Stiria, Carinthia, and Carniola afford 
 many important minerals. The iron of Stiria supplies 
 steel of the best quality ; and great quantities of it 
 are annually exported to England. The lead mines, 
 near Pagau, yield annually about 5000 ton weight. 
 At Zayring there were silver mines, which had been 
 under water since the middle of the twelfth century. 
 There are also mines of coal in Styria. Carinthia, 
 likewise, yields excellent iron ; and the mines of 
 Friesach are particularly famous. This province also 
 contains rich lead mines. Among the more curious 
 minerals, may be remarked the beautiful blue granite 
 of Carinthia, which appears to be a production not 
 only of this province, but also of Stiria. Carniola has 
 some iron works, but cannot boast of a varied mine- 
 ralogy. The quicksilver mines of Idria are celebrated 
 in natural history. These were discovered in 1499, 
 and have annually yielded 300,000/fo. weight of mer- 
 cury. The common ore is cinnabar; but sometimes 
 the I'Ure quicksilver runs through the crevices. Idria 
 
 * Journal d^s Mines, No. 6. v
 
 MINERALOGY. Q15 
 
 is surrounded with woody hills. The mine is of a 
 vast depth : the descent is by ladders and stone stairs. 
 The length of the galleries is computed at 1580 feet. 
 These vast mercurial caverns heing extremely per- 
 nicious to health; the labours there carried on are 
 sometimes allotted as a punishment to criminals.* 
 
 Hungary and Transylvania' surpass all other parts of 
 the Austrian dominions, and of all Europe, in the 
 variety of their mineralogy. The gold mines of 
 Cremnitz and the silver mines at Shemnitz, have 
 given birth to these two cities, which are, therefore, 
 called mining towns. Cremnitz is about forty miles 
 south from the Carpathian mountains, and Shemnitz 
 about twenty miles south from Cremnitz. Hungary, 
 likewise, contains rich mines of copper and antimony, 
 as well as some of salt, alum, and coal. Saltpetre is 
 also produced in considerable quantities, and natron, 
 or soda, is found in a lake towards the frontier of 
 Transylvania. The celebrated mine of opal, a gem 
 preferred before all others, by the oriental nations, 
 is situated at Czerweniza, in Hungary, and has been 
 supposed the only one in the world. -j- It is certainly 
 the best that has been discovered. The mines of 
 Transylvania and the Bannat are also extremely valua- 
 ble. The former of these provinces has numerous 
 gold mines, in some of which the gold is mixed with 
 antimony, lead, and iron, in others with manganeze 
 and zinc, and in others with gravel and sand. Those 
 of Naijiag being the richest in Transylvania are con- 
 ducted with great care and exactness. The chief 
 mining town of the Bunnat is Orawira. There are 
 
 * Kirwan's Mineral, vol. I, p. 3'26, 33?. Pinkcrtoa's Geog. vol. \, 
 p, 373, 374. 
 
 t Journal dc Klines, Mo. 2. Tavernicr, Part. 2, p. 293. 
 
 i> 4 mines
 
 216 AUSTRIA. 
 
 mines of copper to the south of that place, and to the 
 north some of gold and silver. In the Krivan, one 
 of the Carpathian mountains, there is a mine of 
 native gold ; but it is found in quantities so ex- 
 tremely small, that in procuring one guinea, three 
 must be expended.* The salt mines of Wielitzka, 
 in the Austrian division of Poland, about eight miles 
 to the south of Cracow, are situated at the northern 
 extremity of a projecting branch "of the Carpathian 
 mountains. The extent and splendour of those vast 
 excavations have been greatly exaggerated by tra- 
 vellers, f They are, however, sufficiently important 
 and wonderful, without being indebted to fiction. 
 Their extent! is 1200 yards in length from east to 
 west, and 200 from north to south, and their depth 
 is prodigious. The galleries and chambers are of an 
 immense size, being supported by timber, or by vast 
 pillars of salt, out of which material even subter- 
 raneous apartments and chapels are formed. The 
 miners work by intervals of eight hours, after which 
 they are drawn up, and their places supplied by 
 others The salt is of an iroq grey colour, sometimes 
 intermixed with while cubes; and sometimes large 
 Llocks of salt are found imbedded in marie. The 
 revenue arising from these mines has been computed 
 at the annual sum of JOO,OOO/. sterling.:}: 
 
 Mineral IVatcrs.'] The mineral waters in the Austrian 
 empire are numerous, as it is reasonably to be ex- 
 pected in a country so abundant in mountains and 
 mines. The most famous are those of Baden, in 
 
 * T'lwmon's Travels in Hungary, p. 377. 
 t Co.\e s Travels in Poland, vol. 1. 
 
 J For an a'nple description of the salt miaes, vide Townson's Trar. 
 ubi supra, ar.d Coxe ubi supra. 
 
 * Austria ;
 
 SOIL. 217 
 
 Austria ; of Carlestadt, in Bohemia ; and of Gran, 
 Groswardin, and Buda, in Hungary. 
 
 So/7.] The soil of so extensive an empire must neces- 
 sarily be various; but, excepting the mountainous tracts, 
 it is almost every where also extremely fertile. Austria 
 Proper is well cultivated, contains a happy peasantry, 
 and has every appearance of a flourishing province.* 
 Bohemia is greatly favoured by nature, in regard to 
 its soil, which, as well as its climate, is excellent; and 
 all the necessaries of life are exceedingly good and 
 cheap.f 11 ungary, however, excels all the other terri- 
 tories of the Austrian empire in fertility .J But from 
 the imperfect state of agriculture, many parts of that 
 rich country present only extensive morasses and 
 wastes. The great central plain of Hungary, extend- 
 ing 2.30 miles in every direction, presents, in most 
 parts, an extremely rich but uncultivated soil. A late 
 traveller says, that in crossing this plain, in some 
 places, for fifty miles together, not a single village is 
 seen, that all is an immense and boundless waste, 
 feeding numerous herds of cattle, and that the hardy 
 keepers sleep with them on the ground, covered with 
 their sheep skin clothing.^ Such is the state of 
 agriculture and civilization in that fertile country. 
 But there is no doubt that the emancipation of the 
 peasantry will soon be productive of great improve- 
 ments. In the Polish provinces, now subject to 
 Austria, agriculture had, from time immemorial, been 
 in such a state as might be expected from the op- 
 pressive system which prevailed in Poland. A late 
 judicious traveller, who visited these parts, found the 
 country overspread with vast tracts of thick gloomy 
 
 Reisbcck's Trav. TO!. 2, p. 70, 99, 100. t Ibid, vol. 2, p. 123. 
 J Ibid, vol. 1, p. 19. Townsou'Tray. p. 236. 
 
 forests,
 
 218 AUSTRIA. 
 
 forests, and almost without any marks of cultivation 
 artel industry. In travelling between Cracow and 
 Warsaw, a distance of above 250 miles, he met witli 
 only two carriages and about a dozen carts. The 
 soil, where not sandy, was, through want of drainage 
 and culture, almost every where marshy; and the 
 peasantry were the most miserable that he had seen 
 >h any country.* This may be considered as a proof, 
 that the cause of liberty and humanity did not suffer 
 iBnch by the partition of Poland. There is no doubt 
 thnt a great improvement will be made in the state of 
 this country and of its inhabitants, through the influ- 
 ence of the Austrian government. Transylvania and 
 the other eastern appendages of the Austrian empire, 
 have been little explored by travellers. All that is 
 known of them in this particular is, that their soil is 
 in general good, but their agriculture very imperfect. 
 
 Climate.] The climate throughout the Austrian do- 
 minions is tolerably mild, and in general healthful, if 
 we except Hungary. In that kingdom, many parts of 
 the great central plain being, through want of cultiva- 
 tion and drainage, converted into stagnant morasses, 
 the air is in some places very unwholesome : towards 
 the Carpathian mountains it is much more salubrious. 
 The climate of Bohemia is excellent, as is proved by 
 the high degree of health, strength, and cheerfulness, 
 every where observable among the inhabitants. f 
 
 Vegetable productions.'] The vegetable productions 
 of the Austrian dominions are, in genera], similar to 
 those of other countries in the same latitudes. Corn 
 and pasturage are extremely plentiful and good. Bo- 
 hemia' is famous for hops, as well as for barley and 
 wheat. The Bohemians brew excellent beer, which 
 * Coxe'sTrav. in Poland, vol. 1. i Reisbeck's Tiar, vol. 2, p. 123.
 
 ZOOLOGY. 210 
 
 as well as their hops, forms a very considerable article 
 of trade. Austria Proper displays numerous vineyards 
 and fields of saffron.* Hungary is famous for the 
 richness of its wines, particularly that of Tokay, which 
 deserves a particular mention. This celebrated wine 
 is produced in a hilly district, extending between 
 twenty and thirty miles to the north of Tokay, but of 
 a less considerable breadth.t This tract is extremely 
 populous, and contains several towns that are larger 
 than Tokay. The wine owes its richness to a mixture 
 of luscious half-dried grapes. It is sold at near half a 
 guinea per bottle at the place of its growth. Amongst 
 the vegetable productions of the Austrian dominions 
 must also be reckoned vast quantities of timber of va- 
 rious species. Numerous and extensive forests run in 
 every direction, especially along the Carpathian moun- 
 tains, in Transylvania, and in the provinces formerly 
 belonging to Poland. The general mild temperature 
 of the Austrian territories, with the variety of their 
 soil and situation from the lakes and levels of Hun- 
 gary to the snowy summits of the Carinthian and Car- 
 pathian mountains, render their botany exceedingly 
 various and extensive. 
 
 Zoology.] The domestic animals are in general ex- 
 cellent, particularly the horned cattle. In the western 
 territories the horses, cows, and sheep are scarcely 
 distinguished from those of other parts of Germany. 
 The horses of Hungary are very small ; but foreign 
 breeds are plentifully introduced. Many of the na- 
 tive horses run wild, and in that state are sold in great 
 numbers at the fairs. The horned cattle are mostly of 
 
 * Marshal's Trav. vol. 3. Ileisbeck's Trav. vol. '.%.. Great improve- 
 ments are undoubtedly made singe tlie time of these travellers, 
 t Tuwason's Trav. p. 2ti2. 
 
 a peculiar
 
 220 AUSTRIA. 
 
 a peculiar colour, a slaty blue. The she<?p resemble 
 those of Wallachia, in their spiral horns standing 
 erect, and their pendent hairy fleece. That large breed 
 of wild cattle, called Urus or Bison, is said to be found 
 in the Carpathian forests. The chamois and marmot 
 are not uncommon in many of the Alpine tracts ; and 
 some parts of the Carpathian mountains are infesied 
 with bears and wolves.* The Austrian ornithology 
 is sufficiently various, and can even boast of the peli- 
 can : the bustard is in some parts common. In regard 
 to ichthiology, the Danube has some fishes almost pe- 
 culiar to that river, among which is a small but deli- 
 cious kind of salmon. 
 
 Natural curiosities.] The natural curiosities of these 
 countries are far too numerous to be particularized. 
 They consist chiefly of grand Alpine scenesin the moun- 
 tainous regions, of calcareous rocks, and stupendous 
 caverns. One of these caverns, near Adisberg in Car- 
 niola, is of a prodigious extent, displaying natural am- 
 phitheatres, bridges, Sac. and containing spaces suffi- 
 cient for the erection of villages. One of the most 
 singular curiosities is the Zerchnitzer Zee, or lake of 
 Cizekiritz, in Carniola. It is more than eight English 
 miles in length, and four in breadth. In the month of 
 June the water sinks under ground through various 
 apertures at the bottom, and reascends in September 
 with considerable force, yielding a rich pasturage for 
 a few weeks in summer, and in winter abounding with 
 fish. The lake Jesero in the island of Cherso, which 
 diffuses its waters only every fifth year, exhibits a phoe- 
 nornenon of a similar nature.^ Near Frautenau in 
 Bohemia, is a vast and singular assemblage of natural 
 
 * Townson's Trav. p. 347. 
 
 + Fortis, p. 429, ap Pinkerton's Geog. vol, \, p. 378. 
 
 tower*
 
 ARTIFICIAL CURIOSITIES, &C. <22l 
 
 :, 
 
 towers of stone, from 60to 150 feet in height, supposed 
 to be the skeleton of a hill.* 
 
 Artificial curiosities and antiquities, .] The monu- 
 ments of antiquity in the Austrian dominions are not 
 very numerous; and few of them are of any great im- 
 portance. Hungary and other parts of the ancient 
 Dacia contain many relics of the Roman power, as 
 military roads, ruins, &c. These countries having 
 frequently been exposed to the ravages of war, many 
 of their ancient monuments have undoubtedly pe- 
 rished. Several churches, monasteries, and castles, 
 however, still attest the magnificence of their founders, 
 
 * Beisbeck's Trav. vol. 2, p. 148. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 222 
 
 CHAP. IL 
 
 Principal Cities and Towns Edifice* Island*. 
 
 VIENNA, the metropolis of the Austrian empire, 
 and commonly regarded as the capital of Germany, is 
 seated on the south, or rather the west side of the Da- 
 nube, in a fertile plain watered by a branch of that 
 river, and by the little river Wien. The suburb of 
 Leopold-stadt stands on the opposite side of the Da- 
 nube, which is here very wide, and contains several 
 woody isles. The country towards the north and east 
 is level, but on the south and west it is variegated with 
 hills and wood. The streets, except those in the su- 
 burbs, are narrow. The houses are generally of brick, 
 covered with a durable kind of stucco, and carried to 
 the height of five or six stories. They are flat roofed, 
 and have commonly three or four deep cellars one un- 
 der another, with an open space in the middle of each 
 arched roof for the admission of air, and a tube pass- 
 ing from the lowermost up to the top for the same be- 
 neficial purpose. The palaces and public buildings 
 are numerous and magnificent. The Metropolitan 
 church of St. Stephen is a large Gothic fabric, with 
 splendid decorations. The imperial palace, library, 
 and arsenal, are worthy of notice. The imperial library 
 contains between 5,000 and 6,000 books, printed in 
 the fifteenth century, many rare manuscripts, and a 
 very extensive collection of modem books. The cabi- 
 net
 
 VIENNA. 225 
 
 ' \ 
 
 net of medals is exceedingly rich. Many private col- 
 lections of natural history are extremely valuable, and 
 in some places would be considered as fine' public mu- 
 seums.* The theatres are magnificent: there are se- 
 
 O 
 
 veral smaller ones in the suburbs; and the different 
 places of public amusement are numerous. In the 
 winter, sledge parties on the Danube are a favorite di- 
 version among the inhabitants of Vienna. At that 
 season the frost is often severe. In 17U3, the cold 
 was so intense, that the Mercury stood at 17 below 
 O of Reaumur, and the Danube was frozen till the be- 
 ginning of March.-f- Vienna teems with coffee-houses 
 and gazettes. There are no fewer than sixteen or 
 seventeen newspapers printed in this Austrian capital, 
 besides abundance of French, Italian, and English, 
 and a still greater number of the different German pa- 
 pers and journals.;!" Bull-baiting is a favorite diver- 
 sion among the populace of Vienna; and various 
 places of resort, where dancing 1 , feasting, and female 
 charms may be enjoyed at a cheap rate, abound both in 
 the city and suburbs.^ The inhabitants of Viennalive in 
 the most luxurious style. In no part of Europe, nor 
 perhaps of the world, are the markets so plentifully 
 supplied, and provisions so cheap. || Hares are brought 
 in by cart-loads, and the abundance of pheasants and 
 partridges is astonishing. Livers of geese are here es- 
 teemed a great delicacy ; and the Jews exclusively pos- 
 sess the secret of feeding them to an enormous size. 
 But the 'indulgence of gormandi/ing here has no 
 bounds. Notwithstanding the almost incredible plenty 
 
 * Townson's Trav. p. 2 6 1.5. + Ibid. p. 27. + Ibid. p. 30, 31. 
 Ibid, p 16, 17. 
 
 }{ KoisbcfL says, the scarcity of money in Hungary is the cause of tliw 
 abundance of provision at Vienna. Rebbcck'i 'i r<tv. vol. V, p. y. 
 
 and
 
 SC4- AUSTRIA. 
 
 ami cheapness of the most excellent butcher's meat, 
 game and fish, tortoises, frogs and snails, find a ready 
 market. A pair of frogs' legs are sold for about three- 
 fiirthings; and seven snails are charged at the same 
 price as a plate of beef or veal.* Frogs are brought 
 % by 40,OOO at a time from the country, and bought up 
 by the great dealers at Vienna, who keep them in eel- 
 Jars destined to that use.f "Besides the extraordinary 
 abundance of provisions, there is also great plenty and 
 variety of excellent wines, so that nothing is wanting 
 to render the Austrian capital the paradise of gluttons. 
 But food for the intellect is neither so plentiful, nor 
 held in so high estimation; and although well informed 
 persons may be found there, the philosopher would 
 scarce!}' consider Vienna as an Elysium. The people 
 of all ranks are, in general, very little addicted to lite- 
 rature.^ But since the accession of Maria 'Theresa, 
 various efibrts have been made by the Austrian mo- 
 narchs, especially by Joseph If, towards enlightening 
 their subjects, and inspiring them with a taste for let- 
 ters and science. The capital can boast of several 
 respectable institutions for that purpose. There is art 
 university, & college of medicine, academics for the 
 nobility, for the clergy, and for the fine arts, a school 
 for the deaf and dumb, and several other laudable esta- 
 blishments. 
 
 Vienna, from its situation, almost in the centre of 
 the European continent, as well as from being so long 
 the residence of the imperial court, is a place of great 
 resort, not only for strangers from all parts of Germa- 
 ny, as well as from the different states of the Austrian 
 
 * Townsou's Trav. p. 15. t Ibid. 
 
 J See the descriptions of the city and people ot Vienna in Townson's. 
 Trav. aad la Reisbeck's Trav. rol. 1 and ?. 
 
 dominions,
 
 VIENNA. 225 
 
 dominions, but also for foreigners from all parts of 
 Europe, and presents an assemblage of various nations 
 with their respective costume and peculiar manners. 
 The Austrians being in a great measure strangers to 
 that cultivation of mind and condescension of man- 
 ners, so conspicuous among persons of rank and edu- 
 cation, in some other countries, the Inhabitants of 
 Vienna, though civil, shew a kind of coldness and re- 
 serve, which have the appearance of pride, and con- 
 tribute to cast a damp on the enjoyments of society.* 
 The women are handsome and well made, but their 
 countenances are not interesting.-]- Their education 
 leaves them, in general, destitute of mental accom- 
 plishments ; but a spirit of gallantry is sufficiently 
 prevalent, and, in this respect, the manners of the 
 Austrian capital seem to partake of the cicisbeism of 
 Italy and Spain, forming a kind of medium between 
 the profligacy of the south, and the decency of the 
 north of Europe. In order to illustrate the whole by 
 comparison, it may be observed, that in the elegancies 
 of literature and manners, Vienna is very far behind 
 not only London and Paris, but also Dresden, Berlin, 
 and Frankfort.;}; 
 
 The trade of Vienna has, since the accession of Ma- 
 ria Theresa, been constantly in a state of improve- 
 ment; but it is mostly in the hands of strangers from 
 Suabia and other parts of Germany, and is far less 
 flourishing than it might be rendered by good regula- 
 tions and proper encouragement.^ Although situated 
 
 * Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 1, p. 237. t Ibid. vol. 2, p. 6. 
 
 $ See descriptions of Dresden, Berlin, and Frankfort; and general 
 comparisons between the northern and southern part* of Germany ; JReis 
 beck, vol. 2 and 3. 
 
 Keisbeck, vol. 2, p. 11, 
 VOL. III. O. U
 
 226 AUSTRIA. 
 
 in the interior of the continent, tlie Austrian capital 
 possesses, by means of the Danube, and by its central 
 position between Hungary and Germany, incalculable 
 advantages in respect of inland navigation and com- 
 merce. Vienna has some manufactures of cloth, linen, 
 stuffs, stockings, silk, mirrors, porcelain, gold and sil- 
 ver lace, silver plate, and various articles of brass.* 
 Formerly, however, these were not carried on to any 
 great extent ; but of late they appear to be much im- 
 proved. Vienna stands on the site of the ancient 
 Vindobona, a frontier town and fortress of the Romans, 
 but was of little note till the twelfth century, when it 
 became the residence of the Dukes of Austria ; and 
 under the later emperors of that house it has been 
 greatly enlarged and embellished. The population is 
 by Boetticher and Zimmermann differently estimated : 
 the former computes it at 254,000, the latter onlv at 
 206,000 ; but it is probable that he has not included 
 the suburbs.t 
 
 The suburbs of Vienna are far more extensive than 
 the city, and standing at a distance from the walls, 
 cause the whole of that metropolis to occupy a very 
 large space. The prater, or imperial park, isau island 
 in the Danube well planted with wood; and a little to 
 the south is the chapel of Herenhartz, which, during 
 Lent, is greatly frequented for the sake of amusement 
 as well as of devotion. The magnificent palace of 
 Belvidere, which formerly belonged to Prince Eu- 
 gene, is in one of the suburbs, and at the distance of 
 a few miles is Schoenbrun, -another imperial palace. 
 The imperial garden at Schoenbrun, is one of the finest 
 in the world. The hot-houses are superior to every 
 
 * Busching, vol. 6, p. 549. 
 
 t BoeUicher's Statist. Tables, vol. 5 -/irumerraann'b Statist". Tab. 2. 
 
 thing
 
 PRAGUE. 2)57 
 
 thing of the kind seen in other parts of Europe, and 
 contain the greatest variety of rare plants, all in the 
 most excellent state.* The suburb of Leopolstadt is 
 seated on the opposite side of that branch of the Da- 
 nube, which waters the city. There is a coal mine 
 at Odenburg near Vienna; but the people having 
 there, as in most other parts of the continent, a preju- 
 dice against that kind of fuel, on a supposition of its 
 being unwholesome, it is seldom used except in some 
 manufactories.-!- 
 
 Prague."] Since the loss of Milan and Brussels, and 
 more recently of Venice, Prague has an indisputable 
 claim to rank as the second city of the Austrian em- 
 pire. This capital of Bohemia is situated on both 
 sides of the Moldaw, over which is a fine stone bridge, 
 first built in J&57. This bridge commands a magnifi- 
 cent prospect of the city, which rises on both sides 
 like an amphitheatre. On the right the ascent conti- 
 nues to the imperial palace, which is majestically 
 seated on the top of the eminence: on the left, fine 
 gardens and pleasure- houses forming the other side of 
 the amphitheatre, have a fine effect. The city which 
 is ill built, although the houses are of stone, is about 
 three miles long and two broad ; but there are exten- 
 sive gardens and pleasure-grounds within the walls, so 
 that the population, computed al only 80,000, of which 
 more than 10,000 are Jews, is far from corresponding 
 with the extent. The fortifications are not strong. 
 The garrison, however, generally consists of about 
 9,OOO men. On the whole, Prague is a desirable resi- 
 dence ; for besides the amenity of the situation, the 
 excellency of the climate, and the cheapness of living, 
 
 * Towiiv)i)'-. Tniv. p. Ifl 21. t Ibid. p. 40. 
 
 Q 2 th$
 
 S2S AUSTRIA. 
 
 the inhabitants are civil and intelligent, and society is 
 agreeable.* 
 
 Buda.] Buda, the ancient metropolis of Hungary, 
 is situated on the Danube. It is three or four miles 
 long, but its breadth is very inconsiderable, occupying 
 only a narrow stripe of land between the Danube and 
 the hill on which the fortress is built. Buda has nei- 
 ther fortifications nor gates. Pest is on the opposite 
 side of the river, over which is a bridge of boats, and 
 both may be considered as one city. The chief build- 
 ings, both public and private, are in Pest. The royal 
 palace is a large and stately edifice. f The university 
 of Buda has a salary of 20,000/. sterling ; but is under 
 such bnd regulations, that not above 4,000/. is appro- 
 priated to the professors. Here is however a good 
 collection of mathematical instruments ; and the mu- 
 seum of natural history may rank among the first in 
 Europe. But the library is only indifferent. J Here 
 is also an observatory and a botanical garden. The 
 hot baths constructed by the Turks, when they were 
 in possession of this country, are remarkable for theiv 
 extent and magnificence. Here are several coffee- 
 houses, one of which is perhaps unrivalled in Europe. 
 The population of Buda and Pest is estimated at 
 38,000. At Pest a great annual fair is held, which 
 continues for eight or nine days, and is much fre- 
 quented by the Jews, Armenians, and Greeks, who 
 have almost the whole trade of Hungary in their 
 hands. Bull and bear baiting is Tiere, as well as at 
 Vienna, a favorite diversion.^ The hills behind Buda 
 command an extensive view into the great plain of 
 Hungary. The field of Bakosch, where the Hunga- 
 
 * Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 2, p. 138141. t Townson' Trav. p. 77. 
 J Ibid. p. 79. | Ibid. p. 8088. 
 
 riam
 
 PREStlURG GRATZ. 229 
 
 rian nation formerly held its diets and elected its sove- 
 reigns, is only three or four miles from Pest. At 
 some of these assemblies $0,000 persons have pitched 
 their tents.* 
 
 Presburg.'] Presburg had for a long time been rec- 
 koned the capital of Hungary $ but in 1784, the seat 
 of the provincial government, and the public offices 
 were restored to Buda. Presburg is a well built town, 
 pleasantly situated on the Danube, which is here '250 
 yards broad, and extremely rapid. Here is a good 
 theatre as well as commodious coffee-houses, with news- 
 papers, &c. as at Vienna. The population, is estimated 
 at 28,000. t Of these about a fourth are Lutherans, 
 who are so opulent as to pay half of the taxes. Jews 
 are also numerous. J 
 
 Gratz.~\ Gratz, the capital of Stiria, is nearly equal 
 to Buda and Pest in population, its inhabitants being 
 computed at 55,000. This city is situated on the 
 west side of the river Muchr, and has an extensive 
 suburb on the opposite batik, with which it communi- 
 cates by a bridge. Gratz is a fine city, with regular 
 fortifications and a strong citadel built on a bold rock 
 near the river. The luxury of the table is here inde- 
 scribable. || In this respect Gratz exceeds, if possible, 
 even Vienna. The other cities of the Austrian empire 
 are not very considerable. Among the polish acqui- 
 sitions are Cracow, the ancient capital of that kingdom, 
 seated on the Vistula, a city of great extent, but con- 
 taining only about '24,000 inhabitants ; and Leopold_, 
 with a population of about 20,000. 
 
 * Townson, p. 91. 
 
 t Boetticher estimates them at 27,000, Statist, tab. 12. 
 
 $ Townson, p. 440, 441. 
 
 $ Reisbcck computes them at only 50,000, vol. 2, p. 76. 
 
 fi Ibid. 
 
 9 3 Hcrmamtadt.
 
 250 AUSTRIA. 
 
 Ifermanstadt.] Hermanstadt, the capital of Tran- 
 sylvania, is an unhealthy situation. Its inhabitants 
 are estimated at about 17,000. 
 
 Brurm and Ofmutz~\ Brurm and Olmutz, both in 
 Moravia, are supposed to contain, the former about 
 1 8,OOO, and the latter about 12,000. 
 
 Trieste. "\ Trieste, the only sea- port of the Austrian 
 dominions, is situated on a bay of the Adriatic and on 
 the declivity of a hill, which is crowned with the cas- 
 tle. The population is estimated at about 18,000. 
 The adjacent country produces excellent wines. This 
 was declared a free port by the Empress Queen, Ma- 
 ria Theresa. The exports consist of quicksilver and 
 various metals, with wines and other native produc- 
 tions. 
 
 Edifices.] Besides the edifices already noticed in 
 describing Vienna, Buda, and Pest, many splendid 
 churches, monasteries, and palaces, are seen in the 
 various regions of the Austrian empire. JVJany of the 
 Hungarian nobility have vast estates and castles of 
 corresponding magnificence. But the chief of all is 
 that of Eisenstadt, the princely seat of the family of 
 Esterhazy, which almost equals Versailles in splendor.* 
 But the situation near an unwholesome morass ad- 
 joining to the lake of Newsiddal, is one of the most 
 disagreeable and insalubrious that can be imagined. i 
 The inhabitants of the adjacent country look like 
 ghosts, and are annually plagued with the aguc.f 
 
 * Reisbrck's Trav. vol. 2, p. 66. t Townson's Trav. p. oK 
 $ Re isbeck, vol. 2, p. 67. Reisbeck says, that no palace in France, 
 except Versailles, equals Prince Esterhazi's in magnificence. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 231 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Present State, political and moral Religion Government Laws 
 Army Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population Political 
 importance Language Literature Polite Arts Education Man- 
 ners and Customs National character. 
 
 Religion.'] JL HE predominant religion of the whole 
 Austrian empire is the Roman Catholic, hut all sects 
 enjoy a liberal toleration. Protestants of various de- 
 nominations are found in Bohemia and Moravia. 
 Lutherans are to be met with even at Vienna, but 
 they chiefly abound in Transylvania. In Hungary 
 they have churches and bells, and pay no dues to the 
 Catholic church, Mr. Townson supposes them equal 
 to the Catholics in number. Hungary, including 
 Croatia and Bosnia, contains two arch i episcopal, and 
 fifteen episcopal sees. The Hungarian clergy are a 
 powerful body. The archbishop of Gran has a revenue 
 of about J6,000/. per annum.* The archbishop of 
 Vienna was a prince of the holy Roman empire, until 
 the domineering power of France abolished the imperial 
 dignity. A more minute investigation of the Austrian 
 hierarchy, would rather be tedious than interesting. 
 
 Government.'] The Austrian empire being an as- 
 semblage of different kingdoms and states, laying 
 claim to different privileges, their various forms of 
 government are at least ostensibly different. Hun- 
 trary, long an elective kingdom, although now hcre- 
 
 * Polit. Journ. 1783, ap. Townson, p. 10. 
 
 o 4 ditary,
 
 32 AUSTRIA. 
 
 ditary, retains its diets or aristocratical senate. Even 
 the archduchy of Austria has its states, consisting of 
 four orders, clergy, peers, knights, and burgesses, 
 the assembly for lower Austria being held at Vienna, 
 and that of the upper at Lintz.* In fine, every pro- 
 vince lias its separate government. But as they have 
 so little connection, such various interests and so 
 great a degree of national hatred existing among them, 
 and as the vast military force of the whole is in the 
 hands of the sovereign, no single state can resist his 
 
 O * O 
 
 will. The powerful kingdom of Hungary, however, 
 requires a considerable degree of political attention in 
 its administration, and the court of Vienna is always 
 cautious of going too far in violating the privileges 
 of that haughty people. Many attempts, however, 
 were made by the emperor Jos. II, to reduce his ex- 
 tensive dominions under an uniform and arbitrary 
 government, and if we except Hungary, Transylvania, 
 &c. we may consider the Austrian empire as an abso- 
 lute monarcby, since the local constitutions arc mere 
 forms and shadows of ancient systems, which have 
 no weight in the political scale against a powerful 
 prince with a numerous army at his command. 
 
 .Lore's.] The laws vary according to the different 
 provinces, each state having its peculiar code, but in 
 general they are equitable and mild. It must be ob- 
 served, that the peasantry were emancipated in 178f).-f 
 Before that memorable era the boasted liberty of Hun- 
 gary consisted in feudal aristocracy and popular 
 slavery. By the military constitution of Hungary ; 
 even the clergy are not exempt from taking the field 
 if required. Formerly the archbishop of Gran, and 
 
 * Pinkerton's Geog, TO!. 1. p. 344. Busching's Geog. vol. 6, p. 536. 
 I Se<; hist. chap, reign of Maria Theresa and Jos. II. 
 
 * some
 
 MILITARY FORCE. REVENUE. COMMERCE. 233 
 
 some other prelates, appeared each at the head of 
 1000 of their vassals. And in the battle of Mohatch 
 in 1526, no fewer than seven bishops were left dead 
 on the field.* 
 
 Military force.'] The military force of Austria, 
 which was computed-by Boetticher at 30,3,4.55 men, 
 has been considerably diminished by her sanguinary 
 contests with France and her territorial losses. Pitik- 
 erton supposes it could scarcely amount at present to 
 500,000 men, but if we consider that Austria still, 
 retains those countries from whence she always de- 
 rived her greatest military strength, her armies must 
 yet be formidable, and perhaps that writer may have 
 underrated their number. Naval force cannot here 
 constitute an article of description, as none such 
 exists. Had Venice been preserved, that acquisition, 
 might have given rise to an Austrian navy. 
 
 Reroute.'] The finances of the house of Austria form 
 a subject of still more difficult investigation than its 
 military strength. After so many defalcations, former 
 estimates can serve only as uncertain guides. The 
 whole revenue of the Austrian monarchy has been 
 computed at more than 10,000,000 sterling. In 1794 
 it was estimated by Crome at only 9, 100,000/. But 
 since that time, Austria having lost the Netherlands 
 and the Italian provinces, it scarcely seems probable 
 that it can now amount to 8,000,000/. Before the 
 last contest with France, the national debt was com- 
 puted at about 40,000,000/. sterling, but it must since 
 I hat time be considerably augmented. 
 
 Commerce.'] The extensive countries which com- 
 
 * The borders of Hungary on the south and east are disposed in mili- 
 tary governments, where the clergy, both Catholics and Protestants, are 
 pbliged to Ukc arms. Tovmson, p. 202. 
 
 pose
 
 2J4 AUSTRIA. 
 
 pose the Austrian empire, although blessed with an 
 exuberant fertility, and abounding in native produc- 
 tions, are disadvantageous^ situated in regard to 
 foreign trade, being wholly inland and having no 
 other port than Trieste, Hungary produces a quan- 
 tity and variety of valuable commodities, sufficient 
 for carrying on an extensive trade ; but its inland 
 situation, and a number of commercial restrictions, 
 counterbalance tho^ advantages. The Hungarian 
 exports at present, consist chiefly of cattle, hogs, 
 sheep, wool, corn, flour, and wine, carried to Vienna 
 and other parts of the Austrian dominions, not above 
 a seventh part being sent to foreign countries.* The 
 trade of Hungary lies under many oppressive restraints, 
 and Vienna regards that kingdom only as a magazine 
 of raw materials, and a consumer of its manufac- 
 tures.-^ 
 
 Mannf> "fines.'] No part of the Austrian empire, 
 except its former Italian and Belgic appendages, has 
 ever pursued an extensive manufacturing system, It 
 appears, however, that of late the state of manufac- 
 tures lias been greatly improved in Austria, Stiria, 
 and Bohemia. The latter country has long been cele-r 
 brated for those of glass and paper. A late writer 
 says, that in the archduchy of Austria there are seven 
 great manufactories of cotton, which employ 140,000 
 persons, and that 30,000 individuals derive employ- 
 ment from the woollen manufacture at Lintz. The 
 same author informs us, that the iron manufactures 
 tre numerous in Stiria, and that Bohemia has linen 
 manufactures to the amount of 16,000,000 of florins.J 
 According to these statements it appears, that the 
 
 * Townson's Trav. p. 198. } Reisbeck's Trav. p, 2. Townson, p. 194- 
 1 Iloe^k Appercu Statistique des Etats de rAllrangn. 
 
 manufacturing
 
 POPULATION. POLITICAL 1M PORT ANC E, &C. 235 
 
 manufacturing system of the Austrian dominions is 
 becoming important. 
 
 Population^ The population of the Austrian em- 
 pire has been variously computed. Perhaps Zimmer- 
 raann's statement, which being taken from a medium 
 of six different writers, gives the number of 19,6 i 1,000 
 may be a tolerable approximation to truth.* On 
 the same principle of computation he also assigns 
 5,170,000 to the population of Hungary and Transyl- 
 vania. But Townson, on the authority of De Lucca, 
 asserts, that according to the conscription laid before 
 Joseph II, the population of Hungary was found to 
 be somewhat more than 7,000,000. and that De Lucca 
 on probable grounds, supposes Hungary with Tran- 
 sylvania, Slavonia, Croatia, &c. to contain 9,000,000.t 
 Crome likewise estimated the population of the whole 
 Austrian dominions at 25,000,0004 The inhabitants 
 of Austria alone are generally computed at 1,085,000, 
 but a certain author has swelled them to 2,100,000, 
 so difficult it is to obtain any accurate information 
 on statistical matters. But which ever of the totals 
 we adopt, we must allow for the last dismemberments. 
 Hoeck,) however, reckoning separately the inhabi- 
 tants of each state, gives the number of 20,108,216 
 for the population of the whole Austrian empire 
 as it stood previous to the last contest with France. 
 
 Politicalimportance and relations.'] The political im- 
 portance of Austria, although much diminished, is 
 still very great, and she must be considered as the 
 
 * Zimmerm. tab. 4. t Townson, p. 189, 
 
 $ Crome ap. Towuson. Schlosser's polit. Journal ap. Reislicck, 
 vol. 2, p. 73. 
 Hoeck Appercu Statist, &c. 
 
 third
 
 236 AUSTRIA. 
 
 third power on the continent, ranking next to France 
 and Russia. Her political relations also extend to 
 almost every country in Europe. Ever since the ac- 
 cession 'of Charles V, she has been the constant rival 
 and determined opponent of France. Since the ag- 
 grandizement of Prussia, which was partly at the 
 expence of Austria, the greatest rivalship and national 
 jealousy have existed between those two powers. In- 
 veterate wars have excited, and radical difference of 
 religion and manners contributes to perpetuate the 
 iame animosity between Austria and the Ottoman 
 Porte. Russia is the only continental power with 
 whose interests those of Austria can coincide to any 
 great extent. These two powers, perhaps, may one 
 day check the exorbitant power of France, and dis- 
 inember the Ottoman empire, and renew in Turkey 
 the scenes which have been exhibited in Poland. 
 Great Britain is the natural ally of Austria : the only 
 disadvantage of this alliance is, that the British fleets 
 cannot protect an inland country against the invading 
 armies of France. 
 
 Language.'] The various languages of these aggre- 
 gated dominions, may be assigned to three grand 
 divisions, the Gothic or German ; the Slavonic, of 
 which different dialects prevail in the Polish provinces; 
 Transylvania, Dalmatia, Croatia, and some parts of 
 Hungary, as also in Bohemia and Moravia, and lastly 
 the proper Hungarian, supposed to be a branch of the 
 Finnic. Among people of rank at Vienna, French is 
 the fashionable language. The German spoken in 
 Austria, Bavaria, and Suabia, is very impure.* 
 
 Literature.] The literary history of the Austrian 
 empire is little interesting. It can neither boast of 
 
 Reiibeck'sTrav. vol. 1. p. 221. 
 
 ancient
 
 LITERATURE. 37 
 
 ancient memorials, nor of great modern improve- 
 ments. Vienna, indeed, is crowded with pretended 
 literati, but those who have attained to any degree of 
 reputation were mostly foreigners. In the medical 
 science, however, Storch, Van Swieten, and some 
 others, have acquired a deserved celebrity. Some of 
 their antiquaries also rise above mediocrity, . but 
 Reisbeck has depicted in glowing colours the general 
 bad taste of the Austrian literati.* Bohemia and 
 Hungary have but few claims to literary eminence. 
 Cosmas of Prague, who flourished about A.D. 1130, 
 possesses some merit as an historian. But his 
 death left a blank in Bohemian literature, nor diii 
 the encouragement given to learning by the cele- 
 brated Matthias Corvinus, stimulate that of Hungary. 
 Transylvania has produced a natural historian of con- 
 siderable eminence, the Baron du Born, but he wrote 
 in Latin and French, and the native language of 
 Hungary is not ennobled by any celebrated work. If 
 we should make an inquiry into the causes that have 
 prevented the progress of literature and philosophy in 
 the Austrian dominions, we should find them in the 
 coarseness of die German dialect there used, as well 
 as the uncultivated state of the Slavonic and Hunsja- 
 
 w 
 
 rian languages, in the numerous wars which have 
 often desolated these countries, and even endangered 
 their national existence, in the long continued influ- 
 ence of the feudal system, in the low estimation in 
 which learning has always been held by the nobles, 
 in the metaphysical bigotry and obstinate adherence 
 to ancient prejudices which have so long prevailed in 
 their universities, and in the multiplied restraints on 
 the press. Under the benign, auspices of the late 
 
 Reubetjk'* Tray. TO!. 1. p. 383. 
 
 Austrian
 
 238 AUSTRIA. 
 
 Austrian monarchs, the literature of their dominions 
 has had A gradual tendency towards improvement, 
 and may in time become respectable. In regard to 
 the polite arts, as little can be said on that subject as 
 on their science and literature. 
 
 Education.'] Education has, throughout the Aus- 
 trian dominions, been extremely neglected. The 
 empress Maria Theresa, however, instituted many 
 schools, a measure which must be attended with bene- 
 ficial consequences. 
 
 Universities] There are several universities, but 
 from a bigotted attachment to ancient principles and 
 prejudices, they have promoted the progress of useful 
 knowledge less than might have been wished. The 
 university of Vienna has, since 1752, been consider- 
 ably improved. There are also universities at Prague, 
 Insprutk, and Gratz. Hungary boasts chiefly of 
 Buda. The Jesuits established schools also at Raab 
 and Chaseau. There is a Calvinist college at De- 
 bretzin, and the bishop of Erlau has established a 
 splendid university in that city.* 
 
 People, manners, customs, &jc.~\ The Austrian em- 
 pire being" an aggregate of several kingdoms and 
 states, a considerable difference of manners and cus- 
 toms prevails among the various nations of which its 
 inhabitants are composed. A sketch of the Austrian 
 manners has already been given in the description of 
 tftose of Vienna. It remains only to add, that the 
 plenty "observable in the country, corresponds with 
 that of the capital. The peasantry of Austria proper, 
 live in that comfortable style which results from the 
 fertility of the soil and the enjoyment of freedom; 
 and the country does not exhibit that contrast be- 
 
 * Townson, p. 225, &c. 
 
 tween
 
 PEOPLE, MANNERS, CUSTOMS, &C. 239 
 
 tween riches and poverty, which in many other pro- 
 vinces indicates the oppressed state of the people.* 
 The lower orders are little addicted to vice, and 
 \ punishments are rare. Robberies are seldom com- 
 l mitted, and murder but little known. When capital 
 punishment is necessary, it is inflicted with great 
 solemnity, and accompanied with public prayers, an 
 example worthy of universal imitation. The manners 
 of the Hungarians are considerably tinctured with 
 those of the Germans, but among their peculiarities 
 they still retain their ancient dress. That of the no- 
 biJity is splendid and costly. The waistcoat is gene- 
 rally long, and the breeches always ornamented with 
 lace. The jacket is trimmed both with lace and fur. 
 The hanger or sabre, is also a constant appendage, 
 and the whole has a noble appearance.f The pea- 
 sants wear only a wide coat of sheep skins thrown over 
 the shoulders, and grey linen trowsers with boots or 
 sandals, but they are not permitted to wear the sabre. 
 The ladies dress after the German fashion.^ As arms 
 are the grand occupation of the Hungarian nobles, 
 so is agriculture that of the plebeans. Few of them 
 meddle with mechanical arts or commercial affairs. 
 The former are carried on by the Germans, the hitter, 
 as already observed, by the Greeks, Armenians, anft 
 Jews. These are spread over the whole conntrv, 
 being settled in almost every district. There are also 
 immense numbers of gipsies who constantly stroll 
 about. The lower classes of people in Hungary sleep 
 in their cloaths, the use of beds being little known in 
 that country. A great national hatred exists between 
 
 * Rcisbccl:'s 'I rav. vol. 2. p. TO. 
 
 t Towiis >n's Trav. p. 90. The Hungarian dress i< imitated by our 
 l>u jrs, Townson, p. 44. i Ibid. p. 8ft, W. 
 
 1 I*"
 
 tiO AUSTRIA. 
 
 the Hungarians and the Austrians.* The Hungarian 
 nobility, however, send their children to be educated 
 at Vienna. The manners of Transylvania, and the 
 neighbouring provinces, resemble those of Hungary. 
 The Bohemians imitate the Germans, and are ex- 
 
 l tremely fond of music. 
 
 Rational character.'] The various nations under the 
 Austrian sovereignty, are more famed for arms than 
 
 ! foj_a.rt3. Nature, indeed, has peculiarly fitted them 
 for a military life. For this the Hungarians and 
 
 J fcZ- 
 
 \ Croats are extremely proper, being tall and robust.^ 
 Reisbeck says, that the Croats are the handsomest 
 people on earth. Townson, however, informs us, that 
 the Hungarian women are very far from being beau- 
 tiful. The Carinthians are the strongest men in Eu- 
 rope. Reisbeck says, that like their horses they never 
 tire. The Bohemians are exceedingly strong built 
 men, and the best soldiers in the Austrian armies. Sj 
 But with all those physical advantages, the Austrian 
 troops have not been able to withstand the arms of 
 France, and the genius or good fortune of her com- 
 manders. The decrees of him by whose nod empires 
 
 N rise and fall, are inscrutable. Ambition for a while 
 may be allowed to scourge the earth, but he who 
 permits its temporary sway, can suddenly check its 
 ( career. 
 
 * Townson, p. 33, 96, 97. t Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 2, p. 55. 
 
 4 Towuson's Tray. p. 44. Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 2, p. 130, 131. 
 
 PRUSSIAN
 
 41 . 
 
 PRUSSIAN MONARCHY. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of the Country Mountains 
 Rivers Canals Lakes' Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil Cli. 
 mate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities Anti- 
 quities and artificial Curiosities. 
 
 JLHE Prussian monarchy, which commenced only 
 with the eighteenth century, became, by gradual ac- 
 cessions, so extensive as to rank among the first 
 powers or' Europe, and to hold against Austria the 
 balance of Germany. After so rapid an aggrandise- 
 ment, however, this mighty state has experienced a 
 terrible fall. Since the peace of Tilsit, it is bounded 
 on the west by the new kingdom of Westphalia, on 
 the south by the dominions of Austria and those of 
 the new kingdom of Saxony, on the north and east 
 
 O <J ' 
 
 it retains its former boundaries, the Baltic Sea, 
 Pomerania, and the territories of Russia. 
 
 Face of the Coimtri ] The Prussian dominions do 
 not display any grand features of nature, nor any 
 great variety of aspect. The whole country, except 
 a part of Silesia, is generally level, and in many places 
 covered with thick forests. 
 
 Mountains."] The only mountains in the Prussian 
 dominions are those of Silesia, which form, its western 
 and southern boundaries, and are distinguished by 
 
 VOL. in. u different
 
 242 PRUSSIA. 
 
 different appellations. The north-west part of this 
 mountainous ridge is called Riesen, the middle part 
 the Bohemian, and the south-eastern the Moravian 
 chain, from the countries of which they form the 
 frontier.* The Carpathian mountains, with con- 
 tiguous forests, form the boundary between Silesia 
 and Hungary /I* 
 
 Rivers.] The chief rivers of Prussia are the Elbe, 
 which now forms its western boundary ; the Spree, 
 which passes by Berlin and falls into the Havel, a 
 tributary stream of the Elbe ; the Oder, which rises 
 in the Moravian mountains, and falls into the Baltic, 
 after watering Silesia, Brandenburg, and Pomerania; 
 the Pregel, which passes by Koningsberg ; and the 
 Memel, which forms in part the eastern boundary of 
 the kingdom. The Vistula can scarcely, at this time, 
 be ranked among the Prussian rivers. 
 
 Lakes.'] The Prussian territories contain a number 
 of lakes, some of which are of considerable extent. 
 The Curisch HafF is an inland sheet of water, near 
 the mouth of the river Memel, about sixty English 
 miles in length by half as much in breadth, full of 
 dangerous shoals, and subject to frequent storms. 
 
 Canals ] Several small canals are seen in Prussia, 
 but not of sufficient importance to merit attention in 
 a general view of geography. 
 
 Mino'alogy.] The mineralogy of the Prussian do- 
 minions is of no great importance. The mountains of 
 Silesia, indeed, can boast of both gold and silver ; but 
 the mines never defrayed the expence of working, 
 
 * For a description of the Silcsian mountains, see Busching. vol. 6. 
 p. 212, &c. 
 
 t For a good general description of the Carpathian mountains, see 
 TOIVHSOII'S '1 ravel*. But he did not visit the parts next to Silesia.
 
 MINERAL WATEHS SOIL CLIMATE. 243 
 
 and 'ai'e now, for the most part, neglected. There 
 are at present some mines of copper, lead, and iron ; 
 and these mountains afford agates, jaspers, and several 
 other curious fossils. Coal is found in various parts 
 of Silesia. But the most distinguished and peculiar 
 mineral production of Prussia is amber, for which 
 that coil n try has been famed from early ages. This 
 curious production is chiefly found on a narrow neck 
 of laud near Pillao, on the Samland shore of the 
 Baltic. It reposes on wood coal at the depth of 
 about 100 feet, and is found in lumps of various sizes, 
 some of which are of five pounds weight: it is often 
 washed on shore by tempests. 
 
 Mi?ieral Waters.] The hot spring at Warmbrun, 
 near Hirschberg, appears to be the only mineral water 
 of note in the Prussian territories. 
 
 Soil] The soil of the Prussian provinces varies 
 between the two extremes of barrenness and ferti- 
 lity. Brandenburg is a sandy and barren country; 
 Prussia Proper also is sandy, but more fertile. The 
 northern extremity of Silesia partakes of the sandy 
 soil of Brandenburg ; but the greatest part of the 
 province displays a remarkable fertility. Silesia is, on 
 the whole, the most fertile and healthful, as well as 
 the most diversified and agreeable province of the 
 Prussian dominions. 
 
 Climate.'] The climate of all the countries border- 
 ing on the Baltic, is in general cold and moist. 
 Prussia Proper is deluged with rain in the autumn, 
 and has about eight months of winter.* Pomerania 
 and Brandenburg are somewhat more free from humi- 
 dity. Silesia excels all the other Prussian provinces, 
 in the purity and wholesornencss of its air ; but 
 
 Buscliing vol. 3, p. .">. 
 
 u 2 the
 
 44 PRUSSIA. 
 
 the western and southern parts, which lie near the 
 mountains, are exposed even in summer to sharp 
 freezing winds. 
 
 Vegetable Productions.'] The vegetable productions 
 of the Prussian dominions consist chiefly of corn and 
 pasturage. Vines are produced in Silesia, and some 
 wine is made, but of a very inferior quality. Prussia 
 Proper produces all the different kinds of grain ; but 
 the chief crop is buck wheat. In Brandenburg, that 
 grain and rye are almost the sole objects of cultiva- 
 tion, as wheat and barley are scarcely ever seen.* 
 
 Zoology.] The horses, cattle, and sheep resemble 
 those of the adjacent countries, nor has the Prussian 
 zoology, in general, impressed travellers with any 
 ideas of distinction.f 
 
 Natural Curiosities.'] The mines of amber, already 
 mentioned, are the only natural curiosities that have 
 been remarked in the Prussian dominions. 
 
 Antiquities, fyc.~] These countries, in which even a 
 rude knowledge of the arts is comparatively recent, 
 cannot be supposed to display grand monuments of 
 antiquity, and in fact we hear of none that are worthy 
 of notice. 
 
 * Marshal's Trav. vol. 3, p. 239, &c. 
 
 t Carr represents the Prussian horses, in general, as a very indifferent 
 breed. Travels round the Baltic, p. 403. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 245 
 
 CHAP. 11. 
 
 Principal Cities and Towns Edifices. 
 
 Berlin.'] JfRUSSIA is not remarkable for the 
 number or magnitude of her cities. Berlin, the 
 capital, however, highly merits the attention of 
 travellers. It is situated on the banks of the small 
 river Spree, in 52, 32' north latitude, and 13, 31' 
 east longitude. It extends about four miles and a 
 half in length, and is one of the most beautiful and 
 magnificent cities in Europe. The plan is extremely 
 regular, being the result of one design,* but without 
 that dull uniformity that renders many other cities 
 disagreeable. The appearance of the streets and 
 squares, with the plantations of trees, bespeak taste 
 and variety .-f- The streets are spacious and well paved, 
 although the country scarcely produces a single stone. 
 This defect v/.as supplied by the contrivance of 
 Frederick the Great, who compelled all the vessels 
 that came up the Havel and the Spree, to take on 
 board, at Magdcbourg, a quantity of free stone and 
 to disembark it gratis at Berlin. The principal 
 ornament of this elegant capital is the Linden walk, 
 which is admired by all travellers. This umbrageous 
 JUH! beautiful promenade is formed of triple rows 
 
 * Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 2, p. 243. Carr's Travels round the Baltic, 
 i). 399. 
 
 t Iir-i>bcct n!,i supra 
 
 R 3 of
 
 246 PRUSSU. 
 
 of Linden trees, of the most graceful appearance. It 
 forms the centre of the street, having carriage roads 
 on each side, from which it is protected by handsome 
 lines of granite posts, connected by bars of iron, and 
 illuminated by large reflecting lamps. It abuts atone 
 end on the opera-house and the palace, and at the 
 other on the celebrated gate of Brandenburg, designed 
 by Laughan, from the Propyleum of Athens. This 
 elegant structure and the Linden walk are unique. 
 The Spree, which runs through the city, is adorned 
 with several handsome stone bridges. The houses in 
 Berlin are generally large, well built of brick and 
 stuccoed, but some are of stone in the Italian style of 
 architecture. The royal palace is an enormous square 
 pile of stone. Mont Bijou, the residence of the 
 Dowager Queen, is on the banks of the Spree, em- 
 bosomed in groves and gardens. The Roman Catho- 
 lic church, called the Rotunda, designed by Alberoni, 
 is a superb edifice ; and the grand altar which was 
 constructed at Rome is celebrated for its beautiful 
 workmanship. The new theatre is a noble building, 
 elegantly decorated and generally well attended. The 
 opera house, which is never open but during the 
 carnival, is also a magnificent structure. In the small 
 square, called Williams's-place, are seen the statues of 
 Gen. Ziethen, and several others, who distinguished 
 themselves in the seven years war.* Berlin, however, 
 with all its magnificence, betrays a great appearance 
 of poverty. Many of the large houses are let in 
 stories to mechanics, and several other buildings, 
 which make a grand appearance, are only barracks 
 for soldiers.'f' The population also of this capital, 
 
 * Carr's Travels round ihe Baltic, p. 400, &c. 
 t Wraxal's Mem. vol. 1. p. 101. 
 
 computed
 
 POTSDAM. 247 
 
 computed only at about 145,000,* is far from cor- 
 responding with its extent. Although Berlin is not 
 less than four miles and a half in length, and near 
 three in breadth, a great part of this vast inclosure is 
 occupied by gardens and fields, which give the city a 
 rural appearance. f Keisbeck computes the number 
 of houses at no more than (5000, and according to 
 the highest calculation they fall short of 7000.^ Each 
 house must, therefore, contain the average number of 
 twenty-one persons at least, a circumstance for which 
 it is easy to account, from the spaciousness of the 
 houses and the general custom of different families 
 occupying the several stories. This capital of the 
 Prussian monarchy was founded in the twelfth cen- 
 tury, by a colony from the Netherlands; but it owes 
 its chief embellishments to Frederick the Great, who 
 rendered it the seat of elegance as well as of science, 
 letters, and arms. The garrison of Berlin generally 
 consisted of 26,000 men, being xhe most numerous 
 of any in Europe, except that of Constantinople.^ 
 The cadet corp is a noble institution, resembling that 
 of Petersburg || Beilin is celebrated for the excellence 
 of its hotels. The environs of Berlin are sandy, flat, 
 and unpicturesque. 
 
 Potsddm.'] Potsdam, at the distance of about six- 
 teen English miles from the capital, is situated on the 
 Havel, and is formed into an island by the adjoining 
 lakes and canals. The royal palace of Sans Souci is 
 
 * Zimmermann, table 3. Heisbeck states tlie population at 1-12,000, 
 including Uie garrison. Trav. vol. 3, p. 52. 
 
 t Reishcck uln bupra. 
 
 } Kot-ck compute^ the number of houses at 6950, and of inhabitants at 
 142,<>1 J 9, ap. Pinkerton, p. 392. 
 
 Riesbeck, vol. a, p. 50. || Cair's Trav. p. 462, &c. 
 
 R 4 a noble
 
 248 PRUSSIA. 
 
 a noble structure : the fagade, towards the terrace, is 
 heavy, hut that which faces the plain is elegant. The 
 picture gallery is 2o8 feet long, by 36 in breadth, 
 and 15 in height; and the collection is excellent. 
 Among other paintings of great value, is a head of 
 Christ, by Raphael, for which Frederick the Great 
 gave 6oOO ducats.* The* gardens are elegantly ar- 
 ranged. About a mile and a half distant from Sans 
 Souci is the new palace. 
 
 Konigsberg.'] Konigsberg, seated on the river 
 Pregel, ranks next to Berlin, and contains about 
 52,000 inhabitants. It is well fortified and carries on 
 a considerable trade. 
 
 Jlreslaw.'] Breslaw, the capital of Silesia, is one 
 of the most beautiful cities of Germany, and not 
 inferior to Konigsberg in population. It has several 
 manufactures, especially of linen. This city was 
 destroyed by the Tartars in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Dantzick.'] Dantzick, a city of commercial fame 
 in the middle ages, as well as in modern times, after 
 having enjoyed a long independence, fell under the 
 Prussian sceptre. But by the late treaty of peace, 
 concluded between France and Prussia, this city is 
 restored to its former independence, on condition of 
 shutting its port against the English trade, during 
 the continuance of the war. Dantzick is seated on 
 the western bank of the Vistula, in 54, -2i' north 
 latitude, and 18, 38' east longitude, and is supposed 
 to contain about 36,OCO inhabitants. Its trade has 
 greatly declined, but is still considerable, and indeed 
 this mu.^t always be the principal port for the exporta- 
 tion of the corn and other products of Poland. 
 
 * CHIT'S Trav. p 471. These valuable paintings and other turiosit.'es 
 aie now sent off to Pans, ihe great receptacle of the spoils of nation-.. 
 
 Warsaw.
 
 WARSAW EDIFICES, 
 
 w.] Warsaw, the former capital of Poland, 
 and lately belonging to Prussia, although now dis- 
 membered from her empire, may be mentioned in 
 this place, as it can scarcely be classed in any other 
 division. This city is situated partly in a plain and 
 partly on a gentle ascent rising from the Vistula. A 
 late intelligent traveller describes Warsaw as a city 
 of great extent, but of a melancholy appearance, a 
 natural consequence of the general poverty of Poland 
 under its former wretched government.* It had pro- 
 bably been somewhat improved under the Prussian 
 domination ; but we have no precise intelligence con- 
 cerning its present state. By the late treaty con- 
 cluded in 1807, between France and Prussia, Warsaw, 
 with its territory, was ceded to the king of Saxony. 
 
 Edifices.] --The most superb edifices of Prussia are 
 those which have been mentioned in describing Berlin 
 and Potsclam. Several other cities present respectable 
 buildings, but none that are particularly celebrated for 
 architectural elegance or magnificent decoration. 
 
 * Coxe's Travels in Poland, vol. 1, p. 206. The population of War- 
 law is stated by Hoeck at 66,572. Pink. vol. 1, p. 393. 
 
 CUAP.
 
 250 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Present State, Political and Moral "Religion Government Laws 
 Arnvy Navy Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population 
 Political Importance and Relations Language Literature Polite 
 Arts Education Manners and Customs National Character. 
 
 Religion.'] 1 HE predominant religion of Prussia 
 is the Protestant, in its two chief divisions of Luther- 
 ans and Calvinists. Roman Catholics, also, are nume- 
 rous ; and in fact the Lutheran, the Calvinist, and the 
 Catholic systems may be considered as the three esta- 
 blished religions of the Prussian monarchy ; but the 
 universal toleration which prevails, extinguishes all 
 theological enmity. 
 
 Government.] The political constitution of Prussia, 
 is an absolute hereditary monarchy ; but the wisdom 
 of successive sovereigns has rendered the government 
 mild and beneficent. Frederic the Great reformed 
 many abuses in the administration of the laws; and 
 his government was equitable ; but its whole tenor was 
 too military, a fault inherent in the Prussian system, 
 and the natural consequence of a central situation be- 
 tween three powerful neighbours, Austria, France, and 
 Russia. 
 
 Xaa's.] The Prussian laws are as mild and equita- 
 ble as those of most nations on the continent. 
 
 Army and navy.] The military force of Prussia 
 amounted at least to 200,000 men, including about 
 4O,OOO cavalry.* Under Frederic the Great the Prus- 
 
 * More than half of (he armies of Fredrric the Great were composed of 
 foreigners. Reisbeck's Trav. vol. f>, p. 10. 
 
 sian
 
 REVENUES COMMERCE, &C. 251 
 
 sian troops were universally esteemed the best in the 
 v/orld, but by some unaccountable management, they- 
 have scarcely made any stand against the veteran bat- 
 talions of France. At present no computation can be 
 made of the remaining force of this monarchy. As 
 Prussia has never had much either to gain or lose by 
 sea, her whole attention has been directed to the land 
 service, which could alone protect her against her 
 powerful neighbours; and she has never attempted to 
 create a navy. 
 
 Revenues.] The revenues of Prussia, before the late 
 disastrous contest with France, have been variously 
 computed at 3,000,000, 4,000,000, and even 5,000,000 ; 
 but the late defalcations have rendered it impossible 
 to make any estimate. 
 
 Commerce.] Prussia never stood high in the com- 
 mercial scale ; and at present her trade may be said to 
 have undergone at least a temporary annihilation. 
 
 Manufactures.] The Prussian manufactures pro- 
 duce a variety of articles for home consumption, but a 
 very small quantity for exportation. Frederic the 
 Great established a silk manufacture; and there is 
 also at Berlin a china manufacture, nearly equal to 
 that of Dresden** But the linens of Silesia, of which 
 a considerable quantity is exported, constitute the most 
 important of all the Prussian manufactures. 
 
 Population.] The population of the Prussian do- 
 minions was computed at somewhat more than 
 8,000,000. After the late defalcations, it is difficult to 
 make any estimate, but the remaining population can 
 scarcely exceed 0,000,000. 
 
 Political importance and relations.'] The political im- 
 portance and relations of Prussia may now be consi- 
 
 * Carr's Tr:iv. round the Baltic, p. 403. 
 
 dcrcd
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 dered as annihilated. That great monarchy, which 
 we have lately seen so powerful, now lies at the mercy 
 of France, and must necessarily be dependent either 
 on France or Russia. 
 
 Language, literature, sciences, and arts."] The lan- 
 guage of Prussia is the German; but French is uni- 
 versally spoken by the nobility and gentry. The 
 Prussian literature is of recent origin, and has few pre- 
 tensions to excellence. Though superior to that of 
 Austria and the other southern parts of Germany, it is 
 far inferior to that of Saxony. Frederic the Great 
 was one of the most distinguished writers of the king- 
 dom; but he held German literature in contempt, and 
 composed all his works in French. Count Hertsberg, 
 his minister, also possessed considerable literary merit. 
 Among the Prussian writers we find few native names 
 of distinguished celebrity ; which, however, may be 
 partly owing to the disadvantage of the German lan- 
 guage being iittle studied by foreigners. The literary 
 court of Frederic the Great derived its lustre chiefly 
 from the talents of the monarch and a few foreign lite- 
 rati. In the sciences, Prussia has perhaps equalled the 
 rest of her neighbours ; but she has not produced any 
 person of distinguished reputation in the arts. 
 
 Education.] There are several universities and 
 schools ; but popular education is generally neglected 
 in Prussia, as well as in the other countries of Europe. 
 
 Manners and customs.] The predilection which Fre- 
 deric the Great entertained for the language and man- 
 ners of France, gave a similar tinge to the higher 
 classes of his subjects. The Silesians resemble their 
 neighbours, the Bohemians ; and indeed the manners 
 and customs of so many different countries so recently 
 united under one sovereignty, must display various 
 
 shades
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 53 
 
 ahades of difference in minute particulars.* Military 
 bravery, however, has always been regarded as a dis- 
 tingushing feature of the national, character ; and it 
 must be lamented, that Prussian valour has proved 
 ineffectual against the arms of France. 
 
 * The Poles, so lately subjects of Prussia, are described by a late tra- 
 veller as a people full of life and action, and the dress of the higher ranks 
 of both sexes as uncommonly elegant ; that of the men being a waistcoat, 
 an upper robe of a different colour, reaching below the knee, and girt 
 round the waist with a sash, to which is appended a sabre. The ladies 
 wear a long robe edged with furs. Men of all ranks shave their heads, 
 and wear whiskers. Coxe's Trav. in Poland, vol. 1, p. 194. 
 
 OTHER
 
 254 
 
 OTHER GERMAN STATES. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 1 HE geography of Germatty fen's, on account of ita 
 numerous political divisions, always been more per- 
 plexed than that of any other region on the race of 
 the globe ; but at this time the confusion is greater 
 than at any former period. Not only the Germanic 
 constitution is totally annihilated, but territorial pos- 
 sessions and boundaries are altered : new names are 
 imposed, new kingdoms erected, which may be again 
 overturned by the same hand that created them, and 
 the uncertain state of every thing in this country, ren- 
 ders it impossible to delineate any just picture. Ano- 
 ther continental war might totally change the state of 
 affairs, or even while this sheet is in the press, a new 
 determination of the French gov, rnment might en- 
 tirely disarrange the most elaborate description of 
 Germany. As it is useless either to write or to read 
 without adding to knowledge, I shall content myself 
 with exhibiting a general view of the grand features 
 of nature, which are not subject to the caprice of man, 
 subjoining a concise description of a few of the princi- 
 pal cities, and some remarks on such other circum- 
 stances of the country, as are not likely to experience 
 a sudden change by the fluctuations of political affairs. 
 Situation and extent. ,] Germany may be considered 
 as extending from 4.3 to 55 north latitude, and from 
 5 to 19 east longitude, being about 600 miles in 
 $ length
 
 FACE OF THE .COUNTRY MOUNTAINS. 
 
 length from the isle of Rugen in the north to the 
 southern limits of the circle of Austria, and about 500 
 miles in breadth from the Rhine to the eastern borders. 
 On the north, it is bounded by the Bahic Sea, the 
 Danish dominions, and the German ocean, on the 
 east by Hungary, Bohemia, and the late territory of 
 Poland, on the south by Switzerland and the Alps, 
 which separate it from Italy, and on the west by 
 France and the Batavian kingdom. But it must be 
 observed that the German dominions of Austria and 
 Prussia are comprized within this general definition of 
 boundaries. 
 
 Face of the country.'] The northern parts of Ger- 
 many present a continuity of sandy plains of great 
 extent : but a few hills begin to appear in the vicinity 
 of Minden. The southern parts may be regarded ra- 
 ther as mountainous, though few of the ridges are 
 marked with precision in our maps. Most of the pro- 
 vinces in the neighbourhood, and to the south of the 
 Mayne, are finely diversified; and many parts of 
 Germany present extensive forests. 
 
 Mountains.] The chief mountains of Germany, are 
 those which separate Saxony and Bavaria from Bo- 
 hemia, with various branches of the Swiss and Tyro- 
 lese Alps, which form the boundaries towards Italy. 
 The Erzgeberg, or metallic mountains, which divide 
 Saxony from Bohemia, and supply both countries with 
 silver, tin, and other metals, are not of remarkable 
 height; nor indeed are any of the German moun- 
 tains, except those in the south of Bavaria and Saltz- 
 burg, famous for their elevation, as few of them in 
 that respect seem to exceed Snowden in Wales. Some 
 peaks of the Saltzburg Alps rise to the height of consi- 
 derably more than 10,000 feet. The interior of Ger- 
 many
 
 256 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 many also presents many mountainous districts. The 
 most northern are those of the Hartz, called the 
 Brocket! or Blocksberg, rising in the form of an amphi- 
 theatre ; but the most elevated peak has been found not 
 to exceed 3020 feet in height, being in this respect 
 about equal to Crossfell.* The principality of Heiss 
 is, in general, mountainous. The Bergstrass is a 
 ridge that runs from Manheim to the vicinity of 
 Frankfort, with a highway commanding extensive 
 views of the country. But of all the mountains of 
 Germany, Der Alte Konig, or the Old King, to 
 the north of the Rhingau, is the most celebrated for 
 the magnificent prospects seen from its summit. To 
 the south a plain of forty-two miles in breadth, ac- 
 cording to Dr. Render, or thirty-three according to 
 Reisbeck, is terminated by the Spessart and the sum- 
 mits of the Odenwald. The eastern prospect closes by 
 the Spessart, and extends fifty-six miles.-)- The 
 whole country of Aschafienburg, along theMayne and 
 the Neckar, as far as the upper Palatinate, lies like a 
 map under the feet of the spectator. On the summit of 
 this mountain, the view of the rising sun is magnifi- 
 cent and picturesque beyond all description. Nei- 
 ther the eloquence of Cicero, nor the matchless tints 
 of Raphael, could convey to the mind an adequate 
 idea of the majestic grandeur of the spectacle.]; The 
 mountains of Schwartzwald, or the Black Forest, ex- 
 tend in length'about eighty miles, from near Neucn- 
 
 * Houseman's Dcscrip. Cumberland, p. 18. 
 
 'f Render's Tray. vol. 1. p. 132, 6\c. Reisbeck says only fifty-one 
 miles, Travels, vol. 3. p. 199, &c. but the difference in the estimated 
 distance is inconsiderable. 
 
 J See the enraptured description of Reisbeck, Trar. vol. 3. p. 199, 
 200, 201, 202, and of Dr. Render's Trav. vol. 1. p. 132, &c. 
 
 burg,
 
 RIVERS. 257 
 
 burg, in the territory of Wurtemburg, to the banks of 
 the Rhine.* The southern part is called the higher, 
 and the northern the lower forest ; the breadth may 
 be computed about twenty miles. The eastern part 
 presents a gradual elevation ; but the western rises in 
 precipitous summits. The declivities are mostly co- 
 vered with thick gloomy forests ; but many open 
 spaces are interspersed, which afford abundance of 
 pasturage. 
 
 Rivers.'] The principal rivers of Germany are, the 
 Danube, already described in treating of the Austrian 
 empire, the Rhine, the Elbe, and the Weser. The 
 Rhine has its principal source in the Rhinwald, a 
 mountain at the head of a valley, in the country of 
 the Grisons, amidst dreadful deserts of ice and snow ;. 
 and having traversed Switzerland, becomes, as it was 
 in ancient times, the boundary between France and 
 Germany. It afterwards enters the Batavian territo- 
 ries, and being joined by the Meuse, falls, by several 
 aestuaries into the German ocean, after a course of at 
 least 600 miles. The Elbe rises in the mountains of 
 Silesia; and, after receiving the Mulda and the Eger 
 from Bohemia, the other Mulda and the Sala from 
 Saxony, and the Havel from Brandenburg, falls into 
 the sea, after a course of more than 500 miles. The 
 Weser has its principal source in the territory of Hil- 
 burghausen, and runs a course of only about 70 
 miles before it discharges itself into the sea. The 
 shores of the Weser are low and unhealthful, being 
 subject to great inundations. The Mayne is a tribu- 
 tary stream of the Rhine, which, rising in the lake 
 called Fichtel See, on the tnountainin of Fichtelberg, 
 and running in general a western course, and divides 
 
 * Uusliing. vol. 8. p. 4B1. 
 
 VOL. in. s Western
 
 $58 CERMAN STATES. 
 
 Western Germany into two parts, the northern and 
 the southern, which are almost of equal dimensions. 
 After receiving several smaller rivers, it joins the 
 Rhine to the south of Mentz. The country near their 
 conjunction is inexpressibly beautiful and pictu- 
 resque.* Between Frankfort and Mentz, is the finest 
 district that can be imagined.f The Rhine, after its 
 junction with the Mayne, is 1400 feet wide, and here 
 jts banks begin to display those picturesque beauties 
 so much celebrated by travellers.^ The Rhingau, a 
 district on its eastern side nearly opposite to Mentz, 
 forms an amphitheatre of fifteen miles long and six 
 broad, the scenery of which surpasses the power of de- 
 scription. No place in Europe exceeds it in rich and 
 variegated prospects.^ This district, which is the 
 country of the true rhenish wine, is protected from 
 the northerly and easterly winds by the semi-circular 
 Mis; and contains thirty-six villages. || All travellers 
 seem to dwell with rapture and delight on the descrip- 
 tion of this paradisaical spot. It seems, indeed, to 
 be peculiarly favored by nature, as the appearance of 
 the people shews that the salubrity of the air corre- 
 sponds with the beauty of the landscape. The inha- 
 bitants of the Rhingau are handsome and uncommonly 
 strong. They possess a great deal of wit and vivacity 
 and their countenances are expressive of sound con- 
 stitutions and cheerful minds.^ In this delightful 
 district is the monastery of Erbach, the richest in 
 
 * Render's Trav. vol. 1. p. 147. t Ibid. p. 141. 
 
 * Reisbeck's trav. TO!. 3. p. 191. Ibid. p. 826, &c. 
 
 || The best Rhenish wine is sold on the spot at three guilders, or about 
 five shillings and six-pence per bottle. Reisbeck, vol. 3. p. SJ3i. 
 
 ^T Dr. Render ascribes these advantages to the quality of their wines, 
 Trar voL 1. p. 26tf. 
 
 Germany,
 
 MINERALOGY MINERAL WATERS. 
 
 % 
 
 Cermany. The monks live in the most luxuriant and 
 splendid style, keeping a pack of hounds and fine hun- 
 ters, as well as an excellent band of musicians. They 
 are, however, extremely generous and hospitable.* 
 The banks of the Rhine from Mentz to Cologne, a 
 distance of about seventy-six English miles, are inex- 
 pressibly beautiful and picturesque, being adorned 
 with no fewer than twenty cities.f The fortress qf 
 Ehrenbetstein, near Coblentz, stands on a stupendous 
 rock, which rises 800 feet above the river ; and from 
 its summit commands a view of the country 100 miles 
 round.;}; In picturesque and magnificent scenery, th$ 
 banks of the llhine surpass those of every other river: 
 of Europe, or perhaps of the world. 
 
 Mineralogy.'} Saxony possesses the best portion of 
 the German mines, an<l few countries can boast of 
 greater fossil opulence. The metals are silver, copper, 
 iron, lead, and tin, the last of an excellent quality. 
 The mines of Saxony are an inexhaustible source of 
 wealth.^ In 1788, their aggregate product was valued 
 at 700,639 dollars.|j Jet, marble, and agates, may bs 
 numbered among the fossils, as well as cobalt, which 
 being converted into a blue pugment, called smalt > 
 produces a very considerable profit. Coal, fuller's 
 earth, and fine porcelain clay, are also plentiful. The 
 mineralogy of Hanover is rich, consisting of silver, 
 copper, lead, iron, cobalt, and zinc, with marble, 
 limestone, and coal. Hesse, Wurtemberg, and Saltz- 
 berg, also produce most of the same metals and fossils 
 in greater or less abundance. 
 
 Mineral waters.} The territories of Wurtemberg 
 
 * Render, vol.'l. p. 859. t Rgbbeck's Tray. vol. 3. p. 255, &c. 
 
 J Render's Trav. vol. 1. p. 294, U?ibegk' Trav. vol. 3, p. 189. 
 H Hueck ftp. Fiukertfto, vel, 1. p. 603, 
 
 s % ani
 
 2GO GERMAN STATES* ' 
 
 and Saltzberg contain several warm baths and medical 
 waters ; and the latter province, as well as Bavaria, 
 has salt springs, which produce a considerable profit, 
 and employ a great number of people.* But Ger- 
 many does not appear to possess any mineral waters of 
 distinguished reputation. Saxony, although highly 
 celebrated for its rich and varied mineralogy, seems 
 in this respect to be remarkably deficient. 
 
 So?7.] The soil of Germany, as of all extensive 
 countries, displays a great variety. The northern 
 parts, as already observed, are in general saudy and 
 barren : but the central and southern regions are in 
 several places of celebrated fertility. Saxony, especi- 
 ally towards the south, is beautifully diversified with 
 hill and dale ; and between Dresden and Meissen, 
 the soil is thought to rival that of the Milanese. 
 Wurtemberg is one of the most fertile parts of the 
 circle of Suabia. Upper Bavaria is mountainous and 
 mostly covered with forests ; but lower Bavaria is level 
 and fertile ; and the same observation is applicable to 
 most of the provinces contiguous to the Alps, where 
 fertility and cultivation begin to appear only at some 
 distance from the mountains. 
 
 C/imate.~] -The climate of a country which extends 
 through ten degrees of latitude, must necessarily pre- 
 sent a considerable variety between the northern and 
 the southern parts. In the north of Germany, cold 
 and moisture predominate. The flat and unpleasant 
 country of Westphalia, is cold, humid and unhealth- 
 ful.-f* The climate of Saxony is temperate, and the 
 
 * Batbe Marbois, p. 59, cc. It appears that the making of suit 
 from the springs js of great antiquity among the Germans. Tacitus de mor. 
 G^rmauorum, lib. 13. cap. 57. Pliny, Hut, Nat,. lib. 37. cap. 7. 
 
 t Rcisbeck's Trav. vol. 3. p. 118. 
 
 air
 
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS ZOOLOGY. 26l 
 
 air pure and salubrious ; and the middle and southern 
 parts of Germany are warm. The vine thrives well on 
 the banks of the Mayne, and inmost of the countries 
 to the south of that river. The winters, however, 
 throughout the whole country are somewhat severe. 
 
 Vegetable productions,"] The vegetable productions 
 of Germany vary according to soil, position, situa- 
 tion, and climate; but are, in general, the same as 
 those of the Prussian and Austrian dominions, and 
 nearly similar to those of England and France. Wines 
 are produced in most of the provinces of Southern 
 Germany. Those of the Rhingau have already been 
 mentioned. The famous wine called Old Hock, is 
 produced in a district scarcely a mile in length and 
 half a mile in breadth. In some years this spot af- 
 fords 200 hogsheads. It belongs to the chapter of 
 Mentz; and what is not consumed, there is distri- 
 buted in presents, so that none of this wine is ever 
 sold in foreign countries. 
 
 Zoology.] The zoology of the German states nearly 
 corresponds with that of the Prussian and Austrian 
 dominions. The German horses are heavy, but not 
 remarkable for spirit. Among the animals of the 
 forest, the most celebrated is the wild boar, which in 
 many parts of Germany, but especially in We&phalia, 
 attains to a large size, and affords to the nobility and 
 gentry their most favourite diversion of hunting. The 
 linx is sometimes seen in the northern, and the wolf 
 the southern parts of Germany. 
 
 Natural curiosities.] Germany presents several fea- 
 tures of nature that may deservedly rank as curiosities. 
 Among these may chiefly be reckoned the stupendous 
 caverns, which are seen in many parts of the country 
 especially the remarkable caves of Hamnu-len and 
 s 3 BJackenburg
 
 262 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 Blackenburg in the Hartz mountains. The termina- 
 tion of the latter of these caverns has never yet been 
 explored. But the picturesque beauties of the Rhin- 
 gau, and the magnificent prospects seen from the 
 summit of Der Alle Konig, which have already been 
 mentioned, must hold the first rank among the natu- 
 ral curiosities and grand features of Germany. 
 
 Antiquities and artificial curiosities.] The antiquities 
 consist of a few Roman remains in the south/ the 
 Gothic cathedrals erected by Charlemagne or his im- 
 mediate successors, and the numerous castles built by 
 the ancient barons. Almost every one of the modern 
 princes has a cabinet of curiosities, natural and artifi- 
 cial, ancient and mo4ern ; and some of the collection* 
 are excellent, 
 
 CHAP.
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Cbicf Cities and Towns Edifices. 
 
 AMONG the cities of the German states Dresden, 
 Munich, Hamburg, Hanover, and Frankfort on the 
 Mayne, are chiefly entitled to notice. Vienna and 
 Berlin, which have already been described under the 
 articles of Austria and Prussia, cannot since the dis- 
 solution of the empire, be considered as any longer as 
 German cities. 
 
 Dresden ?[ Dresden, the capital of the late electo" 
 rate but present kingdom of Saxony, is the most 
 beautiful city of Germany.* It is divided by the 
 Elbe into the old and the new town, which communi- 
 cate by a bridge across the river of almost 700 paces 
 in length. The streets are broad and well paved, and 
 the squares are spacious. The houses are built of 
 freestone, for the most part of an uniform height ; 
 and the palaces and public buildings are numerous and 
 elegant. The electoral palace has been greatly ad- 
 mired by travellers: the library, the paintings, the 
 cabinet of curiosities, &c. exhibit grand collections; 
 and the gardens are extensive aiid curious. This city 
 has several important manufactures, among which that 
 of porcelaineis the most celebrated. It contains also a 
 good university, and several other literary and scien- 
 tific institutions. The population of Dresden, is com- 
 puted at 50,000, and the inhabitants excel those of all 
 * Beisbcck's Trav. rol. 2. p. 154k 
 
 g 4 the
 
 26-1 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 the other German cities, in the elegance of their man- 
 ners. The court of the Elector Augustus, king of 
 Poland, in the last century, is said to have been the 
 most brilliant in Europe.* 
 
 Leipstrk."] Leipsick is also a handsome city, con- 
 taining about 33,000 inhabitants, with a famous uni- 
 versity, and three great commercial fairs. But it is 
 chiefly remarkable for its celebrated book fair, which 
 renders it the grand mart of German literature. At 
 this fair books are sold or exchanged to the annual 
 amount of 1 ,7 o 1,000 livres, or nearly 73,000/f. ster- 
 ling.f A great number of books are also published at 
 Leipsick, which, with its fair may be considered as a 
 literary curiosity. 
 
 Munich.'] Munich, the capital of the late electo- 
 rate and present kingdom of Bavaria, must be ranked 
 next to Dresden, which it equals at least in magnifi- 
 cence if not in neatness and elegance ; its population 
 is estimated at 36,000 peisons. Munich displays many 
 fine buildings both public and private. The Ducal 
 which must now be called the royal palace, is a most 
 magnificent structure superbly decorated; and the 
 cabinet of curiosities, the library and the gardens at- 
 tract the attention of travellers. 
 
 Sfttfgard.] -Stutgard, the capital of the late duchy 
 of Wurtemberg and the present kingdom of Suabia, 
 is seated among mountains near the river Neckar. The 
 streets are narrow, and the houses built of wood. In 
 the suburbs, however, the streets are broad and 
 straight, and many of the houses are handsome. Dres- 
 den, Munich, and Stutgard, may now be reckoned the 
 capitals of the three principal German states. 
 
 Hanover.'] Hanover, which is now under the do- 
 * Jlebbeck's Trav. vol. 2. 155, 156. t Ibid. p. 200 
 
 minion
 
 HAMBURG. 2G5 
 
 minion of France, but will probably be restored at tbe 
 conclusion of a peace, is a handsome city. The elec- 
 toral palace is new and elegant, and the stadthouse is 
 a magnificent structure.* The city is seated on the 
 river Leine amidst villas and gardens, and contains 
 about 15,000 or 16.000 inhabitants. 
 
 Hamburg^] Hamburg is situated on the Elbe, 
 which is near a mile broad, and interspersed with 
 islands. The city is fortified in the old Dutch style, 
 being encompassed with spacious ramparts planted 
 with trees. Some of the principal streets make a 
 good appearance ; but the others are narrow and dark, 
 and the houses in general are rather convenient than 
 shewy ; but those of the merchants are elegant.f Here 
 are some manufactures of cloth, stockings, &c. as 
 well as considerable breweries and extensive works 
 for the refining of sugar. In the last of these branches, 
 no nation equals the Hamburghers. They are fur- 
 nished with the cane from Spain; and their trade in 
 sugar extends to all parts of Germany, Poland, and 
 Russia.^ Before Hamburg fell under the military do- 
 mination^ of France, it \vas one of the chief commer- 
 cial cities of Europe. In the year 1199, no fewer 
 than 2423 vessels entered its port;]| but, in its present 
 circumstances, its trade, a great part of which was 
 with England, must be extremely diminished. The 
 population of Hamburg, according to Hoeck's ac- 
 count, is about 9-5,000. The religion is Lutheran, 
 and the Hamburghers are not famed for liberal senti- 
 ments in regard to toleration ; but their numerous 
 libraries do honour to their literary taste. There are 
 also many scientific institutions, and private collec- 
 
 * Render's Trav. vol. 2. p. 214. t Ibid. p. 210 and 211. 
 
 J Ibid. p. 213. U Ibid. p. $12. 
 
 lions
 
 266 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 tions of curiosities.* The German and French thea- 
 tres correspond with the wealth of the city ; and, ex- 
 cepting "that of Hesse Darmstadt, the orchestra of 
 Hamburg is the hest in Germany.f Previous to its 
 seizure by the French, Hamburg was independent, 
 and the form of its government aristocratical, being 
 vested in a senate consisting of thirty-seven members. 
 Concerning its civil and commercial state, at present 
 we have no precise information ; but both may be 
 easily conjectured. The environs of Hamburg are 
 flat and unpicturesque ; but, being well cultivated, 
 they have not an unpleasant appearance.^; 
 
 Frankfort.] Frankfort on the Mayne, lately an im- 
 perial city and one of the great inland marts of Ger-< 
 many, deserves'to be noticed for the flourishing state 
 of its commerce and literature, and the beauty of its 
 environs. It is a large and handsome city, crowded 
 with merchants and literati, and containing 30,000 in- 
 habitants, Catholics, Calvinists, and Lutherans.^ 
 Jews also are here very numerous. The merchants 
 are extremely rich. Within a circuit of six miles 
 round Frankfort are seen above forty magnificent 
 villas belonging to the opulent citizens, an unequivo-, 
 cal proof of their lucrative commerce.[| But|Reis- 
 beck observes, that the trade of Frankfort is hurtful 
 to Germany, as the exports scarcely amount to one 
 tenth of the imports from Holland, France, and 
 Italy.* 
 
 * Render's Trav. vol. 2. p. 255. t Ibid. p. 223. 
 
 J Ibid. p. 227. From Hamburg to Hanover there is not a hill to b 
 discovered, and almost the whole country is a deep sand, lleisbeck's 
 Trav. vol. 3. p. 117123. . , 
 
 Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 3. p. 167. || Render's Trav. vol. 1. p. 141. 
 
 5[ Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 3. p. 168. No town in Germany has better 
 inns than Frankfort. Reisbeck's T. rav. vol. 3. p. 167. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 -267 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Present State, political and moral Religion Government Laws 
 Array Navy Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population - 
 Political importance and relations Language Literature PoUlfl 
 Arts Education Manners and Customs National Character. 
 
 \. HE political circumstances of Germany have, 
 during many centuries, been regarded as a perplexed 
 labyrinth : at present they exhibit a chaos of confu- 
 sion and uncertainty. The celebrated Germanic con- 
 stitution, consisting of an intricate assemblage of prin- 
 cipalities and states, secular and ecclesiastical, under 
 various titles and forms of government, monarchical 
 and republican, all united under the paramount sove- 
 reignty of the emperor, as head of the whole confede- 
 racy, had near half a century ago become an anti- 
 quated and inefficacious system, ready to sink under 
 the power of Austria and Prussia, and is now com- 
 pletely annihilated by the arms of France. In the 
 present fluctuating state of affairs, it would be useless 
 to attempt a description of the 300 different sove- 
 reignties into which Germany was lately divided.* 
 These have been transferred, exchanged, or curtailed, 
 according to the arbitrary will of the conqueror, and 
 in conformity to his political views. It would, indeed, 
 be next to impossible to detail, with precision, the 
 changes that have taken place among the German 
 
 * Those who have leisure and patience sufficient for sucb minute de- 
 tail* may cousult J'uttcr, Luscliiag and liyeck, 
 
 states,
 
 208 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 states, both secular and ecclesiastical, or to foresee 
 those which may yet be effected.* In the uncertain 
 and changeable view of the continent, minute objects 
 must be overlooked ; .and it suffices to observe, that 
 out of the wrecks of the German empire and the dis- 
 memberment of Prussia, are formed four new king- 
 doms ; namely, those of Bavaria, Suabia, Saxony, and 
 Westphalia. Neither their boundaries nor political 
 systems can yet be completely fixed ; but in general 
 terms it may be observed, that Bavaria occupies the 
 south-east, Suabia the south-west, Saxony the centre, 
 and Westphalia the north-western parts of Germany ; 
 the latter consisting chiefly of the countries dismem- 
 bered from Prussia. The city and territory of War- 
 yaw is also assigned to Saxony, with a free passage, 
 through the Prussian dominions between these two 
 disjointed parts of the Saxon kingdom.f The fate of 
 the inferior states appears yet in a great measure un- 
 determined. 
 
 Religion."] The established religions of the German 
 states are the Catholic, the Calvinist, and the Lutheran. 
 The Catholic religion predominates in the south, the 
 Protestant in the middle and the north. Bavaria is 
 the chief of the Catholic, and Saxony of the Protes- 
 tant states. The government of Westphalia will proba- 
 bly be Catholic ; but the Protestant is the prevailing 
 religion of the country.;}: The two systems nearly 
 
 * Before tlie French invasion and conqnests, the Archbishop of Mentz 
 was, in riches and rank, the most considerable prelate of Christendom next 
 to the pope. Reisbeck's Trav. vol. 3, p. 219. Render's Trav. vol. 1, 
 p. 165. 
 
 t Treaty of Tilsit, concluded in 1807, between Russia, France, and 
 Prussia. 
 
 t It h scarcely necessary to mention, that Jerome Buonaparte, brothep 
 f the French emperor, is made king of Westphalia. 
 
 counterbalance
 
 GOVEBNMENT,8CC. COMMERCE. 269 
 
 counterbalance each other throughout Germany : th 
 Protestants, however, are the most numerous body. 
 In different parts of the country there are a great va- 
 riety of sects, who mostly enjoy a liberal toleration. 
 
 Government, army, navy, revenues.'] Concerning th* 
 government, military force, revenues, &c. of the Ger- 
 man states, nothing can now be said with any degree 
 of precision, or even of approximation to truth. It 
 was always supposed that the empire, if united, could 
 have brought into the field an army of 500,000 men, 
 a force which, if properly directed, might have set at 
 defiance all the attempts of foreign ambition.* la 
 the present situation of affairs, the revenues and mili- 
 tary strength of the new German kingdoms cannot be 
 very considerable. 
 
 Commerce.] Germany being situated in the centre 
 of Europe, and intersected by several large rivers, pos- 
 sesses considerable advantages for trade, and produces 
 abundance of native articles. But all these natural 
 advantages have been greatly counteracted by the 
 reiterated wars, of which this country has been the 
 theatre, as well as by the numerous petty governments, 
 which created a multiplicity of customs and tolls. 
 Nothing more evidently displays the bad effects of 
 such a system in the internal commerce of Germany, 
 than the view which Reisbeck has given of the navi- 
 gation of the Rhine. Every prince, as far as his do- 
 minions extended on its banks, considered all the ves- 
 sels as foreign, and without distinction imposed on. 
 them intolerable taxes. Between Mentz and Coblentz 
 there were no less than nine tolls, and sixteen between 
 
 * Ziioinermann states the whole military force of Germany, in actual pay, 
 at 500,000 men, arid the collective revenue at 18,000,000/. sterling. 
 p. 1116, 1*7. 
 
 t Coblentz
 
 870 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 Coblentz and Holland. Temporary quarrels among 
 tiie German princes, also frequently impeded the com- 
 merce.* From this view of circumstances, it is not 
 difficult to perceive the important commercial advan- 
 tages which the French have gained by extending 
 their boundaries to the Rhine, and securing to them- 
 selves the free navigation of that river. The exports 
 of Germarfy consist of its native products, among 
 which may be reckoned great quantities of timber, 
 / hemp, and oilier naval stores, and the various manu- 
 factures. 
 
 Manufactures] The manufactures of Germany are 
 numerous, and many of them carried to a great extent 
 and a high degree of perfection. That of porcelaine 
 has already been mentioned in speaking of Dresden : 
 the others are of silk and cotton stuffs, toys, ribbands, 
 numerous articles of iron, steel, and other metals, can- 
 non and mortars, bullets and bomb-shells. In fine, 
 there are few European manufactures which are not 
 found in a greater or less degree of perfection in Ger 
 many; and many of them display considerable excel 
 lence. 
 
 Population] The population of Germany is com 
 puted at 26,000,000 ; but this calculation includes the 
 German dominions of Austria and Prussia, already de- 
 scribed.t The population of the German, states, now 
 under consideration, can scarcely amount to more 
 than 19,000,000. The number of subjects contained 
 in each of the new kingdoms, in their present uncer- 
 tain state, cannot be estimated with such approxima- 
 tion to exactness, as to convey any just ideas. 
 
 * See Heisbeck's interesting Account of tb Navigation and Comraerqf 
 Of the Rhine, Trav. S, letter 58. 
 i Ziuimcrrruun, tab. I, 
 
 Political
 
 LANGUAGE LITERATURE. 2?l 
 
 Political importance and relations.] The political 
 importance and relations of Germany may now be 
 considered as annihilated, or swallowed up in the vor- 
 tex of France. The inferior principalities and states, 
 so long as they are suffered to exist, must be depend- 
 ent on the four kingdoms of Bavaria, Suabia, Saxony, 
 and Westphalia, while these monarchies themselves 
 must remain subordinate to France. Such must ine- 
 vitably be the state of Germany if the present system, 
 subsist. All views of the subject, however, must at 
 present be visionary. 
 
 Language.'] The German is an original language, 
 and the basis of the Swedish, the Danish, and the 
 English. It is somewhat harsh and unpleasant, but 
 energetic and copious ; and its beauties begin to be 
 daily more known among foreigners. Among people 
 of fashion, however, it is almost superceded by the 
 French, which is universally used by the nobility and 
 gentry throughout Germany. The Saxon is the purest 
 idiom of the German language, while the southern dia- 
 lects of Suabia, Bavaria, arid Austria, are the most 
 corrupt and barbarous. 
 
 Literature.} German literature is a copious subject. 
 It was late, however, in making its appearance, and it 
 was not till the eighteenth century that it began to 
 acquire any great reputation. Before that time the 
 German productions, though numerous ' t and volumi- 
 nous, were heavy and pedantic, and totally disregarded 
 by other nations. Gottesched, a professor at Leipsick, 
 who was highly esteemed and honoured by Frederic 
 the Great of Prussia, introduced a better style of 
 writing by publishing a German grammar for polishing 
 the language, and by instituting a literary society for 
 promoting the study of the belles lettres. From that 
 * epoch
 
 .3 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 epoch the Germans began to write in their own lan- 
 guage with propriety and elegance ; and by perusing 
 and translating the best French and English authors, 
 they improved their style and corrected their taste. 
 It wotild be tedious to enumerate the German writers, 
 who have distinguished themselves in the various 
 branches of philosophy and of the mathematics, as 
 \vell in the study of antiquities and language, pursuits 
 for which they are, by their habits of industry and ap- 
 plication, remarkably adapted. A late judicious and 
 observing traveller remarks, that the Germans have a 
 peculiar turn for philosophical studies, having a cool 
 and just judgment united with great industry.* In all 
 the branches of philosophy and science, which require 
 perseverance arid profound investigation, the German* 
 are scarcely surpassed by any other nation; and of 
 late they have also distinguished themselves in poetry 
 and other branches of the belles lettres. But literature 
 and science have not equally flourished in all parts of 
 Germany. Bavaria and Suabia are, in this respect 
 far behind the northern provinces. Saxony is the 
 most celebrated seat of German literature, and most of 
 the chief philosophers and writers were either born or 
 had resided in that country. 
 
 Polite arts.] In the arts, as well as in the sciences, 
 the Germans have acquired distinguished reputation. 
 In mechanics and chemistry they have particularly 
 excelled. Gunpowder and artillery are German in- 
 ventions of the fourteenth century. If printing was 
 invented in Holland, it was soon after greatly im- 
 proved in Germany. This country has also produced 
 jerninent architects, sculptors, painters, and engravers. 
 
 * Reisbeck, trav. 3, p. 328, 
 
 III
 
 EDUCATION MANNERS, &C. 273 
 
 In music, the Germans rival the Italians/ and excel all 
 other nations. 
 
 Education.'] Germany can boast of numerous uni- 
 versities, both Catholic and Protestant ; and every 
 considerable city has various literary and scientific 
 institutions. On the whole, education, especially in 
 the northern parts, appears to attract greater atten- 
 tion than in several other European countries. 
 
 Manners, customs, national character.] The manners 
 and customs of the different German states, constitute 
 too copious and varied a subject for precise delinea- 
 tion, in a work of this general nature. " In England 
 and France," says Dr. Render, " all imitate the man- 
 ners of the metropolis. In Germany, no one city in- 
 fluences the habits of the others ; but, as the country 
 is divided into distinct states, so they exhibit distinct 
 customs, opinions, and practices."* Of a moral pic- 
 ture so greatly diversified, the particular features must 
 be sought in the writings of travellers, who have accu- 
 rately observed, and amply delineated, the manners of 
 the different states.f In this compendium it suffices 
 to glance at some general traits which have had a 
 visible influence on the state of the country. The mul- 
 tiplicity of the sovereignties, the distinguishing fea- 
 ture of the political system of Germany, has produced 
 consequences natural to such a division, and peculiar 
 to this country and Italy. The German princes vied 
 with each other in the number and pomp of their 
 guards, &,c. the magnificence of their palaces, their 
 excellent collections of paintings, their libraries, their 
 
 * Render's Trav. vol. 1, p. 10. 
 
 t In this respect Keisbeck merits particular attention. ." My way," 
 says he, " is to be more observant of wen in the lower orders of society, 
 than of those that have stars and strir.g*." Trav. vol. 3, p. Ifi. 
 
 VOL. in. T cabinets
 
 274 GERMAN STATES. 
 
 cabinets of curiosities, and in all the splendour of roy- 
 alty. This taste for grandeur and elegance afforded 
 great encouragement to the arts ; but as most of the 
 dominions were contracted within narrow limits, and 
 their revenues small, the taxes were consequently 
 heavy, and their effects on agriculture and commerce, 
 pernicious. A remarkable passion for titles and extra- 
 vagance very generally prevails among the higher 
 classes of Germans : " the merchants," says a late tra- 
 veller, " as soon as they are able, purchase titles, and 
 so do the stewards after oppressing the tenants."* The 
 same author observes, that " the German nobility are 
 greatly corrupted by their tours to Paris, where they 
 learn luxury and gambling." The national character, 
 of which persevering industry and application are pro- 
 minent features, has partly been anticipated in treat- 
 ing of their learning and philosophy. The Germans 
 are, in general, frank, generous, and hospitable. They 
 are also hardy, brave, and vigorous, and generally 
 esteemed the best soldiers in Europe. If they have 
 not in latter times maintained that character, it is 
 owing to their disunited political system, and not to 
 any want of personal qualifications. Zimmermann ob- 
 served, that the greatness of France was a consequence 
 of the divisions of Germany; and recent events have 
 verified the remark. f 
 
 * Render's Trav. vol. 2, p. 39, 40. t Ziramermann, p. !20. 
 
 GENERAL
 
 275 
 
 GENERAL HISTORY OF GERMANY. 
 
 1 HE history of Germany, as well as its political 
 system, is a confused and difficult subject, often, 
 obscure and always complex. Its different states 
 have risen at different periods, their boundaries have 
 often been changed, and some of its princes have ac- 
 quired extensive dominions, which were never con- 
 sidered as parts of the German empire. The first 
 population of Germany appears to have been Celtic 
 and Finnish. The Cimbri, or modern Celts, are 
 known to have possessed at an early period the south- 
 ern, western, and north-western parts, while the Fins 
 were settled in the north-east. 
 
 The Cimbri were expelled by the Goths, and long 
 before the light of history began to dawn, had ex- 
 tended their colonies into Belgium, from whence they 
 had passed into England. The Fins were also subju- 
 gated by the Slavi or Slavonians. The Roman histo- 
 rians were ignorant of the periods of these emigra- 
 tions, and of the circumstances by which they were 
 attended, but the Roman warriors found the German 
 Goths in possession of the countries here mentioned. 
 
 The Romans under Tiberius and Drusus, had, in 
 the reign of Augustus, penetrated far into the north 
 of Germany, proceeding from the Rhine eastward to 
 the Elbe ; and Drusus is supposed to have erected his 
 
 T 2 trophies
 
 276 GERMANY. 
 
 trophies near Madgeburg. But it appears certain, 
 that the Romans never built, or at least never kept 
 up any forts, nor retained possession of any consider- 
 able part of the country beyond the Danube and the 
 Rhine. The erroneous description which Ptolemy, in 
 the second century of the Christian sera, gives of the 
 central and eastern parts of Germany, affords sufficient 
 evidence that those interior regions were terra incog- 
 nita to the Roman geographers. 
 
 The interior of Germany remained unexplored till 
 the feign of Charlemagne ; and the north eastern parts 
 till a much later period. The first authentic informa- 
 tion relative to this country and its inhabitants, is 
 derived from the luminous pages of Tacitus, who 
 wrote a work expressly on the subject * At that time 
 the Germans, although not savages, were still in a 
 state of gross barbarism. They had no cities, but 
 Jived dispersed in villages ; they considered it as a 
 mark of servitude to live in towns surrounded with, 
 walls, and used to say, that the fiercest animals when 
 confined, became dispirited and timid.*)- Through- 
 out the whole extent of Germany, from the Rhine 
 and the Danube to the Baltic, there was scarcely one 
 city previous to the ninth century. Charles Martel, 
 and Pepin his son,- had several times defeated the 
 Saxons, Bavarians, &c. but it was reserved to Char- 
 lemagne to conquer, and partly to civilize Germany .J 
 To him the most ancient cities of Germany owe their 
 origin ;^ but Henry IV, surnamed the Fowler, whose 
 reign commenced A.D. 9'20, greatly increased their 
 
 * DC moribns Gcrraanorum. t Tacit. Hist. lib. 4. cap. 64. 
 
 J Conriiig. do Urbih. Germnnia;., vol. 1. sec. 25, &c. 
 Jlenatilt. Ab. Clirou. vol. 1, anno 759, 743, 758, &c. See historical 
 yievv ol i : janc<', and the authorities to which references are there made, 
 
 number,
 
 GENERAL HISTOKY. 277 
 
 number. The history of the German empire under 
 the family of Charlemagne, is included in that of the 
 French monarchy. On the death of Louis IV, the 
 last emperor of that race, Charles the Simple being 
 *tript of his power, and of most of his patrimony by 
 the usurpations of the French nobility, found himself 
 too weak to assert his right to the empire. Conrad, 
 Duke of Franconia, was advanced to the imperial 
 dignity; and thus the empire, from being hereditary 
 by right of conquest in the posterity of Charlemagne, 
 now became elective.* This final separation of Ger- 
 many from France, took place A.D. 912, but the an? 
 thority of Conrad was not recognized in Italy, where 
 the sovereign power had, from about the middle of 
 the ninth century, been usurped by the Pope and 
 several petty princes.f In Germany the Dukes of 
 Lorraine, Suabia, Bavaria and Saxony, began, like 
 those of Italy and France, to render themselves here- 
 ditary sovereigns of the provinces of which they were 
 constituted governors ; and Conrad found himself un- 
 able to reduce them to subjection.^ On his death, 
 Henry Duke of Saxony, surnamed the Fowler, was 
 elected emperor, A.D. 920, and proved a wise and 
 virtuous prince. He added a great number of cities 
 to those formerly founded by Charlemagne, and sur- 
 rounded many of them with walls. About twenty 
 years previous to his accession, the Hungarians, at 
 that time a people entirely rude and barbarous, had 
 been called in by the emperor Arnulph to assist him 
 in his wars against the king of Bohemia and Moravia; 
 but having probably observed the weakness of Ger- 
 
 * Hen. Ab. Chron. vol. 1, anno 912. 
 
 t PufFend. vol. 2, ch. 8. ilenault. ubi supra. 
 
 | Puffcnd. vol. 2. ch. 8. 
 
 T 3 many,
 
 278 GERMANY. 
 
 many, then debilitated and thrown into confusion by 
 the disunion of the barons, they invaded the empire 
 in the reign of Louis IV. his successor, and ravaged 
 the country with unexampled cruelty. In the ' year 
 905, or according to some 907, these Pagans totally 
 defeated Louis near Augsburg, and obliged him to 
 purchase peace by paying an annual tribute.* " The 
 cause of this loss and disgrace," says Puflfendorf, 
 " ought to be imputed to the emperor's youth, to the 
 divisions which reigned among the great, and the 
 desire that every one had of increasing his own 
 power/'f Notwithstanding this tribute, however, 
 they continued their ravages in many parts of the 
 country during his reign, and that of Conrad his 
 successor. Henry the Fowler was the first that broke 
 their force. They had entered with a formidable 
 army into Germany, in order to renew their ravages, 
 and enforce the payment of the tribute. But in a 
 bloody engagement which took place near Merseburg, 
 Henry is said to have cut 80,000 of them in pieces.^ 
 In order more effectually to oppose their future incur- 
 sions, he encouraged his subjects to settle in towns 
 environed with walls and towers, and prevailing on 
 several of the nobility to fix their residence in the 
 cities, he thus rendered the condition of citizens more 
 honourable than it had been formerly esteemed. From 
 this period, not only the number, but also the wealth 
 and population of the German cities began to in- 
 crease.| Henry also subdued the Wends, a Sanna- 
 tian or Slavonian nation, inhabiting the northern parts 
 of Germany, and expelled them from Misnia and 
 
 * Puffend. vol. 2, ch. 8. t Ibid, ubi supra reign of Louis TV. 
 
 J Ibid, reign of Henry the Fowler. 
 
 $ Conringius de urb Germanise, vol. 1. sec, 48 to 82. 
 
 t Brandenbourg,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 279 
 
 Brandenbourg, which tatter he erected into a mar- 
 quisate. t ' . 
 
 Henry was succeeded in 936 by his son Otho the 
 great. This prince subdued, in several bloody wars, 
 divers of the princes of Germany, who had openly 
 erected the standard of revolt. He was equally suc- 
 cessful against the Danes as well as against the Sla- 
 vonians of Bohemia, Moravia, Sec. Near Augsburg 
 he gave battle to the Hungarians, who had recom- 
 menced their ravages, and so completely defeated 
 them, that these barbarians never more made their 
 appearance in Germany.* To these conquests he 
 added that of Italy, which he re-annexed to the em- 
 pire. Neither of his predecessors had been recog- 
 nized in that country, which had, during a long time^ 
 exhibited a scene of confusion. All the lords, and 
 some of the cities, had assumed sovereign authority, 
 and were incessantly contending for the paramount 
 power. Conrad and Henry had, therefore, possessed 
 only the title of kings of Germany .f But Otho, hav- 
 ing made himself master of Italy, was elected emperor 
 and crowned at Rome A. D. 9(J2; the acquisition of 
 Italy was of little advantage to Germany. The Popes 
 and the other princes raised continual disturbances, 
 which could not be quelled without difficulty ; and 
 the towns not being then bridled by citadels and 
 garrisons, it was necessary to march an army into the 
 country, whenever it pleased the people to revolt. 
 Germany was therefore drained of her men and her 
 money, in order to keep Italy in subjection, while 
 the emperors seem to have never been able to draw- 
 more than a very trifling revenue from that country .J 
 
 * Puffend. ubi. supra. f lien. Ab. Chron. vol. 1, anno 912, &c. 
 
 ^ Puffrjnd. nbi. suj>ra. 
 
 T 4 Otho
 
 280 GERMANY. 
 
 Otho the Great dying in 974, after a brilliant and 
 successful reign of thirty-eight years, was succeeded 
 by Otho II. his son. The greatest part of the reign 
 of this emperor was spent in reducing to obedience 
 the rebellious princes of Germany, and in wars against 
 the Greeks, who had rendered themselves masters of 
 a great part of Italy. His son, Otho II, who suc- 
 ceeded in 9B.S, found sufficient employment in quell- 
 ing the factions of Rome.* Crescentius, a Roman 
 nobleman who had usurped the sovereign authority, 
 and on submission had been pardoned, again revolted, 
 expelled the Pope, Gregory V, and elevated to the 
 papal chair a creature of his own, under the name of 
 John XVI. The emperor, exasperated at those rei- 
 terated rebellions, returned with a powerful army into 
 Italy, and took Rome by assault. Crescentius was 
 beheaded, the antipope, having his eyes put out and 
 his nose cut off, was thrown from the top of the castle 
 of St. Angelo, and Gregory V. was restored to the 
 pontificate.f This emperor afterwards inarched into 
 Poland, which, from a duchy, he erected into a king- 
 dom, in favor of Bolesiaus, who agreed to hold it as 
 a fief of the empire. Having undertaken another 
 expedition into Italy, and expelled the Saracens, he 
 lost his life by a pair of poisoned gloves, of which the 
 widow of Crescentius had made him a present. Otho 
 111, like his grandfather Otho the Great, was courage- 
 ous and resolute ; and the empire sustained a great 
 loss in the death of a prince so prudent in counsel 
 and decisive in action. He died A.D. 100 J, after a 
 successful reign of eighteen years, and leaving no 
 issue, the Duke of Bavaria, Henry II, being grand- 
 
 * Puffejid. ubi. sujna. t Ileiss. Hist, de I'Empire, torn. 1. 
 
 SOU
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 by the female line to Otho II, was elected ein- 
 peror.* 
 
 During the period which elapsed from the death of 
 Otho HI. to about the year 1075, few events occur 
 that can appear interesting to modern times. The 
 successive wars, treasons and revolts, which consti- 
 tute its history, ought therefore to be condensed as 
 closely as possible, as they are only repetitions of thfc 
 scenes exhibited in all political annals. In this com- 
 pendium it suffices to say, that the reigns of Henry IL 
 from 1001 to 1024, of Conrad II. from 1024 to H)3i), 
 -of Henry HI. from 1039 to 1056, were almost entirely 
 employed in wars against the Hungarians, Pole?,, and 
 Uurgundians, or in quelling the revolts of the empire, 
 especially those of Italy .f Conrad reduced the Poles 
 and Hungarians to submission and tribute, and an- 
 nexed to the empire the kingdom of Trans] urane 
 Burgundy , on the death of Rodolph its king without 
 issue. He also made two expeditions into Italy, in 
 order to subdue the rebels of that country, and at his 
 death, left behind him the character of a prince of 
 distinguished abilities and virtues. Henry III. de- 
 posed Pope Gregory VI, whom the citizens of Rome 
 had elected without his approbation, and elevated to 
 tb,e pontifical chair the bishop of Bamberg, chancellor 
 of the empire, who took the name of Clement II.J 
 This prince appears to have possessed greater autho- 
 rity over Italy than any of the emperors since Otho 
 the Great. He died A,D. lOju, in the thirty-ninth 
 year of his age, and the sixteenth of his reign, and 
 was succeeded by his son Henry IV, surnamed the 
 
 " Puffcnd. ubi supra. t Vide Ht-iss Hist. Empire, vol. 1, p. '?. 
 
 $ Anna), de 1'Etnpire, torn. 1. Puflcnd. vol. 2, cb. 8. 13arre Hist, 
 tom. 3. Mosheini Hist. Ecclrs. vol. i 2. 
 
 Great.
 
 '282 GERMANY. 
 
 Great, famous for his contests with Gregory VII, the 
 most haughty and ambitious pontif that ever filled the 
 papal chair. 
 
 Henry was only six years old at his father's death, 
 and notwithstanding his youth, was, by the diet, im- 
 mediately elected emperor. In his reign began the 
 famous dispute concerning investitures, which so long 
 convulsed Germany and Italy, and engaged the church 
 in an open war with all temporal sovereigns. It ap- 
 pears that affairs had been ill conducted during 
 Henry's minority. The administration had at first 
 been lodged in the hands of Agnes, the young em- 
 peror's mother, who paid strict attention to the educa- 
 tion of her son and to the welfare of the empire. 
 But after she was divested of the regency, both these 
 important objects were neglected ; and the young 
 sbvereign, instead of being instructed in learning and 
 virtue, was trained up in licentiousness. Italy at the 
 same time was, as usual, in a state of confusion, and 
 both the Popes and the feudal princes began more 
 than ever to think of totally casting off the authority 
 of the emperor. Nicholas II, in a council of 113 
 bishops, passed the famous decree, which ordained, 
 that for the time to come, the cardinals alone should 
 elect the Pope, and that the election should be con- 
 firmed by the clergy and people of Rome. 
 
 At the time when Henry assumed the reins of 
 government, at the age of twenty-two, great disorders 
 prevailed throughout Germany. In the duchy of 
 Saxony in particular, the princes and nobles exercised 
 with impunity every kind of oppression, pillaging and 
 imprisoning strangers, obliging them to pay exor- 
 bitant sums for their ransom, and constantly committ- 
 ing depredations on one another, as well as on the 
 
 people
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 83 
 
 people at large. Henry, in order to repress this 
 system of universal robbery, erected forls in the coun- 
 try, and garrisoned them with soldiers. By attempt- 
 ing these reforms, he lost the affections of the Saxon 
 lords, whom he seldom consulted in any thing relative 
 to public affairs, transacting all by his ministers, who 
 were often selected from amonsr the lower orders 
 
 O 
 
 of the people.* The various, and, many of them 
 ftt least, ill-founded objections against Henry's plan 
 of government, caused a general revolt of the Saxons, 
 whom he subdued with great slaughter; and after a 
 bloody war, restored the public tranquillity by grant- 
 ing a general pardon. f 
 
 While Henry's valour rendered him master of Ger- 
 many, a volcano burst out in Italy, which, after a 
 series of troubles as great as any that ever befel 
 loyalty, hurled him at last from his throne. Hilde- 
 brand, a monk of low extraction, but of boundless 
 ambition, of profound policy and daring courage, 
 capable of forming and executing the greatest pro- 
 jects, was, in 1073, raised to the papacy, under the 
 name of Gregory VII. This bold and enterprising 
 genius, who had ever since the year 1048, under the 
 four successive pontificates of Leo IX, Victor II, 
 Nicholas II, and Alexander II, directed every thing 
 in Rome, having obtained the papal chair, began to 
 form vast designs. One of 'these was to render him- 
 self Sovereign Lord of all Christendom, by subject- 
 ing all temporal princes to the papal authority. Hi* 
 plan is said to have been to engage all the monarch* 
 of the Christian world to acknowledge allegiance to 
 himself, as Vicar of Christ and King of Kings, and to 
 establish at Rome a grand council of bishops, in 
 
 * Tuffeud. uli supra. t Ileiss Hist, dc ['Empire, liv, 2 
 
 which
 
 284 GERMANY. 
 
 which the pope should decide the contests between 
 Sovereigns, and determine the fate of empires.* Great 
 as this project might seem, it was equalled by another 
 not less splendid and daring, that of a general croisade 
 of the Christian nations against the Mahometans, in 
 order to rescue the holy supulchre from the hands of 
 those infidels. The enterprizing pope intended to 
 take the command in person of this grand expedition, 
 Us generalissimo of the combined armies of Christen- 
 dom, and required the emperor to serve under his 
 orders.^ A project so romantic will strike the modern 
 reader with astonishment, but it was in unison with 
 the spirit of the times, and perfectly congenial to the 
 enthusiastic, ambitious, and daring character of Gre- 
 gory VII. The first of these designs, however, involved 
 him in difficulties, which left him no leisure to attempt 
 the execution of the second ; and the contest which 
 ensued proved fatal in the end, both to the pope and 
 the emperor 
 
 On the departure of the imperial sceptre from the 
 posterity of Charlemagne, Italy, as already observed, 
 had separated itself from the empire, to which it was 
 re-annexed by the valour and abilities of Otho the 
 Great. The obedience of the Italians, however, was 
 involuntary, the authority of the emperor precarious, 
 and his sovereignty little more than nominal. " The 
 Caesars of Saxony or Franconia," says an elegant his- 
 torian, " were the chiefs of a feudal aristocracy, nor 
 eould they exercise the discipline of civil and military 
 power, which alone secures the obedience of a distant 
 people impatient of servitude, though perhaps in- 
 capable of freedom. Once, and once only in his life, 
 each emperor, with an army of Teutonic vassals, 
 
 Mosheira Hist. Eccles. vol. 2. i AnnaJ. de 1'Erapire, torn. 1. 
 
 descended
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 descended from the Alps. I have described the 
 peaceful order of his entry and coronation, but that 
 order was commonly disturbed by the clamour and 
 sedition of the Romans, who encountered their sove- 
 reign as a foreign invader ; his departure was always 
 speedy, and often shameful ; and in the absence of 
 a long reign, his authority was insulted and his name 
 forgotten."* Such was the feeble and uncertain do- 
 minion of the emperors over Italy. 
 
 As history begins here to develope a new scene, it 
 will not be amiss to exhibit the motives which actu- 
 ated the pontifs of Rome in those quarrels with the 
 emperors, which led to the elevation of the papal 
 above the imperial authority, and to the final extinc- 
 tion of the latter in Italy. This subject cannot be 
 better illustrated than by making use of the words of 
 an eminent modern historian, who, speaking of the 
 conduct of the popes, and particularly of Gregory 
 VII, expresses himself in these terms: " Nor is this 
 to be considered merely as a frantic sally of passion 
 in a pontif intoxicated with high ideas, concerning 
 the extent of priestly domination and the plenitude 
 of papal authority. Gregory VII. was able as well as 
 daring. His presumption and violence were accom- 
 panied with political discernment and sagacity. He 
 had observed, that the princes and nobles of Germany 
 had acquired such considerable territories, and such^ 
 extensive jurisdiction, as rendered them not only 
 formidable to the emperors, but disposed them to 
 favour any attempt to circumscribe their power. He 
 foresaw that the ecclesiastics of Germany, raised al- 
 most to a level with its princes, were ready to support 
 any person who would stand forth as the protector of 
 
 * Gibbon's Dec. Rom. Erap. vol. 12, p. C59. 
 
 their
 
 286 GERMANY. 
 
 their privileges and independence. With both these 
 Gregory negotiated, and had secured many devoted 
 adherents among them, before he ventured to enter 
 the lists against the head of the empire."* A regular 
 system for circumscribing the power of the emperor 
 in Germany, and extinguishing it in Italy, was thus 
 formed and invariably adhered to from that period. 
 The popes and the emperors were the most conspicu- 
 ous "actors in this important contest, which during 
 .more than two centuries agitated both countries; but 
 the Italian princes and cities, however divided in 
 their particular interests, were united in the general 
 design of annihilating the authority of the emperor 
 over their country. However they might temporize 
 on particular occasions, and vary their conduct ac- 
 cording to circumstances, they adhered uniformly to 
 the same system, and always kept the grand object in 
 view. 
 
 In regard to his great project of exalting the spiri- 
 tual above all temporal authority, and making himself 
 sovereign of the Christian world, the first measure 
 that Gregory adopted was that of dissolving the juris- 
 diction which monarchs till this time possessed over 
 the clergy. For this purpose, he began his pontifi- 
 cate by issuing a decree of excommunication against 
 every ecclesiastic who should receive from a layman 
 the investiture of a benefice, and against every layman 
 that should presume to confer such investiture. For 
 this procedure he had indeed a plausible pretext; 
 since, according to Puffendorf, the practice of simony 
 had, during the minority of the emperor, been carried 
 to a great extent; and ecclesiastical benefices had 
 
 Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. 1. p. 210. 
 
 been
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 287 
 
 been sold for money without any regard to merit.* It 
 is here requisite to observe, that on the first propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel, the bishops were checked by the 
 suffrages of both the clergy and laity of the churches, 
 over which they were to preside. When Christianity 
 was more extensively diffused, and the number of be- 
 lievers increased, the disorders and inconveniences of 
 popular elections became obvious; and therefore the 
 right of appointing prelates was exclusively assigned 
 to the ecclesiastical body, whose members were cer- 
 tainly the most competent judges of theological merit. 
 But when the Christian religion was established by 
 imperial authority, and became the religion of the 
 state, .Constantine, and the other emperors his suc- 
 cessors, assumed the right of conferring ecclesiastical 
 dignities ; and the Gothic sovereigns, who founded 
 their monarchies on the ruins of the western empire, 
 imitated the example. Indeed, when the dignitaries 
 of the church became the first members of the stale 
 and acquired great influence in the national councils, 
 it was requisite that they should be even approved by 
 the government and attached to the interests of the 
 nation. It was therefore sound policy in Gregory VII. 
 when planning his universal monarchy, to render 
 so powerful a body as the clergy solely dependant on 
 the Holy See. The predecessors of Henry IV. had in 
 common with almost all other Christian princes, en- 
 joyed the right of granting investiture to the bishops 
 and abbots, by delivering to them the ring and crosier. 
 Gregory, however, summoned the emperor to appear 
 before him as a delinquent, because he continued to 
 grant investitures in opposition to the apostolic de- 
 cree, and threatened to excommunicate and dethrone 
 
 * Puffend. Etat* forra6 en Europe, vol. '2. cli. 8. 
 
 him,
 
 GERMANVr 
 
 him, in case of 'his non-compliance. Henry, however.,! 
 dismissed with very h'ttle ccveniony the legates who- 
 brought the message,- and having convoked the Ger- 
 man princes and dignified ecclesiastics at Worms, it 
 was declared in that august assembly that Gregory VII. 
 had, by indirect means, usurped the chair of St. 
 Peter, and that it was the emperor's duty to divest 
 
 . him of his pontifical dignity, and to appoint another 
 pope. Gregory, in his turn, assembled a council of 
 110 bishops, who unanimously decreed that he ought 
 to depose the emperor. The pope immediately ful- 
 
 . initiated the sentence of excommunication against 
 Henry, absolving his subjects from their allegiance, 
 and prohibiting them from having any correspondence 
 with him under pain of incurring the same penalty. 
 This formidable sentence produced such an effect, 
 that the emperor immediately lost all his credit and 
 authority, and being forsaken by every one was re- 
 duced to the last degree of distress.* The princes of 
 the empire, by whom he was not beloved, held, in 
 the year J076, a great council, in which it was re- 
 solved to depose the emperor ; who, seeing his dan- 
 ger, immediately set out with very few attendants for 
 Italy. Gregory was then at Conosu, a fortress on the 
 Apennines. The emperor repaired thither to crave 
 absolution ; and here, being divested of his imperial 
 robes, wrapped in sackcloth, and barefooted, this 
 great monarch stood in an outer court exposed to the 
 inclemencies of the weather in the month of January, 
 during the space of three days and three nights, be- 
 fore he was admitted to kiss the feet of his holiness. 
 At last, however, on promising implicit obedience ia 
 *11 things ^to the pope, he obtained absolution. Bu{ 
 
 * 1'uiTend, ubi supra. 
 
 even
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 289- 
 
 even from this he did not derive all the advantages 
 that he had expected, for by his humiliation he en- 
 tirely lost the affections of the Italians, who were 
 extremely jealous of Gregory's power, and heartily 
 disgusted at his haughtiness. The princes of Ger- 
 many also the next year, 1077, elected for emperor 
 Rhodolpli, dukeofSuabia ;but the dukes of Franconia 
 and Bavaria, with some of the provinces along the 
 Rhine, opposing this election, ranged themselves 
 under the banners of Henry.* A bloody war now 
 ensued, in which Henry was generally victorious ; and 
 Rhodolph, the rival emperor, being slain in battle, he 
 again found himself master of Germany. 
 
 The Italians, in the mean while, resolved to check 
 the domineering power of Gregory. The empire now 
 presented a new aspect; and, while Germany rebelled 
 against the emperor, Italy rose in arms against the 
 pontiff. Henry used every means to induce the Ita- 
 lians to appoint another pope, while Gregory excited 
 the Germans to elect another emperor. But after the 
 defeat and death of Rhodolph,. Henry convened an 
 assembly of bishops, who having unanimously de- 
 clared Gregory VII. an usurper and unworthy of the 
 chair of St. Peter, pronounced against him the sen- 
 tence of degradation, and elected for pope the arch- 
 bishop of Ravenna, a man of great learning and piety, 
 who assumed the papacy under the name of Cle- 
 ment III. The emperor having reduced his enemies 
 in Germany, was now resolved to put the new pope 
 in possession of his high dignity. He marched his 
 army into Italy, and advanced to Rome, where Gre- 
 gory was prepared to make a vigorous defence. The 
 t;ity was regularly invested ; and the resolute courage 
 
 * Puffend. ubi supra. 
 TQL. III. U of
 
 fi<JO GERMANY. 
 
 of the pope and his faction, baffled for a long time 
 every mode of attack. The siege of Rome having 
 continued upwards of two years, the city was at last 
 taken by assault. But Gregory, with a few resolute 
 desperadoes, retired to the castle of St. Angelo, where 
 they defended themselves as courageously as they had 
 done in the city. This fortress being now closely be- 
 sieged, the pope and his party were likely soon to be 
 reduced to the desperate alternative of either perishing- 
 with famine or of cutting their way sword in hand 
 through the enemy. At this juncture, the emperor 
 being obliged to depart with part of his forces to quell 
 a revolt in Lombardy, Robert Guiscard the Norman, 
 advancing to Rome, drove away the troops that were 
 left to blockade the castle of St. Angelo, rescued the 
 pope, and conducted him in safety to Salerno. Here 
 Gregory soon after died, and Clement III. was quietly 
 seated in the papal chair. 
 
 Italy was no sooner reduced to tranquillity by Gre- 
 gory's death ; but Germany was involved in new trou- 
 bles. The Saxons had elected a new king of the Ro- 
 mans ; and another bloody civil war commenced. 
 Henry, however, was victorious in several engage- 
 ments : every thing gave way to bis valour and for- 
 tune. The new king of the Romans lost his life in the 
 contest, and the same fate befel another pretender. 
 But while the emperor was thus victorious in Ger- 
 many, new troubles in Italy demanded his presence^ 
 The discontented faction at Rome had hurled Cle- 
 ment III. from the papal chair, and elected in his 
 place the abbot of Monte Cassino, who took the name 
 of Victor III. But he dying very soon after, Urban 
 was advanced to the papacy. This pope i* distin- 
 guished io history, by having held the famous counci 
 
 of
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 291 
 
 of Clermont, in which the first croisade was deter- 
 mined, according to the plan which Gregory VII. had 
 originally formed. But Urban, less ambitious and 
 enterprizing than Gregory, did not undertake to com- 
 mand in person, as his more warlike predecessor had 
 intended, if circumstances had permitted the execu- 
 tion of his design. Urban, however, formed a scheme 
 which embittered the remaining days of the > emperor, 
 by seducing his son Conrad into a most unnatural 
 rebellion against his father. This young prince as- 
 suming the title of king of Italy, was crowned at 
 Milan, and having married the daughter of Roger, 
 king of Sicily, the greatest part of the Italian cities 
 as well as the nobles submitted to his sovereignty. 
 The emperor despairing of reducing by force so gene- 
 ral a revolt, assembled the German princes, put his 
 son Conrad to the ban of the empire, and declared his 
 other son Henry, king of the Romans. Conrad, 
 however, died soon after ; and his death was followed 
 by that of pope Urban II. The faction at Rome then 
 raised Paschal II. to the pontificate. This pope was a 
 second Gregory, and seemed to plan his conduct on 
 the same turbulent principles. He was no sooner 
 seated in the papal chair than, having assembled a 
 council, he summoned the emperor to appear before 
 him. On his non-compliance with the citation, he 
 fulminated against him the sentence of excommunica- 
 tion, and excited young Henry, king of the Romans, 
 to revolt, by representing to him that he ought not 
 to acknowledge an excommunicated person, either as 
 a father or a sovereign. The emperor having tried in 
 vain the arts of persuasion, dictated by parental af- 
 fection, prepared to decide by arms the contest with 
 his rebellious son. Young Henry then perceiving th* 
 
 u 2 formidable
 
 '2 GERMANY. 
 
 formidable arrangements of his father, and dreading 
 the superiority of his military skill, had recourse lo 
 the basest of stratagems. He feigned the deepest 
 compunction, threw himself at his feet, and asked his 
 pardon, which being granted, a perfect reconciliation 
 seemed to be effected. But the emperor had no 
 sooner disbanded his troops, than his perfidious son 
 caused him, to be treacherously seized and committed 
 to prison. He then assembled a diet of his partizans, 
 in which the pope's legate presided, and repeated the 
 sentence of excommunication against the emperor, 
 who was formally deposed and his son Henry V. pro- 
 claimed in his place. The unfortunate Henry IV. was 
 not only dethroned and imprisoned, but left in want of 
 the common necessaries of life. A long series of trou- 
 bles had embittered his reign, and reiterated misfor- 
 tunes had now reduced him to the most deplorable 
 state of human distress; but nothing could extinguish 
 his courage or sink him into despondency. He found 
 means to escape from his confinement, and reaching 
 Cologne was there received as emperor. In the Ne- 
 therlands also he found many friends, who raised him 
 a considerable body of troops. He then wrote circu" 
 lar letters to all Christian princes to induce them to 
 espouse his cause against his unnatural son, and at- 
 tempted to bring about an accommodation with the 
 papal see. But while things were in this^state of sus- 
 pense, he died at Liege, A.D. 1106, in the fifty-sixth 
 year of his age and forty ninth of his reign, which had 
 been an almost continual scene of bloody wars and tur- 
 bulent contention. Puffendorf says that this emperor, 
 after having fought sixty-two battles, in most of 
 which he had been victorious, died in a state of ex- 
 treme want and misery. He was a prince of a noble 
 
 and
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 292 
 
 and dignified appearance, and of excellent talents and 
 accomplishments ; eloquent, courageous, and enter- 
 prizing, and at the 'same time mild and merciful ; but 
 no monarch ever experienced in a greater degree the 
 troubles attending a crown. 
 
 Henry V. his son, being now lawful emperor, re- 
 solved as his father had done, to support the majesty 
 of the empire, and embroiled himself with the pope 
 on account of the old subject of investitures. He im- 
 mediately marched towards Rome with a formidable 
 army, and Paschal II. being unprepared for resistance, 
 received him with great apparent cordiality. But as 
 neither the pope nor the emperor would resign the 
 right of investitures, they soon came to an open rup- 
 ture. All Rome was in arms, and a contest took place 
 in the city, in which the emperor had the advantage, 
 and Paschal was made prisoner. The carnage is said 
 to have been so great, that the waters of the Tyber 
 were tinged with blood.* The pope, now defeated 
 and a prisoner, became more tractable. He crowned 
 Henry, and resigned the right of investiture. The 
 treaty was confirmed by the most solemn oaths and 
 most sacred rites.-f- The emperor, however, was no 
 sooner departed to quell a revolt in Germany than the 
 pope, although he himself preserved the exteriors of 
 good faith and friendship, convoked a council, which 
 annulled the bull of investitures and decreed the ex- 
 communication of the emperor. Henry, having re- 
 duced the rebels of Germany, now set out for Italy; 
 
 * 
 
 * Russel Hist. Mod. Europe, vol. 1. letter 22. p. 25?5. 
 
 t Puffend. vol. 2. ch. 8. reign of Henry V. Jlussel ubi supra. Russel 
 says the pope divided the host with the emperor, pronouncing 
 a dreadful anathema on tha party thai should violate the treaty. 
 X r idc Piussel and the authorities there referred to. 
 
 u 3 and
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 and sent ambassadors to the pope requesting him to 
 revoke the sentence. But Puscrjal, without so much 
 as favouring them with an audience, convoked a 
 second council, in which his treaty with the emperor 
 was again daelared invalid. The emperor on this 
 advanced towards Rome ; and the pope, abandoning 
 the city, took shelter among the Norman princes of 
 Apulia. Henry now entering Rome, was there 
 crowned a second time by the archbishop of Prague; 
 but his presence being required in Tuscany, Paschal 
 again seized on the city, where he died a few days after 
 his return. Cardinal Cajetan was then elected pope, 
 without consulting the emperor, and took the name of 
 Gelasius II. Enraged at seeing his authority thus set 
 aside, Henry declared the election of Gelasius void, 
 and raised to the papal chair Bardinus archbishop of 
 Prague, who assumed the name of Gregory VIII, 
 revoked the sentence of excommunication against the 
 emperor, and confirmed to him the right of invests 
 ture. Gelasius II. then took refuge in France, where 
 he died. The cardinals setting aside Gregory VIII. 
 elected the archbishop of Vienna, who took the name 
 of Calixtus 11. and commenced his pontificate by ex- 
 communicating the emperor, Gregory the antipope, 
 and ail their adherents. Gregory VIII. retired to 
 Sutri, whither Calixtus, assisted by the Norman 
 princes, pursued him and commenced the siege of 
 that place, The inhabitants dreading the conse- 
 quences, delivered Gregory to his competitor, who 
 causing him to be mounted on a camel with his face 
 towards the tail, conducted him in this manner 
 through the streets of Rome, exposed to the insults of 
 the popular e, and afterwards condemned him to per- 
 petcai imprisonment, 
 
 Henry
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 2Q5 
 
 Henry now seeing no end of these commotions 
 and revolutions in the see of Rome ; and the whole 
 empire being wearied and exhausted in those long 
 and bloody quarrels between the popes and the em- 
 perors, an accommodation at last took place. In a 
 council of 300 bishops, and about 100 abbots, the 
 affair of investitures was at length settled, on the 
 conditions that the bishops and abbots should be 
 chosen by the monks and canons, in the presence of 
 the emperor, or his ambassador; and that in case of 
 a disputed election the decision should be left to the 
 emperor, who should consult the bishops on the sub- 
 ject : that the bishop or abbot elect should take an 
 oath of allegiance to the emperor, and receive from 
 him not the ring and crosier, but a sceptre, as more 
 proper for investing the person elected in the posses- 
 sion of rights and privileges merely temporal.* Thus 
 .ended, in 11^2, that sanguinary contest concerning 
 investitures, which since the year 10/6 had filled 
 Italy and Germany with confusion, and shaken the 
 empire to its foundations. It is easy to perceive that 
 the accommodation was extremely disadvantageous to 
 the emperor, that the privileges which he retained 
 were merely formal and nominal, involving no real 
 power, and consequently that he was by this treaty 
 divested of all actual jurisdiction over the clergy. 
 These contests of emperors and popes, those wars 
 among priests and soldiers, in which the people con- 
 stantly suffered, would not merit the recollection of 
 
 * Russel's Hist, of modern Europe, vol. 1, lett. 22, on the authority of 
 Padre Paulo, ;md Schiller's Pullend torn. 2, di. 8, brk'tty *ajs, tha* 
 Henry conceded to the pope the rijjht of conferring bishoprics, which 
 was a great dir..i nation of the imperial authority, and a great augmenta- 
 tion of the papal power. 
 
 y 4 posterity,
 
 295 'GERMANY. 
 
 posterity, did they not contribute to shew by what 
 gradations the vast empire of Charlemagne was 
 weakened and crumbled to pieces; and the papal 
 chair, which derived from it its first temporal im- 
 portance, rose all powerful on its ruins. 
 
 In the above-mentioned treaty nothing had been 
 stipulated respecting the authority which the em- 
 perors hnd claimed and exercised in the election of 
 popes. On the demise, therefore, of Calixtus II. the 
 cardinals, clergy, and people of Rome, without the 
 emperor's participation, proceeded to a new election. 
 Henry V. died the next year, leaving behind him the 
 reputation of a resolute and politic prince ; but his 
 unnatural behaviour to his father has fixed an eternal 
 blemish on his memory. This emperor had married 
 Matilda, or Maud, daughter of Henry I. and mother 
 of Henry II. kings of England, by whom he had no 
 issue. 
 
 Henry V. was succeeded in 1125, by Lothario, 
 Duke of Saxony. This emperor made two expedi- 
 tions into Italy, where he reinstated Innocent II. in 
 the papal chair, from which he had been driven by 
 the antipope Anacletus. He also drove Roger, 
 King of Sicily, out of Apulia and Calabria, which 
 he formed into a principality, and conferred it on 
 Renaud, a German prince.* Lothario died 1 138, with 
 the character of a lover of justice and peace, a reputa- 
 tion inore honourable than that of a warrior and 
 conqueror. He ordained that justice should be ad- 
 ministered according to the Code of Justinian, a copy 
 of which was found in Italy about the beginning of 
 his reign. 
 
 Conrad III. Duke of Franconia, was now elected 
 
 * Annal de J'Empire, tora. 1. 
 
 emperor ;
 
 CENERAL HISTORY. 297 
 
 mperor; but the imperial throne was disputed by 
 Henry, Duke of Bavaria, who died during the con- 
 test, having been first stripped of his dominions ; but 
 the war was still continued by the duke's brother, in 
 conjunction with Roger, king of Sicily. During this 
 contest arose the distinction of Guelphs and Gibbe- 
 lines, so famous in the histories of those times. The 
 name of the Duke of Bavaria's family was Guelph, 
 and the Duke of Suabia, the emperor's brother, who 
 commanded the imperial army, being born at a village 
 called Hieghibelin, gave to bis soldiers the name of 
 Ghibelines, an epithet by which the imperial parry 
 was afterwards distinguished in Italy, while that of 
 Guelphs was given to its opponents, and particularly 
 to the papal faction. It was also at this period that 
 the remarkable act of female heroism, so celebrated by 
 historians, took place. Guelph, Duke of Bavaria, 
 with his principal adherents, being closely besieged in 
 the castle of Weinsberg, were reduced to the necessity 
 of surrendering at discretion. But the duchess being 
 aware of the enmity which the emperor bore to her 
 husband, requested that she and the other females in 
 the castle might be permitted to retire with as much 
 as they could carry of their most valuable effects. 
 The request being granted, the emperor and his army, 
 to their great astonishment, saw the duchess and her 
 fair companions march out each carrying her husband. 
 Conrad highly applauded their conjugal affection, and 
 a reconciliation between the parties was the happy 
 consequence.* The expedition of this prince to 
 Palestine, in conjunction with Louis VII. King of 
 prance, has already been mentioned.-}* Conrad died 
 
 Hciss's Hist, dc J'Etnpirc, Jib. 2. 
 f Sec Historical View of France. 
 
 .in
 
 98 GERMANY. 
 
 in 115C, when his nephew, Frederick, Duke of 
 Suabia, surnamcd Barbarossa, was unanimously elected 
 emperor. One of the first actions of his reign was 
 that of crowning, with his own hands, the King of 
 Denmark, who received from him the investiture of 
 his dominions, as a vassal of the empire.* After 
 having settled the affairs of Germany, he set out for 
 Italy, where new commotions had^ risen, and to be 
 crowned at Rome by the pope. It was on this occa- 
 sion, according to some writers, that Frederick, be- 
 sides the accustomed ceremony of kneeling down to 
 kiss the feet of his holiness, which being customary 
 he did not regard as degrading, was obliged to hold 
 the pope's stirrup, and lead his palfrey by the bridle. 
 The emperor considering this as an insulting innova- 
 tion, made many objections, but found himself obliged 
 to submit. Adrian IV. an Englishman, not inferior 
 cither in ambition or talents to Gregory VI. then sat 
 in St. Peter's Chair, and resolved to carry the papal 
 power to its greatest height. This man exhibits a 
 striking instance of the great effects of personal 
 abilities seconded by favourable circumstances. He, 
 was, according to some, the son of a priest, or to 
 others of a wandering mendicant : it is certain that 
 he was a person of the very lowest extraction. 
 Strolling about from country to country, he was at 
 Jast employed as a servant in the monastery of St, 
 Kufus, in Provence. Here the superiority of his 
 natural talents was soon observed: he was admitted a 
 monk, and being raised to the rank of abbot and 
 general of the order, at last found means to attain tq 
 the pontificate. Thus the world exhibited the sin- 
 gular spectacle of an English beggar raised, by his 
 
 * Aunal tie 1'Ejnpire, torn. 1. 
 
 abilitiei
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 299 
 
 abilities and good fortune, to the papal cliair, dis- 
 posing of kingdoms, and seeing emperors prostrate at 
 his feet.* 
 
 Frederick, hy his compliances, conciliated the 
 haughty pontif; but he had not yet conquered ail 
 his difficulties : the citizens of Rome demanded so 
 many concessions, and the spirit of faction appeared 
 so prevalent, that the emperor's coronation was per- 
 formed without the walls of the city. Some dif- 
 ferences soon after took place between the pope and 
 the emperor, which were not followed by any serious 
 consequences. But Frederick's attention was soon 
 called to a different quarter, and he found himself 
 obliged to march alternately against the Bohemians 
 and the Poles. Having conquered those nations and 
 rendered them tributary, the success of his arms 
 secured the fidelity of the German princes, by show- 
 ing the danger of revolting against so martial an 
 emperor. But Italy, as usual, was again a theatre of 
 discord. ,Some of the cities, as well as the princes, 
 aspired at a complete independence; and in Rome the 
 spirit of parly threw all into confusion. Two oppo- 
 site factions had elected two popes, Victor IV. arid 
 Alexander ill. Germany, Bohemia, and about half 
 of Italy acknowledged Victor. The other part of 
 Italy, with several other kingdoms and slates, sup- 
 ported Alexander. A dreadful civil war ensued. The 
 emperor, espousing the cause of Victor, dismantled 
 Brescia and Placentia, and deprived of their pri- 
 vileges all the other cities which had assumed inde- 
 pendency. But Milan, one of the largest and most 
 populous of the Italian cities, had always been the 
 most rebellious, and having long harrassed the em- 
 
 * It was tLis pope who gave Ireland to Henry II. Ste Iltipin, vol. 1. 
 
 perors
 
 300 GERMANY. 
 
 perors with incessant revolts, it experienced tlifc 
 severest fate, being, by the emperor's orders, razed to 
 its very foundations, and its ruins sowed with salt as 
 a mark of its total annihilation. 
 
 Alexander had been obliged to take refuge in 
 France; but on the death of Victor, his rival, he re- 
 turned to Rome and renewed the war. The emperor 
 then caused Paschal III. to be elected pope, who 
 dying soon after, Calixtus III. was nominated as his 
 Successor. Alexander, however, not in the least in- 
 timidated, excommunicated the emperor and the anti- 
 pope, and kept possession of Rome. The chief cities 
 of Italy now entered into an association for the de- 
 fence of their liberties, joined the party of Alexander, 
 and procured the support of the Greek Emperor. 
 The confederates were every where victorious : the 
 imperial army was worn out with fatigues, diseases, 
 and successive defeats, and the emperor himself nar- 
 rowly escaped being made prisoner. His fleet was 
 also defeated, and hi? son captured at sea by the 
 Venetians. These misfortunes induced the emperor 
 to think of making peace with the pope ; but in order 
 to give greater weight to his negotiations he made 
 the most vigorous efforts, and collecting his scattered 
 forces, gained some advantage over the enemy. 
 Seizing this favourable opportunity of momentary 
 success, he made proposals of peace to Alexander. A 
 
 congress was held at Venice, then mistress of the 
 
 o 
 
 sea, and the greatest commercial city of the world, 
 where an end was put to this sanguinary dispute. 
 Alexander III. was acknowledged as pope ; the em- 
 peror kissed his feet and held his stirrup: the asso- 
 ciated cities of Italy were left at liberty to enjoy their 
 wa laws and forms of government, on condition of 
 
 swearing
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 3O1 
 
 swearing fealty to the emperor as their paramount; 
 Jord. It has been said, that, at this treaty, the em- 
 peror prostrating himself the pope set his foot on hi.$ 
 neck in token of the complete subjection of the tem- 
 poral to the spiritual power. This tale, however, 
 though often repeated, is not credited by the most 
 judicious historians.* It was soon after decreed, in a 
 general council, that no pope should be duly elected 
 but by the concurrent suffrages of two-thirds of the 
 College of Cardinals. t Calixtus, the antipope, now 
 seeing himself abandoned, had no other resource than 
 to throw himself on the clemency of his antagonist. 
 He accordingly made his submission to Alexander, 
 who, greatly to his own honour, treated him with 
 kindness. Frederick soon after his accommodation, 
 with the pope marched into Germany, where he 
 quelled the revolt of Henry the Lion, Duke of 
 Bavaria. He afterwards undertook an expedition 
 into Palestine, where Saladin, having corrupted the 
 Count of Tripoli, commander of the Christian armies, 
 had totally defeated them at the battle of Tiberias, 
 reduced the city of Jerusalem, and almost wholly sub- 
 dued the kingdom of Antioch. The emperor took 
 the cross with his son Frederick, Duke of Suabia, 
 and about seventy of the most eminent nobles of 
 Germany, ecclesiastics as well as laymen. He ad- 
 vanced with an army of about 150,000 men, by the 
 way of Vienna and Hungary, and through the 
 dominions of the Greek empire. But the Greek 
 Emperor endeavouring to impede the march of the 
 Germans, Frederick defeated his forces, laid the 
 Country under contributions, pillaged some of the 
 towns, and obliged him to sue for peace. He after- 
 
 * PuffenJ, vol. 2, eh. 2. * Mcjhcjtn Hist. Eccles. Yol. $. 
 
 wards
 
 302 GERMANY. 
 
 wards crossed the Hellespont, defeated the Turks, in 
 several engagements, and filled all Asia with the terror 
 of his arms. But a fatal aceident terminated his war- 
 like exploits, and blasted the hopes which the Chris- 
 tians of Syria had formed from his military talents. 
 The manner of his death is variously related. Some 
 say, that while bathing in the river Cydnus, remark- 
 able for the coldness of its waters, he caught a mortal 
 distemper of which he soon afterwards died ; and 
 others, that he was drowned, either in riding or 
 swiming across that river. So uncertain is history in 
 regard to circumstantial details. The principal affair, 
 however, is certain, that in some one of these ways 
 Frederick I. surnamed Barbarossa, perished A.D. 1 189, 
 or 1 1<JO, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the 
 thirty-eighth of his reign. He was a prince of great 
 abilities, an able politician, and an excellent general. 
 
 On the news of Barbarossa's death, Henry, his son, 
 was elected emperor, by the name of Henry VI. The 
 death of his father was immediately followed by that 
 of his brother-in-law William, King of Naples and 
 Sicily, to whose dominions he was heir, in right of 
 his wife the Empress Constantia. But Tancred, her 
 natural brother, having usurped the sovereignty, 
 Henry levied an army and marched into Italy for the 
 double purpose of being crowned at Rome, and of 
 recovering his wife's inheritance. The ceremony of 
 his coronation was performed by Pope Celestine III. 
 and accompanied by a singular circumstance. The 
 emperor kneeling before the pope, who was seated in 
 a magnificent chair, his holiness having placed the 
 crown on his head, immediately kicked it off with his 
 foot, signifying, by that ceremony, that the sovereign 
 pontiff possessed the absolute power of giving or 
 
 taking
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 303 
 
 taking away empires. It appears, indeed, that the 
 popes, were constantly devising new ceremonies, in 
 crowning the emperors, in order to inspire them with 
 a sense of their dependence on the Holy See ; and the 
 emperors knowing the precarious nature of the im- 
 perial authority in Italy, were glad to purchase, 
 by their compliance, the appearance at least of a 
 soveriegnty, which they could not resolve to re- 
 linquish. 
 
 Henry now resolved to undertake the conquest of 
 Naples and Sicily; and his first operations were 
 extremely successful. Having captured most of the 
 towns of Campania, Apulia, and Calabria, he invested 
 the city of Naples. But a dreadful mortality prevail- 
 ing among his troops, he was obliged to relinquish 
 the enterprise, and Tancred kept possession of his 
 kingdom. After the death of that prince, however, 
 Henry, partly by force and partly by perfidy, gained 
 possession of his dominions. It was this emperor 
 who so long detained Richard I. King of England, in 
 prison, and extorted so exorbitant a ransom for his 
 liberty. This emperor having convoked a diet at 
 Worms, procured a decree which declared the em- 
 pire hereditary. He then made preparations for a 
 croisade to Palestine; and such multitudes enlisted 
 themselves for this pious expedition, that Henry 
 divided them into three large armies, one of which he 
 conducted into Italy, in order to reduce the Normans 
 of Naples and Sicily, who had revolted against his 
 government. He succeeded in reducing the rebels ; 
 t)ut he stained his success with cruelties which must 
 for ever render his name odious to posterity. The 
 empress herself, shocked at his inhumanity, having 
 renounced her allegiance and her conjugal fidelity, 
 
 headed
 
 504 GERMANY. 
 
 headed the revoltcrs : and Henry, who thinking tlwr 
 Sicilians completely subdued, had sent forward hia 
 troops into Syria, was obliged to submit to such con- 
 ditions as his wife thought lit to impose. A treaty was 
 concluded, and the emperor soon after died at Messi- 
 na of poison, as it was supposed, and even as some 
 think, administered by the empress. The character of 
 Henry VI. requires but a few words for its delineation. 
 He was a monster, who disgraced the imperial dignity, 
 and merited the execration of posterity. 
 
 Frederick II, son of the deceased emperor, [suc- 
 ceeded to the imperial crown in 1198. But being in 
 his minority, Philip Duke of Suabia, his uncle, under- 
 took the government of the empire.* Several of the 
 German princes, however, exasperated at the empire 
 becoming hereditary, assembled a diet at Cologne, 
 and elected Otho, Duke of Brunswick, son of Henry 
 the Lion, who was patronised by his uncle, the king of 
 England, and also by the pope. Innocent III, an able 
 and ambitious politician, seizing this favourable op- 
 portunity of humbling the house of Suabia, which had 
 long been in possession of the imperial dignity, and 
 had often proved terrible to the Roman pontiffs, ex- 
 communicated Philip and all his adherents. The two 
 opposite parties of Philip and Otho involved the em- 
 pire in a ruinous civil war, and nothing was seen, 
 throughout Germany but scenes of horror and desola- 
 tion. Such are the miseries which the factions of the 
 great inflict on the people. Philip at length drove 
 Otho, his rival, out of Germany ; but at the moment 
 when his throne was about to be established, he wa* 
 assassinated by the Count Palatine of Bavaria. f On 
 
 * Puffcnd. vol. 2, cli. 8. 
 
 t Heift. Hist, de PAlIemane, liv. 2, cli. 15. 
 
 tite
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 305 
 
 the death of Philip, Otho returned, took possession of 
 the empire, and was crowned at Rome, after ceding 
 to the papal see all the possessions which the popes 
 had dismembered from the empire. The new em- 
 peror, however, no sooner found himself established 
 oh the imperial throne, than he resumed his grants, 
 recovered these possessions, and ravaged the domi- 
 nions of the young king of Naples and Sicily, one of 
 the vassals of the Holy See. Innocent fulminated 
 against him the sentence of excommunication ; and 
 Frederick II. having now attained his sixteenth year, 
 was elected emperor in a diet of the princes. The 
 battle of Bovines, fought against Philip Augustus, 
 King of France, completed the ruin of Otho, who re- 
 tired to Brunswick, and spent the remainder of his 
 days in the duties of religion.* Frederick II, being 
 now unanimously acknowledged emperor, was crowned 
 at Aix la Chapelle, and at his coronation, made a .vow 
 to conduct an army of croisaders to Palestine.-!- Inno- 
 cent III. dying about this time, Honorius, his succes- 
 sor, ordered a croisade to be preached up throughout 
 Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Bohemia, and Hungary, 
 The emperor excused himself from his vow, till he had 
 regulated the affairs of Italy; but an almost incredi- 
 ble number of noblemen with their vassals having 
 taken the cross under the Dukes of Austria and Bava- 
 ria, the Archbishop of Mentz and the bishops of Mun- 
 ster and Utrecht, Andrew King of Hungary was de- 
 clared generalissimo.^ Thus we see that in Germany, 
 Hungary, and other countries, as well as in England 
 and France, princes, nobles, and prelates, were in- 
 
 * Vide Historical View of France in Itiis work. 
 
 t Hciss. liv. 2, ch. 17. 
 
 J Aniial* Pacicrborn. ap. Russet, vl. 1, Irtt. 31. 
 
 . Ml. x feeted
 
 ERMANY. 
 
 fected with this croisading frenzy. How ridiculous 
 the follies of one age appear in another ! This formi- 
 dable armament, however, like those by which it had 
 been preceded, exhibited in its operations nothing but 
 A tissue of misconduct and misfortunes.* Damietta 
 in Egypt was indeed taken, after a siege of eighteen 
 months ; but the Christian camp being, by reason of 
 an injudicious choice of the ground, inundated by the 
 waters of the Nile, that important fortress was restored, 
 and the croisaders were obliged to conclude a disho- 
 nourable treaty. About this time serious differences 
 arose between the pope and the emperor, which being 
 at length composed, an assembly was convened for 
 deliberating on the affairs of the East. John de 
 Brienne, titular king of Jerusalem, who had come to 
 Europe to solicit assistance against the Sultan of 
 Egypt, attended, together with the pope and the em- 
 peror. A marriage was here concluded between Fre- 
 derick and the only daughter of John de Brienne, 
 The kingdom of Jerusalem was assigned for her dower, 
 and the emperor engaged to go and take possession 
 within the space of two years.f Italy, however, af- 
 forded sufficient employment for all his activity and 
 policy. The principal cities had entered into a league 
 to throw off the imperial authority ; but a general diet 
 being assembled at Cremona, and a variety of sub- 
 jects discussed, a temporary accommodation pro- 
 duced a short period of tranquillity. 
 
 It was an important part of the papal policy to find 
 employment for the emperors at a distance from Italy. 
 
 * Vertot Hist, de Chevaliers de Malt. torn. 1. Mairmbourg Hist, de* 
 Crotsades, torn. 2. 
 
 t John de Brienne, a Frenchman, or of French extraction, a younger 
 brother of the family ef that name in Champagne, was one of the greatest 
 heroes of hit a<;e. Vide Gibbon Dec. Horn. Emp. 
 
 Honorm*
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. SO? 
 
 Honorius III. was now dead; but Gregory IX, his 
 successor, acting on the same fixed principles, urged 
 to Frederick the necessity of fulfilling his coronation, 
 vow; and represented to him the glory that he would 
 acquire in conquering the kingdom of Jerusalem, his 
 consort's inheritance. Frederick, however, well knew 
 that these views, although flatterins: to ambition, were 
 
 r* O O 
 
 inconsistent with sound policy, while his authority over 
 Italy was so extremely precarious. On this consider- 
 ation, therefore, he postponed his Syrian expedition, 
 till the pope, enraged at his delay, declared him inca- 
 pable of holding any longer the imperial dignity. The 
 emperor, in revenge, began to ravage the patrimony 
 of St. Peter ; and Gregory fulminated against him the 
 sentence of excommunication. The two parties of 
 Guelphs and Ghibellines revived with increased animo- 
 sity, and all Italy presented one entire scene of civil 
 war and desolation. Frederick seeing no end to these 
 troubles, resolved, at last, to perform his vow ; and 
 leaving the affairs of Italy to the management of ile- 
 naldo, Duke of Spoletto, he departed for Palestine, 
 where he found the armies of the Sultan of Egypt 
 much easier to be subdued than the rebellious Italians. 
 He concluded his expedition by an advantageous 
 treaty with the sultan, who ceded to the emperor as 
 king of Sicily, the city of Jerusalem and all its territory, 
 Bethlehem, Nazareth, and all the country between Je- 
 rusalem and Ptolemais, with Tyre, Sidon, an^ the ad- 
 jacent districts.* Since that time the kings of Na- 
 ples and Sicily have, borne the titles of kings of Jeru- 
 salem. 
 
 The emperor having successfully terminated his 
 
 * Helss. liv. 2, ch. 17. Maimbotirg HUt, do CroUades, torn. 2. 
 Fuffend, ubi supra. 
 
 x 2 Asiatic
 
 308 GERMANY. 
 
 Asiatic expedition, returned to Italy, where bis pre- 
 sence was extremely wanted. The cities had revolted ; 
 and his eldest son, Henry, King of the Romans, had 
 rebelled against him. Frederick, however, rose supe- 
 rior to these troubles, and reduced both his son and 
 the associated cities. The pope, however, thundered 
 a second excommunication against him, and sent a 
 bull into Germany, in which he described the emperor 
 as the beast of the apocalypse) opening its mouth in 
 blasphemies. Frederick, in return, published an apo- 
 logy, in which he declared Gregory to be no other 
 than Antichrist and the great dragon. As Germany 
 remained tranquil, the emperor marched into Italy, 
 thinking to advance immediately to Rome, where 
 there was a strong party hostile to Gregory's interests. 
 But his schemes were rendered abortive by the activity 
 of the pope, who gave orders for preaching a croisade 
 against him as the enemy of the Christian faith. 
 Things were in this turbulent state when Gregory IX. 
 died ; and the pontificate of Celestine IV, being of a 
 short duration, Innocent IV. was elected to the papal 
 chair. But the same unhappy contests still continued. 
 The pope retiring into France, assembled a general 
 council at Lyons, and formally deposed the emperor; 
 and the German bishops, without consulting the 
 princes, elected Henry Landgrave of Thuringia to fill 
 the vacant throne.* Innocent now renewed the war 
 sigainstJFrederick, and employed the Dominicans and 
 the Franciscans to preach up the croisade against him/j- 
 The Landgrave of Thuringia dying, William count of 
 Holland was elected in his place. Frederick, however, 
 was not intimidated either by the papal thunders, or 
 by the defection of his German subjects, and made 
 
 * RuKcl's TJiit. Mod. Eur. vol. 1, letter 31. t U-id. 
 
 a vigoroui
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. SOD 
 
 a vigorous resistance against all the efforts of rebel- 
 lion and treason. Being, however, totally routed near 
 Parma, and hearing at the same time of the defeat 
 and capture of his natural son, the king of Sardinia, 
 by the Bolognese, he found himself under the neces- 
 sity of retreating into his kingdom of Naples. He 
 was there diligently employed in recruiting his army, 
 when he fell sick of a fever, and died A.D. 1250, in 
 the 55th year of his age.* Frederick II. was a prince 
 of great genius and courage. In the midst of his trou- 
 bles he patronized learning, although a reign so turbu- 
 lent and checquered with such a variety of fortunes, 
 could not be very favorable to the interests of litera- 
 ture. Conrad, his son, retired into his kingdom of 
 Naples, where he died in 1254 ; and two years after- 
 wards the emperor, William, was slain in battle against 
 the Frisians. 
 
 After the death of William a number of candidates 
 for the imperial dignity appeared; and different em- 
 perors were elected by different factions. Among 
 these were Richard Earl of Cornwall, brother of Hen- 
 ry III. of England, and Alphonsus X, King of Castile.-f- 
 But neither of these took any effectual measures for 
 acquiring possession of their new dignity : indeed, the 
 imperial crown had long been, and was still more 
 likely than ever, to prove a crown of thorns, rather 
 than of laurels or roses. Although several emperors 
 were elected, none of them were acknowledged, ex- 
 cept by their own faction ; and a confused interreg- 
 num of seventeen years, from 125(3 to 1273, completed 
 the revolution in the political state of both Italy and 
 Germany, which, durii *he space of three centuries 
 
 * Russcl, ubi supra. Hcis. liv. 2, cli. 17. 
 
 lliit. Mod. Europe, vol. 1, Ictt. 31. Pu fiend, vol. C, cli. 8. 
 
 x 3 and
 
 310 GERMANY. 
 
 and a half, had been gradually tending to its accom- 
 plishment. 
 
 It has been already observed, thai on the de- 
 cline of the family of Charlemagne, and especially 
 about the period in which the empire was transferred 
 from his posterity, by the election of Conrad, Duke 
 of Franconia, A.D. 912, the governors of provinces in 
 Italy and Germany, as well as in France, began to ren- 
 der themselves hereditary sovereigns of their respec- 
 tive governments. The other nobles following their 
 example, a long train of insubordination was produced ; 
 and the prelates always powerful, acting on the same 
 principles, acquired in those times of confusion, an 
 equal degree of independence. The continual trou- 
 bles which harassed the emperors, and especially their 
 reiterated quarrels with the popes, favoured the rising 
 power of the aristocracy ; and on every new election, 
 the princes, the prelates, and nobles, had an opportu- 
 nity of acquiring new privileges, and of imposing ad- 
 ditional restraints on the imperial authority. The cities, 
 also, gradually increasing in population and impor- 
 tance, began to assume new powers, and extort new 
 rights. At the close of the reign of Frederick II. the 
 power of the emperors was extinguished in Italy; and 
 during the following interregnum, the most horrible 
 confusion prevailed in Germany. The operation of 
 laws entirely ceased, and every thing was decided by 
 force. Kobbery and pillage every where prevailed, in 
 the cities, in the country, in the villages, and on the 
 high roads. In order to remedy these disorders, seve- 
 ral cities and towns entered into a confederacy for 
 their uiu'.uui safety, to which many princes and lords 
 also acceded. These joining (heir forces, drove the 
 plunderers from meir castles, and cleared the roads 
 
 of
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 311 
 
 of the banditti with which they were infested.* This 
 confederacy has by some been considered as the ori- 
 gin of the Hans towns, but others date the commence- 
 ment of that union from an earlier period. Several 
 authors have investigated the subject ; but their dif- 
 ferent opinions only serve to prove the present impos- 
 sibility of ascertaining the precise sera of that famous 
 mercantile and political confederation .f Dr. Russel 
 fixes it about the time of this interregnum, and in this 
 he is authorised by Lambecius, librarian to the em- 
 peror, who considers it as posterior to the famous 
 league concluded in the year 12il, between Hamburg 
 and Lubec, the purpose of which was to facilitate in- 
 tercourse and commerce by guarding the seas against 
 pirates, and the roads against robbers, at their joint 
 expence.*. From this respectable authority, it seems 
 that the Hanseatic league must have originated either 
 during the interregnum, or in the tumultuous times 
 which took place during the latter part of the reign of 
 Frederick II. Others, again, fix the aera of that fa- 
 mous association so early as the year 1 lfi9, and some 
 even at an earlier period. But at what time soever 
 they were formed, it appears that many cities had then 
 acquired great power and privileges, as it was one of 
 their standing regulations not to admit any city into 
 the league that did not keep the keys of its own gates, 
 and exercise civil authority within itself, although it 
 might acknowledge allegiance to a superior lord.|| It 
 
 * Puffcnd. vol. 2, ch. 8. f Vide And. Hist. Com. vol. 1, p. 151 
 *61. 
 
 $ Lambecius Orig. Hambogen, lib. 2. 
 
 $ Werdeuhagen apud And. ubi supra. Dr. Robertson state* the com- 
 mencement of the Hanseatic league to have been towards the close of the 
 l?th century Hist. Ch. V, rol. 1, p. 406. 
 
 | And. Hist. Com. vol. 1, p. 163. 
 
 K 4 is
 
 512 GERMANY. 
 
 is therefore evident, that they both understood the 
 principles and enjoyed the benefits of liberty. The 
 cities of Germany, indeed, as well as those of other 
 countries, had been greatly favoured by many of the 
 emperors. At the first, if founded on the estate of 
 a baron, they constituted a part of his fief, and were 
 destitute of municipal jurisdiction and liberty. But 
 the institution of communities being borrowed from 
 the Italians, sovereigns found it an excellent expe- 
 dient for abridging the power of the barons ; and Frcr- 
 derick Barbarossa was the first emperor who multi- 
 plied communities through this political motive.* 
 Cities originated from various circumstances, and a 
 variety of circumstances also concurred to their ag- 
 grandisement, such as the erection of episcopal sees, 
 the building of cathedrals, the holding of various 
 kinds of assemblies, councils, and courts of judicature, 
 Ihe privileges and immunities granted them by sove- 
 reigns, the security afforded by a numerous and con- 
 centrated population, with the conveniences and 
 amusements which they soon began to afford. All 
 these, and a variety of other advantages, first contri- 
 buted to the aggrandisement of cities, before the re- 
 sources of commerce, and the resort of the opulent, 
 gave them still greater importance. 
 
 The series of tacts, which compose the annals of the 
 empire, from the rt-ign of Charlemagne to the period 
 here under consideration, the perpetual quarrels of 
 popes and emperors, disgraceful to religion, and disas- 
 trous to humanity, which blacken its history, would 
 not be worth recording or reading, if they had not a 
 reference to something more interesting. But they 
 
 * Dr. Robertson's Hist. Charles V, vol. 1, p. 311, et auctpr. cit. in loco. 
 Note 17.
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 313 
 
 were introductory to a state of political society, winch 
 has ever since, till of late, existed in Itaiy and Ger- 
 many. Both these countries had composed part of 
 the empire of Charlemagne; and under his successors 
 they began to exhibit the same picture as France un- 
 der her last kins;* of that race. Before the end of the 
 
 O 
 
 tenth century, this picture was complete ; and Italy, 
 France, and Germany, displayed the same confused 
 system of aristocratical power, assumed according to 
 circumstances, and consequently undefined and irre- 
 gular. In France, however, as in several other coun- 
 tries, various causes contributed to weaken, while in 
 Germany every thing contributed to strengthen its 
 aristocracy. The French monarchs of the Capetinc 
 dynasty, like many other European sovereigns, esta*- 
 Wished the regal power on the ruins of the feudal sys- 
 tem, while the German nobles and Italian cities ag^ 
 grandiscd themselves on the ruins of the imperial 
 authority. And while France was organising her 
 monarchy, by uniting its discordant parts in one com- 
 pact political system, Italy and Germany split into a 
 u umber of independent principalities and states, with 
 this single difference, that those of the former remain- 
 ed unconnected, while those of the latter country 
 formed a political confederation under the paramount 
 authority of the emperor as the head of the associa- 
 tion. But the union between the two countries, 
 which was never well consolidated, being entirely dis- 
 solved at the death of Frederick II. in l<2.)0, the affairs 
 of Italy require to be separately considered: in the 
 remainder of the present chapter it is necessary to 
 confine our observations to those of Germany. 
 
 Durirjg the turbulent period which had elapsed since 
 the removal of the sceptre from the house of Churle- 
 
 t lililgHO,
 
 314 GERMANY. 
 
 magne, the princes, the prelates, and the principal 
 cities gradually assuming independent powers, at last 
 composed an empire of* a particular kind; and it seems, 
 that before the accession of Randolph of Hapsburg, the 
 founder of the present house of Austria, the Germanic 
 constitution, such as it has lately been seen, was nearly 
 formed.* The secular and ecclesiastical princes, and 
 the imperial cities, had attained to that independent 
 situation which they have since so long enjoyed ; and 
 possessing absolute sovereignty in their respective ter- 
 ritories, under the superior authority of the emperor, 
 exhibited a highly finished model of the feudal sys- 
 tem, which has remained sacred and inviolable in 
 Germany, while exploded and abolished in most other 
 countries, and declining in all, except Poland. In the 
 latter country it was carried to almost as great a height 
 as in Germany, until the extinction of that kingdom, 
 by the partitioning powers. 
 
 During the dark and unpleasant period of history, 
 which has here been brought under consideration, the 
 total change which took place in the political state of 
 Italy and Germany, although the most important, is 
 not the only interesting feature that presents itself to 
 the reader's inspection. Amidst the reiterated tumults 
 of political confusion and military depredation, which 
 mark those unhappy times, literature, sciences, and 
 arts, were almost extinct in Europe, and particularly 
 in Germany. Commerce could be as little expected to 
 flourish in a country so circumstanced ; but its com- 
 mencements may be discovered on the shores of the 
 Baltic as early, at least, as the twelfth century. And 
 without mentioning the city of Winet in the isle of 
 Usedom, or that of Julin in the island of Wollin, near 
 
 * Dr. Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. I, p. 212. 
 
 the
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 315 
 
 the mouth of the Oder, the famous emporium of the 
 pagan Slavi, concerning both of which, the accounts 
 of the \vriters of the middle acres are so confused, so 
 
 O * 
 
 contradictory, and, according to every appearance, so 
 exaggerated ; it is certain that Lubeck, Hamburg, and 
 some other towns, carried on a considerable trade in 
 the beginning of the thirteenth century, or even at an 
 earlier period.* Those times, of which the enthusias- 
 tic spirit produced the croisades, also gave rise to the 
 Teutonic knights, as well as to the Templars and the 
 Knights Hospitallers. They were first instituted at 
 Jerusalem, when that city was recovered from the 
 hands of the infidels. These were originally religious 
 fraternities, the members of which devoted themselves 
 to the humane and pacific employment of relieving 
 distressed pilgrims, aud attending the sick and wound- 
 ed. But the circumstances and the spirit of the times, 
 which were tinged with a singular mixture of religion 
 and romance, converted them into military institu- 
 tions. They became a sort of monastic militia, for- 
 midable by their valour: the enthusiasm of the acre 
 
 v O 
 
 increased their numbers; princes conferred on them 
 wealthy possessions ; and their martial exploits gained 
 them great reputation.f The Teutonic knights made 
 a settlement in Livonia in 1158, and in process of 
 time, those formidable apostles who propagated Chris- 
 tianity by fire and sword, conquered and converted 
 the greatest part of Prussia; and, by their acquisi- 
 tions in Europe, indemnified themselves for their losses 
 in Asia.J 
 
 * And. Hist. Cora. vol. I, p, 73, 74, (vhcre the accounts of ancient au- 
 thors relative to Julin and VVinet, are collected and compared. 
 
 t See the account of the destruction of the Templar* iu Historical 
 View of France, in this work. 
 
 $ Bane ilibt. de 1' A He mane, torn. 6. 
 
 After
 
 Sl6 GERMANY. 
 
 After the long interregnum, which has led to the 
 preceding observations, Rhodolph, count of Haps- 
 burg, the ancestor of the present house of Austria, 
 and the founder of its greatness, was elected emperor. 
 It was not his possessions or his power that raised 
 him to the imperial dignity, for he was far from being 
 one of the most considerable princes of the empire; 
 his personal qualifications, however, amply justified 
 the choice which the Germans had made of a sove- 
 reign. The suppression of those disorders which had 
 prevailed during the interregnum, required the most 
 rigorous exercise of his authority. He caused about 
 100 highwaymen - to be executed at once at Erfurt 
 and in Thuringia ; and destroyed above sixty castles, 
 which served as retreats to bands of robbers. By 
 these vigorous measures he re-established peace and 
 security in the empire, and promoted trade and social 
 intercourse. Ottocar, king of Bohemia, having seiz- 
 ed on the marquisate of Austria after the death of its 
 last possessor, Rhodolph dispossessed him of these 
 territories. He gave Austria, with its appendages, to 
 his eldest son Albert, who was afterwards in the diet 
 of Augsburg publicly invested with these possessions, 
 and incorporated with the college of princes. This 
 event was the rise of the present house of Austria. 
 He invested Rhodolph, another of his sons, with the 
 duchy of Suabia, which devolved on him in right of 
 liis wife ; and he gave his three daughters in marriage 
 to the Count Palatine of the Rhine, the Duke of Sax- 
 ony, and the Marquis of Brandenbourg, three of the 
 most powerful princes of the empire.* These investi- 
 jtures and alliances laid the foundation of the future 
 greatness of his family. But although his authority 
 
 * Pufiend. ubi supra. 
 
 was
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 317 
 
 was fully established in Germany, he left Italy, the 
 other branch of the empire, to itself, and could never 
 be persuaded to attempt its subjugation. He was 
 not ignorant that the revolts of Italy had been the 
 source of all the misfortunes of the preceding em- 
 perors, and he considered it as useless to attempt the 
 conquest of a country which he knew would never 
 remain in subjection. Confining, therefore, all his 
 attention to Germany, he raised the empire to a 
 respectable and flourishing state.* This emperor first 
 introduced the German language into the public acts, 
 instead of the Latin, which had been hitherto used.f 
 He died in 1291, after a reign of eighteen years, with 
 a high reputation both for political and military 
 abilities. 
 
 After the death of Rhodolph, an interregnum of 
 nine months elapsed, before the German princes 
 could agree on the choice of another emperor. At 
 length, however, Adolphus, count of Nassau, was 
 elected ; but his reign was a continued series of 
 troubles. He was at last deposed ; and Albert of 
 Austria, son of Rhodolph, was raised to the imperial 
 throne. Adolphus lost his life in a battle fought 
 against his competitor, near Spire, in 1298. Albert 
 was, therefore, left in peaceable possession of the em- 
 pire. In the reign of this emperor happened the 
 famous revolt of the Swiss cantons, which the house 
 of Austria was never able to subdue.;}; The principal 
 tice of Albert was avarice, and he fell a victim to his 
 own rapacity, being assassinated by John, duke of 
 
 * Barre ubi supra. -Annal. de 1'Ernpire, torn. 2. 
 
 * Puftcnd ubi supra. 
 
 $ Vide Historical View pf Switzerland. 
 
 Suabia,
 
 318 GERMANY. 
 
 Suabia, his nephew, from whom he unjustly withheld 
 his inheritance.* 
 
 Henry, Count of Luxembourg, was next elected 
 emperor, A.D. 1309. His reign is rendered remark- 
 able by his Italian expedition, of which the relation 
 properly belongs to the history of Italy .f It suffice* 
 here to say, that the unsettled state of that country 
 presenting a favourable opportunity of asserting the 
 ancient claims of the emperors, a diet was held at 
 Frankfort, in which it was resolved to undertake the 
 conquest of Italy. The necessary supplies being 
 granted, Henry set out for that country, accompanied 
 by the Dukes of Bavaria and Austria, the Archbishop 
 of Treves, the Bishop of Liege, the Counts of Savoy 
 and Flanders, and other noblemen, at the head of a 
 formidable army. As the Italians were divided into 
 a thousand factions, the success of the emperor was 
 to rapid as to promise a complete conquest ; but in 
 the midst of his good fortune he died suddenly at 
 Benevento. It was suspected that his death was 
 caused by poison administered to him in the sacra- 
 ment, by a Dominican friar, bribed by the Florentines. 
 But in an affair of so secret a nature, and in a country 
 so agitated by the spirit of party as Italy then was, it 
 must have been extremely difficult for historians to 
 ascertain, the truth.;}: The death of Henry VII. hap- 
 pened in 1313, after a reign only of four years; and 
 the suffrages of the electors being divided on the 
 choice of a successor, two emperors were at once 
 
 * Puffeml ubi supra. t Vide Historical View of Italy. 
 
 t Dr. Russel says, Henry was poisoned in the consecrated wine. 
 Hist. Mod. Eur. vol. 1, leit. 38. Puffend says, the poison was admi- 
 nistered iu the huU. Etats forme's ca Eur. vol. 2, gb, 8. 
 
 elected,
 
 GENERAL HISTO11Y. 319 
 
 elected, Louis, duke of Bavaria, and Frederick, 
 duke of Austria. Louis was crowned at Aix-la- 
 Chapelle, and Frederick at Bonne. A war between 
 the two rival emperors desolated Germany during the 
 space of nine years, a melancholy proof, among 
 thousands of others that might be adduced, of the 
 bad effects of elective governments. Frederick being 
 at last made prisoner, in a battle fought in 1323, 
 tranquillity was restored to the empire. A quarrel 
 which afterwards took place between Louis and 
 John XXII. the reigning pontiff, who arrogated to 
 himself an absolute authority over the emperor and 
 the empire, was the cause of another expedition into 
 Italy,* The emperor was at first successful, but at 
 last proved unfortunate. It would be of little use to 
 enter into the particulars of this contest, between the 
 papal see and the emperor, which in its general 
 features nearly resembles those already related. It 
 suffices to say that it proved fatal to the latter, who, 
 after having been excommunicated by three succes- 
 sive popes, was deposed, and Charles, marquis of 
 Moravia, after having made the necessary conces- 
 sions to the Holy See, was elected emperor. The 
 death of Louis, which happened soon after, left 
 Charles IV. in the peaceable possession of the im- 
 perial dignity. This emperor went to be crowned at 
 Rotne, where he ratified every thing that Clement IV. 
 who then filled the papal chair, thought fit to extort, 
 and seemed to have entirely renounced the politics of 
 his predecessors, in regard to Italy, which, indeed, 
 bad been the source of all their misfortunes. In his 
 reign the famous constitution called the Golden Bull, 
 was established, in a diet assembled at Nuremberg, 
 * Puflend ubi supra. Ualuzzii. Vit. Pontif, Aycn, vol. 1. 
 
 * consisting
 
 320 GERMANY. 
 
 consisting of all the princes, prelates, abbots, and 
 deputies of the imperial cities. This celebrated char- 
 ter, which settled every thing relating to the political 
 system of the empire, was published with the most 
 solemn pomp.* The three ecclesiastical electors, 
 arch-chancellors of the empire, appeared in the pro- 
 cession, carrying the three imperial seals. The Arch- 
 bishop of Mentz carried that of Germany, and the 
 Archbishops of Treves and Cologne those of France 
 and Italy, countries in which the empire no longer 
 possessed any thing but empty claims. But the style 
 of this singular public instrument, the famous Golden 
 Bull, is strongly expressive of the spirit of the times. 
 " It begins," says Dr. Russel, " with an apostrophe to 
 Satan, anger, pride, and luxury; and it says, that it is 
 necessary the number of electors should be seven, in 
 order to oppose the seven mortal sins. It speaks of 
 the fall of the angels, of a heavenly paradise, of Pom- 
 pey, and of Caesar ; and it asserts that the government 
 of Germany is founded on the three theological 
 virtues, as on the trinity ."t If this account be true, 
 so extraordinary a piece of literary composition is a 
 striking proof and a lasting monument of the 
 ignorance which at that time prevailed in Germany. 
 Among the remarkable acts of Charles the IVths' 
 reign, may be reckoned the alienation of almost all 
 that remained of the imperial domains, with their 
 taxes and toils, to ihe three ecclesiastical electors, and 
 the Count Palatine, in order to secure the election of 
 his son to the empire. During several centuries the 
 revenues of the emperors had decreased more rapidly 
 even than their authority. The emperors of the race 
 
 Ilcisi's Hisr. dc l'A! : cmane, liv. 2. 
 Hiit. Mod. Eur. vol. 1, Ictt. 41. 
 
 of
 
 GENERAL HISTOIIY. 321 
 
 of Charlemagne, and those of the Saxon line pos- 
 sessed extensive domains, both in Germany and Italy. 
 Those in the latter country were soon alienated by 
 sale, or lost hy revolt. The Italian cities having at 
 an early period acquired wealth, and aspiring at in- 
 dependence, purchased of the emperors various im- 
 munities and privileges.* But those immunities, 
 which were purchased, enabled them to extort others 
 by force ; and the quarrels ensuing between the popes 
 and the emperors rendering the Italians still more 
 independent and factious, the revenues of the whole 
 empire, as already observed, were exhausted in keep- 
 ing them in subjection. While the imperial authority 
 in Italy was so unsettled, the emperors in every mo- 
 ment of transient success, and in those intervals of 
 tranquillity, of which the duration was mostly short 
 and always precarious, were glad to sell for money 
 immunities, privileges, and domains, which they 
 knew would soon be extorted or seized by force. In 
 Germany, also, a great part of the lands which formed 
 the imperial domain, were seized by the princes and 
 prelates during the contests with Italy; and while the 
 sovereigns were thus deprived of their territorial pro- 
 perty, they were in like manner robbed of their casual 
 revenue, the nobles and bishops appropriating to 
 themselves the taxes, &c. that used to be paid to the 
 empcrors.-f- The alienation made by Charles IV. of 
 almost all that remained, after so many defalcations, 
 completed the impoverishment of the imperial crown, 
 and gave the last fatal blow to its authority. From 
 that period, the revenues of the empire were so small 
 us to be inadequate to the expcnces of the emperor's 
 
 * Robertson's HMI. Charles V. vol. 1, p, 457, et auctor. cit. 
 
 * Ibid, p. 4J3, 
 
 VOL, in. T household.
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 household. In the year 1540, Cardinal Grenville as- 
 serted, in the presence of several f the princes, that 
 his master, Charles V. drew no money at all from the 
 empire. Ever since the reign of Charles IV. the 
 emperors have depended entirely on their hereditary 
 dominions as the source not only of their power, but 
 even of their subsistence.* It may here also not be 
 amiss to remark, that the former emperors spent a 
 great part of their time in visiting the different parts 
 of the empire, especially those of their domain ; but 
 after these were seized, or alienated in the manner 
 described, they began generally to reside in their 
 hereditary dominions. Louis of Bavaria was the first, 
 who, by fixing his residence at Munich, set the 
 example, which was followed by his successors.^ 
 Germany could not, therefore, be said to have a, 
 metropolis, until the imperial dignity being so long 
 annexed to the house of Austria as to make it seem 
 hereditary in that family. Vienna was at last consi- 
 dered as the capital of the empire. 
 
 Charles IV. dying in' 1378, was succeeded by Win- 
 ceslaus his son, king of Bohemia, who giving himself 
 up to his pleasures without regarding the affairs of the 
 empire, was deposed ; and, without making any 
 effort to retain the imperial' crown, retired into his 
 kingdom of Bohemia. Frederick, duke of Brunswick, 
 was elected emperor; but was assassinated before his 
 coronation. The electors, therefore, conferred the 
 imperial dignity on Robert count palatine of the 
 Rhine. This emperor made an unsuccessful expedi- 
 tion into Italy, in order to re-establish in that country 
 the imperial authority; but Galearro Visconti duke of 
 
 * Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. 1, p. 459. 
 t Puflend ubi supra. 
 
 Milan,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 323 
 
 Milan, was so well prepared for his reception, that he 
 soon found it expedient to desist from his enterprize.* 
 Robert dying A. D. 1411, Sigismund, king of Hungary 
 was elected emperor, who summoned the famous, or 
 rather infamous council of Constance. The principal 
 purpose for which this council was convened, was to 
 terminate the schism which then prevailed in the 
 church. This august assembly succeeded in settling- 
 the disputes concerning the pontificate; but at the 
 same time both the council and the emperor tarnished 
 their honour, by condemning John Huss and Jerome 
 of Prague to the flames. It is not to the present pur- 
 pose to examine the particular doctrines of those two 
 opponents of the established religion in Bohemia; 
 but it may be observed, that in the chief points they 
 nearly agreed with those which, a little before that 
 time, Wickliffhad held in England, and which. Luther, 
 with some' variations, afterwards established in Sax- 
 ony. The execution, however, of these two men, 
 notwithstanding the safe conduct which had been 
 granted them, has fixed a perpetual brand of infamy 
 on the memory of Sigismund. 
 
 Divine Providence did not suffer this perfidious cru- 
 elty to pass unrevenged. It is natural to revolt against 
 oppression, and especially against that kind of ty- 
 ranny which is exercised over the conscience; and the 
 Hussites, in supporting the freedom of opinion, took 
 a severe vengeance for the murder of their apostles. t 
 They first raised a terrible insurrection in Prague, 
 where they forced the town, hall and massacred the 
 magistrates. The revolt soon became general, and 
 they levied a formidable army. Winceslaus, king of 
 
 * Heiss. Hist, de 1'Allemane, lib. 2. ch. 28. 
 
 t Mosheim, U-ist. Eccles. vol. 3. ;:. 
 
 Y 2 Bohemia,
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 Bohemia, the emperor's brother, dying about thesm 
 time, that kingdom devolved on Sigismund, who sus- 
 tained a long war against the Hussites, and was several 
 times defeated by Count Ziska their general. This 
 intrepid chief maintained his ground with success 
 during his life, and at his death ordered a drum to be 
 made of his skin. Instead of detailing the particulars 
 of this war, it will suffice to observe that the Hussites 
 at last obtained a general amnesty, and the privilege 
 of the cup in the communion, a concession which 
 they considered as of the utmost-importance.* Such, 
 in those days, was the attachment both of the re- 
 formers and the enemies of reformation to the cere- 
 moni-cil of religion, while its practical doctrines and 
 active power were too little regarded. 
 
 Sigismund died in 1438, and was succeeded in the 
 kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary by his son-in-lavr 
 Albert, duke of Austria, who was also elected emperor. 
 Since that period the imperial throne has been hereditary 
 in the august house of Austria. Albert died the nextyear, 
 1130, and was succeeded in the kingdoms of Hungary 
 and Bohemia by his infant son Ladislaus. Frederick 
 of Austria, Albert's cousin, was elected to the imperial 
 dignity. This emperor paid a visit to Italy, where he 
 \vtis received in the principal cities, with all the empty 
 honours that could be paid to nominal sovereignty. 
 The Bologncse and the Florentines even sent deputies, 
 to crave the honour of entertaining him.-f- At Rome 
 be was crowned king of Lombardy, although Francis 
 Sforzn, a man of the most obscure extraction, but one 
 of the greatest warriors of the age, reigned in Milan, 
 and set the imperial authority at defiance. In this 
 manner the Italians flattered the emperor with empty 
 
 * AJeiiiiui ubi iiipra. t Macbiar, JJi^r. Fior. lib. 6. 
 
 honours
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 32* 
 
 honours, from which he derived neither power nor 
 profit. On his return to Austria, he found himself 
 involved in disputes with his subjects, which, however, 
 were not attended with any important consequences. 
 Amidst these transactions, an event took place 
 which bore a threatening aspect to Europe, but 
 particularly to the German empire. Constantinople, 
 so long a barrier against the Ottoman power, was, in 
 1453, taken by Sultan Mahomet H. and the progress 
 of the Turkish arms alarming the princes of Christen- 
 dom, impelled them to think of uniting for their mu- 
 tual defence. On this subject a diet was tonvoked at 
 llatisbon, and another soon after at Frankfort. Other 
 diets were successively held, but nothing of import- 
 ance was undertaken. A numerous concourse of 
 princes were assembled, and great zeal appeared in 
 debate; but attended with a general backwardness to 
 action. It is here impossible not to observe how 
 much the chivalrous spirit which distinguished the 
 age of the croisades, was now superceded by a cau- 
 tious policy. Two or three centuries previous to this 
 period, every rank and order of people, kings, princes, 
 prelates, and vassals hurried away, as if impelled by 
 frenzy, to attack the Mahomedans in Asia ; but none 
 could be roused to action, when they had established 
 themselves in Europe, and their continual progress 
 threatened all Christendom. The only effort which 
 the German princes could be prevailed on to make, 
 was to send a body of forces to the assistance of John 
 Hunniades, the famous Hungarian general, a hero, 
 who would have done honour to Greece or Rome in 
 the most brilliant periods of their military glory. He 
 gained several advantages over the Turks, when their 
 martial reputation was in its meridian, and gallantly 
 
 Y 3 defended
 
 326 GERMANY. 
 
 defended his country against Mahomet II. the con- 
 queror of Constantinople and the terror of Christen- 
 dom, whom he totally defeated in an obstinate and 
 decisive engagement and compelled him to raise the 
 siege of Belgrade. But the fruits of this victory were 
 lost by the death of Hunniades, which happened soon 
 after the battle. 
 
 The history of Hungary becoming now more than 
 ever connected wilh that of Austria, it is requisite to 
 cast a glance on its ancient state. A considerable 
 part of it had once been subject to the Romans, and 
 was included in the Roman province of Dacia ; but 
 they do not appear to have ever possessed the tract 
 situated between the Teyss and the Danube.* Hun- 
 gary was repeatedly overrun by the barbarous nations 
 in their passage westward from the northern shores of 
 the Euxine. Among these may be reckoned the 
 Goths and the Huns, whose famous king Attila, had 
 his royal residence in a village on the great plain. 
 To the Huns succeeded the Avars and other Slavonic 
 tribes. These were conquered by the Magyars, or 
 Ogurs, towards the end of the ninth century. From 
 that period Hungary was governed by dukes. An 
 irregular feudal .system was established ; the country 
 was divided among a number of petty chiefs ; the 
 dukes and afterwards the kings had only a very limited 
 authority. In fine, this country exhibited the same 
 picture as all the rest of Europe in those dark ages. 
 But the people were more barbarous, and continued 
 pagans long after the conversion of Germany ; itito 
 which country, as already observed, they used to make 
 terrible inroads. About the year IOOO, Stephen, duke 
 of Hungary, was converted to Christianity, and esta- 
 
 * Gibbon Dec. Rom, Emp. vol. 1. p. 2?. 
 
 blishecl
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 Blished that religion in his couritry. He received 
 from the pope the title of king, and after his death 
 his name was enrolled among those of the saints. The 
 crown was always elective; but, as in most other 
 elective kingdoms, a predilection was often preserved 
 for the children or relatives of the deceased monarch. 
 The wars of the early Hungarian kings were chiefly 
 against the Venetians, who were in possession of Dal- 
 matia. Louis I. who began his reign in 1342, and 
 was contemporary with Edward III. of England, was a 
 successful prince. He subdued the greatest part of 
 Dalmatia, and carried his arms into Italy. He was 
 succeeded by his daughter Mary, who dying in 1392, 
 the Hungarians elected Sigismund, afterwards empe- 
 ror of Germany. After him was elected his son-in- 
 law, Albert of Austria ; and on his death Ladislaus, 
 his infant son, was elected king : he was.placed under 
 the guardianship of the emperor Frederick III. and the 
 celebrated John Hunniades was appointed regent of 
 the kingdom. The young king Ladislaus, dying in 
 1457, about the same time as the regent, Matthias 
 Corvinus, the son of Hunniades, was raised fo the 
 throne by the unanimous suffrages of the Hungarian 
 states. But the Emperor Frederick III. disputing his 
 election, a war ensued in which Corvinus was so suc- 
 cessful, that he took Vienna, conquered the whole of 
 Austria, and kept possession of that duchy till his 
 death. The reign of Matthias Corvinus constitutes 
 the most brilliant epoch in Hungarian history. He 
 was a brave and politic prince, versed in literature, 
 and a liberal patron of letters, science, and arts. He 
 founded a noble library at I3uda, and furnished it with 
 many valuable MSS. as well as with the best Greek 
 and 'Latin authors. He died in J4 ( JO; and after rc- 
 
 Y 4 peated
 
 GERMANY* 
 
 peated contests, the crown of Hungary returned to 
 the house of Austria in 1527, in the person of Ferdi- 
 nand. The kings of Hungary had several bloody wars 
 with the Turks, and this country was long considered 
 as the hulwark of Christendom. But in the latter part 
 of the reign of Ferdinand, those formidable enemies 
 of the Christian name, obtained possession of a consi- 
 derable part of Hungary. This prince, on being 
 elected emperor, resigned the crown to his son Maxi- 
 millian, in 1563 ; since which period it has ever since 
 remained an appendage to the house of Austria. 
 
 In resuming the history of the empire, it suffices to 
 say that Frederick III. dying in 14[)3, was succeeded 
 by his son Maximillian I. The most important fea- 
 ture of whose history is the annexation of the Nether- 
 lands to the house of Austria, by his fortunate mar- 
 riage with Mary, the daughter and heiress of Charles 
 the Bold, duke of Burgundy. He had various wars ; 
 but none of them were productive of any important 
 consequences to the empire or the imperial family. 
 Maximillian died in 1519, and his grandson, the fa- 
 mous Charles V. was raised to the empire. Charles 
 being by hereditary right king of Spain, of Naples 
 and Sicily, and possessing the extensive domi- 
 nions of the house of Austria in Germany and the 
 Netherlands, together with the sovereignty of the 
 new world, which was ready to pour its treasures into 
 his coffers, was by a particular train of circumstances 
 exalted to the imperial dignity. Francis I. king of 
 France had declared himself a candidate for that 
 high honour, and both their claims appeared equally 
 plausible. The situation of Germany at that juncture 
 required an emperor, in whom great abilities should 
 "be seconded by ample resources. The Turks, then in 
 
 thf
 
 GENERAL BISTORT. 
 
 the zenith of their power and their military fame* 
 were every where irresistible. Selim II. had con 7 
 quered the Mamaiuke kingdom of Egypt, made him- 
 self master of Syria, and so completely secured his 
 empire on the side of Asia, that he was ready to turn 
 the whole force of his arms against Europe. His 
 power, his ambition, and the fame of his conquests, 
 had excited throughout Christendom a general alarm. 
 Germany (was, by her local position, exposed to the 
 first attack of the Ottoman power; and this conside- 
 ration was sufficient to determine her princes in the 
 choice of an emperor. The kings of Spain and 
 France presented themselves as the only princes of 
 Europe that were able to oppose an effectual resistance 
 to the progress of the Turks, and to ensure the safety 
 of the empire. The great power of Charles and his 
 extensive dominions, gave him the first place among 
 Christian princes. The dominions of Francis, although 
 less extensive, were more compact: his subjects were 
 numerous and warlike; and in regard to age, expe- 
 rience, and military reputation, he possessed a per- 
 sonal superiority over his rival. The other European 
 princes could not remain indifferent spectators of a 
 contest, the decision of which so nearly affected 
 their interests. The Swiss cantons dreaded the eleva- 
 tion of either of the candidates, but their apprehen- 
 sion of the aggrandisement of so near and so hostile a 
 neighbour as Francis, inclined them to give an open 
 preference to Charles. The Venetians, through a simi- 
 lar jealousy of the proximity and ambition of Austria, 
 although they wished to see both the rivals set aside, 
 were by their dread of the elevation of Charles dis- 
 posed to favour the claims <jf the French monarch. 
 Henry VIII. king of England, was equally interested 
 
 in
 
 330 GERMANY. 
 
 in the exclusion of both the competitors from a dig- 
 nity which, added to their former power, would raise 
 them so high above other monarchs, and came at last 
 to the resolution of offering himself as a candidate for 
 the imperial dignity. His ambassador, though 
 loaded with caresses by the German princes, returned 
 with the information that no success could be ex- 
 pected from so late an application. Henry recon- 
 ciled himself to the disappointment by imputing it 
 solely to this circumstance, and gave himself no 
 further concern about the election or exclusion of the 
 other candidates.* Henry wanted that steady atten- 
 tion, as well as that accurate discernment which, 
 with the advantages of his political situation, might 
 have enabled him to hold the balance of Europe. 
 Leo X. a pontiff equally distinguished by his political 
 abilities and his patronage of letters, observed with 
 accurate attention the proceedings of the two rival 
 monarchs, and his acute penetration enabled him 
 to foresee the consequences. The exaltation of a 
 king of Spain and of Naples to the imperial dig- 
 nity, filled him with serious apprehensions ; and the 
 accession of a king of France to the throne of Ger- 
 many, was a prospect not less alarming. He consi- 
 dered the election of either as fatal to the indepen- 
 dence of the Holy See, and to the peace of Europe. 
 The sagacious pontiff, therefore, directed alt his ef- 
 forts to induce the German princes to elect out of their 
 own body an emperor, who would be less formidable 
 to other European princes. For this purpose he put 
 in motion every spring of political intrigue.f His 
 plan was the best that it was possible in his situation 
 
 * Mem. de Fleuranges, p. 314. 
 
 t Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. 2, p. 79. 
 
 to
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 331 
 
 to adopt; but in affairs so extremely complicated, all 
 the views of political sagacity are frequently baffled. 
 The German electors perceived the full force of his 
 representations and arguments. They had ever con- 
 sidered it as one of the fundamental maxims of their 
 policy to limit and depress the power of the emperor. 
 To this maxim they had for ages invariably adhered, 
 and to its observance they owed the splendour and 
 independence which they had gradually acquired. 
 The pope did not forget to remind them, that in 
 electing either Francis or Charles, they would give 
 tlie empire a master instead of a head, and reduce 
 themselves from the condition of sovereigns to that of 
 subjects. Influenced by these considerations, the 
 electors resolved to reject both the candidates, and 
 unanimously fixed on Frederick, duke of Saxony, 
 whose virtues and abilities rendered him worthy to 
 wield the imperial sceptre, and whose power was not 
 such as could excite any jealousy. This prince, how- 
 ever, more attentive to the safety of the empire than 
 dazzled with the splendor of the imperial dignity, 
 rejected the offe/ with a magnanimity, of which his- 
 tory -records but few instances. He represented to 
 the Germanic body the impolicy of an obstinate ad- 
 herence to old maxims, inapplicable to the present 
 circumstances; reminded them, that new conjunctures 
 required new expedients; that the Turkish armies, 
 led by a warlike and victorious emperor, were ready 
 to pour into German}', that the imperial sceptre must 
 be committed to some more powerful hand than his or 
 that of any other German prince ; that, in so pressing 
 an exigency, there was no other expedient than that 
 of chusing one of the two rival monarchs, either of 
 whom could bring into the Ik-Id forces sufficient to 
 
 arrcit
 
 532 GERMANY. 
 
 arrest the progress of the enemy, and provide for the 
 security of the empire. But he added, that since the 
 king of Spain was a member and prince of the em- 
 pire, and possessed valuable and extensive hereditary 
 dominions, stretching along the frontier most exposed 
 to the enemy, his claim was certainly preferable to 
 that of the French monarch, who was in every respect 
 a stranger, and had no hereditary possessions in Ger- 
 many. 
 
 The two rival candidates, in fhe mean while, left 
 nothing undone that intrigue or bribery could effect. 
 Charles employed all the refinements and artifice of 
 negotiation, and remitted vast sums of money from 
 Spain in order to give weight to his claims.* Francis 
 at the same time attempted to gain the favour of the 
 princes by immense presents and boundless promises, 
 and as the method of conveying money by bills of 
 exchange was then little known, the French ambassa- 
 dors were attended with a train of horses loaded with 
 treasure. On the 28th of June, 1519, after an inter- 
 regnum of five months and ten days, this important 
 Contest, which held all Europe in suspense, was de- 
 cided by the election of Charles to the imperial throne. 
 From what passed on this memorable occasion, an 
 idea may be formed of the various manoeuvres which 
 are practised where crowns are elective. 
 
 This contested election, however, left between the 
 two potent rivals an enmity that was never extinguished, 
 and which a thousand circumstances contributed to 
 keep alive. Two such powerful monarchs, whose 
 dominions were in close contact, could never be at a 
 loss for plausible pretexts of quarrel ; and their per- 
 petual rivalship and ceaseless hostilities, kept the 
 
 Mem. de fleuranges, p. 296. Robartson's Hist. Ch. V. vol. 2. p. 75. 
 
 9 greatest
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. S33 
 
 greatest part of Europe in a state of continual agita- 
 tion. Spain and all the other hereditary dominions 
 of the emperor were necessarily involved in the con- 
 test. Italy and England were also implicated. The 
 part which they took in those general commotions 
 is briefly mentioned in that part of the work which 
 treats of their history and of France.* In order, there- 
 fore, to avoid tedious prolixity and useless repetition, 
 k suffices in this place to confine the narrative to a 
 concise representation of those affairs, which more 
 particularly tended to influence the future condition 
 of Germany. 
 
 Among these one of the most important was the 
 reformation of religion, which took its rise in thi* 
 country. Its origin is so well known that it is scarcely 
 necessary to mention, that the scandalous abuse of 
 indulgences first excited thinking men to enquire into 
 their nature and consequences, and to dispute the 
 legality of that authority by which they were dis- 
 pensed. Those extraordinary releases of the living 
 from sin, and of the dead from the pains of purgatory, 
 were first fabricated by Urban H. for the encourage- 
 ment and recompense of those who engaged iu the 
 croisades. They were next extended to such as con- 
 tributed money to the support of those wild expedi- 
 tions, or to other pious purposes; but the sums so 
 raised were often diverted to other uses. Leo X. the 
 great patron of letters and of arts, having exhausted 
 his treasury in liberal rewards to men of genius, in 
 magnificent works, and in expensive pleasures, had 
 recourse to a measure which had been so successfully 
 practised by his predecessors. He published a gene. 
 ral sale of indulgences, and he was not without an 
 
 * Vide Hiitriial Vie ur ol France, reign of Frauci* I. 
 
 apology 
 
 L J*
 
 334 GERMANY. 
 
 apology for this extension of papal authority. He 
 was then engaged in a most expensive undertaking, 
 the building of the superb cathedral of St. Peter, the 
 largest and most magnificent structure of the Christian 
 world; and money was also wanted to establish a fund 
 for carry ing on a war against the Turks the progress of 
 whose arms threatened Europe with subjugation. But 
 impositions employed with success in one age, often 
 prove dangerous experiments in another. As an 
 accomplished gentleman, an elegant scholar, and a 
 patron of arts and literature, Leo stands almost unpa- 
 ralleled. Hud he been a kina; of England or France, 
 
 o O 
 
 his name would have "been an honour to royalty ; but 
 as a pope he was certainly misplaced. The laxity of 
 his religious principles approaching to Deism, ren- 
 dered him careless of the ipterests of the church, and 
 his liberal disposition involved him in wants which 
 imperiously demanded a supply. His necessities, the 
 natural consequences of his immense expenditure, put 
 him upon measures for raising money which shook 
 the papacy to its foundation, and diminished the re- 
 venues as well as the power of his successors by se- 
 parating, half the Christian world from the communion 
 of Rome. The councils of the Governor of the Uni- 
 verse are inscrutable ; but the moral philosopher will 
 perceive, and both the friends and the enemies of the 
 reformation must acknowledge, that Leo was not less 
 than Luther an instrument in the hand of Divine Pro- 
 vidence in the introduction of this extraordinary re- 
 volution. 
 
 The sale of indulgences, established by papal au- 
 thority, and sanctioned by prescription, had often 
 succeeded, and probably might still have escaped ani- 
 madversion, had the Dominican friars, to whom the 
 
 business
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 335 
 
 business was entrusted in Saxony, executed their 
 commission with greater discretion and decency. The 
 irregularities of their conduct gave general offence ; 
 and the Augustinians, ever enemies to the Dominicans, 
 could not overlook their misconduct, nor be uncon- 
 cerned spectators of their lucrative commission. Mar- 
 tin Luther, an Augustinian friar, and professor of 
 theology at Wurteinberg in Saxony, began bitterly to 
 inveigh from the pulpit against the vices and irregu- 
 larities of the monks who retailed the indulgences, 
 and afterwards to controvert the doctrines on which 
 they were founded. He published ninety-five theses 
 containing his sentiments concerning indulgences, 
 not as points of absolute certainty, but as subjects 
 of enquiry, which he invited the learned to examine. 
 The Augustinians were highly pleased with his invec- 
 tives against the Dominicans, whom they hoped to see 
 exposed to the hatred and scorn of the people ; and 
 the Elector of Saxony encouraged Luther's proceed- 
 ings, in the hope that this dispute among churchmen 
 might check the exactions of the court of Rome, 
 which the secular princes had long but unsuccessfully 
 endeavoured to oppose.* Such were the commence- 
 ments of the reformation in religion, which has ope- 
 rated so many and so important changes in Europe. 
 
 The greatest revolutions often proceed from small 
 beginnings, and originate from circumstances appa- 
 rently trivial. Every opposition that had hitherto 
 raised itself against the church had been speedily 
 crushed. The papal power had triumphed over 
 emperors and kings : it was reserved to a poor monk 
 to shake the whole, and overturn one-half of the co- 
 lossal fabrick. This was an event so little expected, 
 
 * Robertson'* Hist. C'li. V. vol. 2. p. 1'24, 
 
 that
 
 336 GERMANY. 
 
 that while Luther's doctrines were spreading over 
 German)-, they excited little attention and no alarm in 
 the court of Rome. Leo X. absorbed in elegant and 
 refined pleasures, delighting in works of magnificence, 
 and intent on great schemes of policy, regarded with 
 the utmost indifference the theological cavils of an 
 obscure friar. He imputed the whole to monastic 
 emulation and enmity, and seemed willing to let the 
 Augustinians and the Dominicans wrangle about 
 the matter without interposing in the contest. It 
 would be unnecessary to attempt to trace the refor- 
 mation through the different stages of its progress; 
 volumes havs already been written on the subject. It 
 will, therefore, suffice to make a few general obser- 
 vations. 
 
 Leo X. gave himself little concern about points of 
 doctrine. Attached to pursuits of a different kind, 
 and naturally averse to severe measures, he was not 
 formed for a persecutor. All the personal adversaries 
 of Luther, and many dignified ecclesiastics, exclaimed 
 against the unprecedented lenity of the pope in suffer- 
 ing an incorrigible heretic to remain so many years 
 within the pale of the church. In consequence of 
 these invectives and representations, Leo found him- 
 self obli'ged to act more decisively, and in 1520 he 
 issued a bull, in which Luther was excommunicated 
 and his writings condemned. This fatal bull com- 
 pletely opened the breach that for ever separated the 
 church into two parties, and was followed by number- 
 less subdivisions. A celebrated modern writer, in 
 speaking of the commencement of the reformation 
 observes, that " during the whole of these transactions 
 the court of Rome, though under the direction of one 
 of its ablest poutifc, neither formed its schemes with 
 
 that
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 337 
 
 that profound sagacity, nor executed them with that 
 steady perseverance, which had long rendered it the 
 most perfect model of political wisdom to the rest of 
 Europe.* Had the pope acted with more promptitude ; 
 had Luther's first departure from the church immedi- 
 ately drawn upon him the full weight of its censures, 
 such severity, as the same author ohserves, would 
 probahly have deterred the elector of Saxony from 
 protecting him, and the people from listening to his 
 discourses, or might even have overawed the reformer 
 himself. If on the contrary, the pope had testified his 
 displeasure at the vices and excesses of the Domini- 
 cans, who retailed the indulgences and imposed silence 
 on the disputants, Luther w r ould in all probability have 
 proceeded no farther, and the whole affair would have 
 insensihly died away, or the question w r ould, like 
 many others, have been confined to the schools. -f* 
 According to every appearance, the breach might 
 have been easily made up, as during a long time 
 Luther professed the most profound veneration for the 
 pope, and was so far from questioning his authority, 
 that he made repeated offers of submission to his de- 
 cisions. But Leo concerned himself little about 
 religion ; and those whom he employed, particularly 
 cardinal Cajetan endeavoured rather to widen the 
 breach than to promote the unity of the church. The 
 pope, considering the discontents of a poor friar as 
 unworthy of his attention, left Luther unmolested 
 during the space of some years, which gave him leisure 
 to propagate his opinions : but no rational or equitable 
 measures were taken to procure his reconciliation to 
 the church, and the sentence of excommunication, 
 
 * Robertson's Hist. Charl V. vol. 2, p. 142, 
 t Robertson ubi supra. 
 
 VOL. in. 2
 
 338 GERMANY. 
 
 which at an earlier period might have had a decisive 
 effect, was delayed Until it was no longer an object 
 of terror. While the daring intrepidity of Luther's 
 character, and the impetuosity of his temper, rendered 
 him the fittest person to undertake so bold a work as 
 the reformation, the careless inattention of Leo X, 
 and the haughtiness of his agents, concurred to its 
 advancement. The most conspicuous actors on the 
 theatre of 'the world, are only instruments rn the hand 
 of Divine Providence. 
 
 Various causes had previously concurred to prepare 
 the public mind for the reception of Luther's doctrines. 
 The long and scandalous schism, which during the 
 apace of forty years, from 1378 to 1418, divided the 
 church, had greatly diminished the veneration with 
 which the world had been accustomed to view the 
 papal dignity. Two or three contending pontifs at 
 once excommunicating and cursing one another, dis- 
 credited their pretensions to infallibility. " The laity, 
 to whom," as Dr. Robertson observes, " all parties 
 appealed, came to learn that some right of private 
 judgment belonged to them, and acquired the exer- 
 cise of it so far as to chuse among those infallible 
 guides, which they would please to follow. The pro- 
 ceedings of the councils of Constance and Basil spread 
 this disrespect for the Roman see still wider, and by 
 their bold exertion of authority in deposing and elect- 
 ing popes, taught the world, that there was in the 
 church a jurisdiction superior to that of the pope, 
 which they had long believed to be supreme." The 
 wound given on that occasion to the papal authority 
 was scarcely healed, when the pontificates of Alex- 
 ander IV. and Julius II. gave a new scandal to 
 Christians. The profligate morals and tyrannical ad- 
 ministration
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 ministration of the former, aird the restless ambition 
 of the latter, greatly contributed to lessen the respect 
 of the Christian world for its spiritual head. The 
 disorderly lives and secular manners of the 'clergy, 
 contributed also in no small degree to draw on them 
 the aversion of the laity. These disorders were more 
 prevalent in Germany than in most other countries. 
 Many of the bishops and abbots being not only eccle- 
 siastics, but princes, their manners were rather ac- 
 commodated to the latter than to the former character. 
 And the people gradually enlightened, could hardly 
 regard as ministers of Christ and successors of the 
 apostles, men wearing a military habit with facings 
 of gold and silver lace, employed in tilts and tourna- 
 ments, and exhibiting nothing in their life and morals 
 conformable to the sanctity of their ecclesiastical pro- 
 fession.* Since the period of the great schism in the 
 see of Rome, the art of printing had begun to diffuse 
 'some degree of knowledge among the laity, to keep 
 up among them the remembrance of past transactions, 
 and to excite them to exercise their thinking powers. 
 From these and various other circumstances, of which 
 the detail would here lead to too great a prolixity, 
 it is evident that about the time of Luther's reforma- 
 tion a revolution had gradually taken place in the 
 public mind, which procured him a success so different 
 from that of Wickliffe, Huss, and other premature' 
 reformers. 
 
 When Charles V. arrived in Germany, the doc- 
 trines of Luther were every where propagated, but 
 no breach was made in the church j none of the 
 princes had embraced bis opinions, no encroachment* 
 
 Letter of the Emp. Charles V. to the archbishop of BIwitZj A.D. 1359, 
 p. Robertson Hint. Charles V. voL-V, p. 152. 
 
 Z a
 
 310 GERMANY. 
 
 bud been made on the possessions or jurisdiction of 
 the clergy, nor any change introduced into the estab- 
 lished forms of public worship. A deep impression, 
 however, had been made on the minds of the people, 
 whose reverence for ancient institutions and doctrines 
 was shaken, and the materials were already scattered 
 which produced the conflagration that spread over 
 the best part of Europe. Charles cited Luther to 
 appear before the diet at Worms, and granted him a 
 safe conduct. Several of the reformer's friends re- 
 minded him of the fate of John Huss, and dissuaded 
 him from placing himself in the emperor's power. 
 JjUther on this occasion gave proofs of the intrepidity 
 of his character. " I am lawfully summoned, said he, 
 to appear in that city, and thither I will go, in the 
 name of the Lord, though as many devils as there are 
 tiles on the houses were there combined against me.* 
 He accordingly went, and his reception at Worms 
 was such as might have satisfied the most aspiring 
 vanity. The populace every where assembled in 
 crowds to see him, when he walked abroad, and his 
 apartments were constant!^ filled with princes and 
 persons of the greatest distinction. Being examined 
 before the diet, he refused to retract his opinions, 
 and neither threats nor promises could prevail with 
 him to alter his resolution. Some proposed to imitate 
 the example of the council of Constance in the case 
 of John Huss, and to commit to the flames this 
 heretical monk, while he was yet in their power ; but 
 the members of the diet refused to commit such a 
 violation of the public faith, and the emperor being 
 equally unwilling to bring a stain upon his character 
 and his administration by so ignominious a measure, 
 
 Luther'* works, TO!. 2, p. 412. Rtbertion, vol. 3, p. 178. 
 
 Luther
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 341 
 
 Luther was permitted to depart in safety.* An edict, 
 however, was shortly after published in the name of 
 the emperor, and by the authority of the diet, pro- 
 scribing his person, prohibiting any prince of the 
 empire to afford him protection or harbour, and re- 
 quiring all to concur in endeavouring to seize him as 
 soon as the term of his safe conduct should be ex- 
 pired. The elector of Saxony, however, took him 
 secretly under his protection, and with that prince 
 Luther found a secure asylum. 
 
 Charles soon began to have other affairs to engage 
 his attention. The revolt in Spain, and hostilities 
 with France, called him to a more arduous field of 
 action, and gave full exercise to his political abilities.f 
 The leading transactions of this period are spoken of 
 in another place. In the mean while Solyman the 
 Great, emperor of the Turks, had entered Hungary 
 and taken Belgrade. He then turned his arms against 
 Rhodes, the seat of the knights of St. John of Jeru- 
 salem, and the bulwark of Christendom in the Levant, 
 While the Christian princes were wasting their 
 strength against one another, they suffered the Turks 
 to make themselves masters of that, important city 
 and island, which the knights under the gallant L'Isle 
 Adam, a Frenchman, their grand master, defended 
 to the last extremity, and at last surrendered on 
 honourable terms. Charles and Francis were equally 
 ashamed of having by their quarrels occasioned such a 
 Joss to the Christian world; and the emperor, by way 
 of reparation, assigned to the knights the small island 
 of Malta for their residence. France, Italy, and 
 Germany, however, began at last to be desirous of 
 
 * F. Paul Hist, council of Trent, p. 13. 
 t See Hilt, Views of France and Spain. 
 
 z 3 peace.
 
 342 GERMANY. 
 
 peace. Charles had quieted the tumults in Spain, 
 appeared in Italy as a conqueror, and received the 
 imperial crown from the hand of the pope; but his 
 presence was wanted in Germany. Ferdinand, his 
 brother, on whom he had conferred the hereditary 
 dominions of the house of Austria, and who had been 
 elected king of Hungary, had obliged Solyuian to 
 raise the siege of Vienna, and abandon his conquests; 
 but his return was expected, and the disorders of the 
 religious system were daily increasing. The French 
 army before Naples was almost annihilated, and their 
 garrison in Genoa obliged to surrender. All these 
 circumstances impelled the contending parties to 
 adopt conciliatory measures, and in 1529 a peace was 
 concluded at Cambray.* 
 
 During the contest between the emperor and 
 France, almost the half of Germany had revolted 
 from the see of Rome, and its dominion was greatly 
 weakened, even in those states which had not dis- 
 claimed its authority. Charles on bis return ap- 
 pointed an imperial diet to be held at Spire, in order 
 to take into consideration the state of religion. This 
 diet, after much deliberation, confirmed the edict 
 published at. Worms against Luther, and prohibited 
 any further innovations in religion, but particularly 
 the abolition of the mass until the meeting of a general 
 council. Against this decree the elector of Saxony, 
 the Landgrave of Hesse, and the prince of Anhalt, 
 with fourteen imperial cities, entered a solemn pro- 
 test, from which they derived the appellation of Pro- 
 testants, which has since become common to all the 
 ects that have levelled from the church of Rome, 
 
 Guicciard. lib' 20, p. 550. 
 
 however
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. S43 
 
 however they may differ from one another in doctrine 
 or discipline. 
 
 The diet next assembled at Augsburg, and the 
 system known by the name of the confession of Augs- 
 burg was there presented and read, and after a slight 
 examination condemned. The Protestant princes and 
 states perceiving their danger, assembled at Smalkalde 
 and entered into a league of mutual defence. But 
 Solyman being ready to enter Hungary with the whole 
 force of the Turkish empire, Charles saw the necessity 
 of union, and by a treaty solemnly ratified in the 
 diet at Ratisbon, granted the Protestants liberty of 
 conscience till the meeting of a general council ; and 
 they agreed on their part to assist him against the 
 common enemy. Solyman, however, entered Hun- 
 ' gary at the head of 300,000 men. Charles put him- 
 self at the head of the imperial army, consisting of 
 120,000 disciplined troops, and an immense crowd of 
 irregulars. But these two greatest monarch* in the 
 world so cautiously conducted their operation, that 
 neither could gain any advantage ; and a campaign, 
 from which the most important consequences had 
 been expected, was terminated without any memora- 
 ble event.* 
 
 An age of either religious or political revolutions, 
 fs generally an age of enthusiasm. The human mind 
 once broke loose from the shackles of system, and the 
 influence of established opinion, is too frequently 
 hurried away into the boundless field of visionary 
 theories ; and imagination gaining an ascendancy over 
 reason, takes random flights. The reformation had 
 freed the rninds of men from the control of spiritual 
 oppression ; but experience frequently shews that 
 
 * Barrc Hist. TO!. 8, p, 347. Robertson's Hist, diaries V. vol. 3, \t. 65. 
 
 z 4 freedom.
 
 344 GERMANY. 
 
 freedom, though one of the greatest of human bless* 
 ings, is too often abused. Different sects sprung up 
 among the reformers, some of whose tenets were but 
 little conformable to scripture or reason. The dis- 
 orders arising from a sect of fanatics, distinguished 
 by the name of anabaptists, forms a singular feature 
 in the history of this period. Their peculiar tenet, 
 from whence they derived their appellation, was, that 
 baptism ought only to be administered to persons of 
 mature age, and that not by sprinkling but dipping. 
 This doctrine was perfectly harmless ; but they im- 
 bibed others of a more dangerous tendency. They 
 maintained that the civil magistracy was an encroach* 
 ment on Christian liberty, that all distinctions of rank 
 ought to be abolished, poligamy allowed, and a com- 
 munity of goods established. 
 
 These levelling principles were greedily imbibed by 
 numbers among the lower class of people, who em- 
 braced with enthusiasm opinions, which promised to 
 place them on an equality with their superiors. The 
 peasants in many places rose in great bodies, and 
 committed innumerable excesses; but being destitute 
 of a skilful leader they were easily dispersed, and 
 Muncer, their first prophet, perished on the scaffold. 
 Several of his followers, however, continued secretly 
 to propagate the opinions of the sect. About eight 
 years after the execution of Muncer, two anabaptist 
 prophets, both of them Hollanders, John Boccold a 
 journeyman taylor of Ley den, and John Matthias a 
 baker of Haarlem, fixed their residence at M mister, 
 and having made a number of proselytes, assembled 
 their associates from the neighbouring country, made 
 themselves masters of the city, and expelled all the 
 citizens that had not embraced their opinions. 
 
 These
 
 GEN 7 ERAL HISTORY. 045 
 
 These fanatics formed a singular kind of govern- 
 ment in Munster, which they called the republic of 
 Mount Sion, although Matthias assumed an absolute 
 authority. The prophet sent emissaries to his friends 
 in the Netherlands, to come and assemble at Mount 
 Sion, that from thence they might set out in a body, 
 and reduce all nations under their dominion. Havinsf 
 
 \j 
 
 excited the multitude to pillage the churches, he 
 ordered them to destroy all books, except the Bible, 
 as useless or impious. He confiscated the property 
 of such as had fled, and having commanded every 
 man to bring forth his gold, silver, and valuable 
 effects, he deposited the whole in a public treasury. 
 The members of this singular common wealth being 
 thus brought to a perfect equality, he ordered all of 
 them to eat at tables prepared in public. His next 
 care was to provide for the defence of the city. He 
 collected vast magazines, repaired and extended the 
 fortifications, obliging every person, without distinc- 
 tion, to work in his turn, and formed into a regular 
 militia all the inhabitants that were able to bear arms. 
 By his own example, he animated his disciples to 
 lefuse no labour, and repine at no hardships, while he 
 endeavoured to add the vigour of discipline to the 
 impetuosity of enthusiasm, which was kept from sub- 
 siding by a continual succession of revelations and 
 prophecies. The Bishop of Munster in the mean 
 \vhile collected a considerable force, with which he 
 advanced to besiege the city. On the approach of 
 the hostile army, Matthias sallied out, attacked, and 
 forced one quarter of the camp, and returning loaded 
 with spoil, was received in the city with loud acclama- 
 tions. Intoxicated with this success, he thought no- 
 thing impossible to the favourites of heaven. Ac- 
 * coinpanied
 
 346 GERMANY. 
 
 companied by no more than thirty of the most en- 
 thusiastic of his followers, he went out again to attack 
 the enemy, brandishing his spear, and boasting that, 
 like Gideon, he would with a handful of men " smite 
 
 the host of the ungodly." The issue of this mad enter- 
 prise was, that the prophet and his thirty fanatical as- 
 sociates were slain. 
 
 The death of Matthias occasioned at the first great 
 consternation among the disciples. Buccold, com- 
 monly called John of Leyden, their other light, how- 
 ever, soon revived their spirits, and assumed the same 
 absolute direction of affairs that the former prophet 
 had possessed. But he changed the plan of operation, 
 and instead of attempting to annoy the besiegers by 
 sallies, he acted entirely on the defensive. This man, 
 though less daring than his predecessor, was more 
 ambitious, and a wilder enthusiast. Having by reve- 
 lations and prophecies prepared the minds of the 
 people for some extraordinary events, he stripped 
 himself naked and perambulating the streets pro- 
 claimed aloud, " That the kingdom of Sion was at 
 hand, that whatever was highest on earth should be 
 brought low, and whatever was lowest should be 
 exalted." He then commanded the churches to be 
 levelled with the ground. His next measure was to 
 abolish the senate established by Matthias. Knipper- 
 dolling, formerly a wealthy citizen, and one of the 
 first disciples, was degraded from the dignity of con- 
 sul to the office of hangman, to which strange transi- 
 tion he submitted without reluctance, considering it 
 as the will of heaven revealed to the prophet. In the 
 place of the deposed senators, Buccold created twelve 
 judges, corresponding with the number of the tribe's 
 of Israel, retaining to himself the same authority that 
 
 Moses
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 347 
 
 Moses anciently possessed, among the chosen people. 
 Being thus in possession of unbounded authority and 
 power, he was in the next place prompted, by ambi- 
 tion, to assume the regal title. A prophet, whom he 
 had tutored, assembled the people and declared it to 
 be the will of heaven, that John Buccoid should be 
 King of Sion, and sit on the throne of David ; and 
 John protesting that he himself had received a reve- 
 lation, commanding him to obey the heavenly call, 
 was immediately acknowledged as sovereign by the 
 deluded multitude. From that time he wore a crown 
 of gold, and royal robes. A numerous body of guards 
 accompanied him when he appeared in public, and a 
 Bible and a naked .sword were carried before him. 
 He assumed all the pomp and exercised all the func- 
 tions of royalty ; and in the appointment of the 
 officers of his household and kingdom, Knipper- 
 dolling was nominated governor of the city, as a re- 
 ward for his former obedience. 
 
 Buccoid, now arrived at the height of power, gave 
 unrestrained indulgence to sensual passion. He 
 ordered the prophets and teachers to exhort and even 
 to command the people to make use of what he called 
 their Christian liberty, by taking a plurality of wives, 
 a privilege, which they declared to be granted to the 
 saints. He himself set the edifying example by 
 marrying fourteen wives. The multitude, imitating 
 the conduct of their king and prophet, gave way to 
 the most horrible licentiousness. All the young 
 women grown up to maturity were compelled to 
 marry, and none of the godly would be satisfied 
 without a plurality of wives. Freedom of divorce, 
 the constant attendant of poligamy, was also intro- 
 duced,
 
 548 6ERMANT. 
 
 duced, and every excess, of which unrestrained sen- 
 suality is capable, was committed. 
 
 The profligacy of Buccold and his followers, so dis- 
 graceful to the Christian name, filled both Catholics 
 and Protestants with horror. Luther inveighed against 
 this fanatical spirit with great force of argument, and 
 called on all the states of Germany to put a stop to a 
 phrenzy so fatal to .religion, and so pernicious to 
 society. The emperor was occupied with other affairs; 
 but the diet voted supplies to the Bishop of Munster, 
 who through his inability of keeping a sufficient army 
 on foot, had converted the siege into a blockade. 
 The bishop's army being thus reinforced, the city was 
 more closely pressed ; but the strength of the fortifi- 
 cations, and the diligence with which they were 
 guarded, rendered it dangerous to attempt an assault. 
 The Anabaptists had undergone excessive fatigues in 
 working at their fortifications, and notwithstanding 
 the prudent attention of their king in regulating with 
 the utmost ceconomy their public meals, they began 
 to feel the pressure of famine. But such was the 
 ascendant which Buccold had gained over these in- 
 fatuated people, that their hopes and their spirits 
 suffered no depression ; and they harkened with im- 
 plicit credulity to the predictions of their prophets, 
 who assured them, that heaven would soon interpose 
 miraculously in their favour. Such as were suspected 
 of an inclination to surrender were punished with im- 
 mediate death, as guilty of impiety in distrusting the 
 power of God. One of the king's wives having ex- 
 pressed some doubts concerning his divine mission, 
 he cut off her head with his own hand, in presence of 
 the others, who were so far from shewing any senti- 
 ment*
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 349 
 
 ments of horror at this atrocious deed, that they 
 joined him in dancing, with frantic exultation, round 
 the bleeding corpse.* While Buccold, their prophet 
 and king, thus exercised a power equally despotic 
 and sanguinary over the minds and bodies of hia 
 subjects, they suffered, without murmur or repining, 
 all the horrors of famine. Animated by the most ex- 
 travagant enthusiasm, their courage was buoyed up 
 with fanatical hopes of ccelestial assistance, and rather 
 than listen to the terms of capitulation offered by the 
 bishop, they joyfully underwent hardships, of which a 
 circumstantial detail would shock the feelings of 
 humanity. A deserter at last having made his escape 
 from the town to the enemy's camp, informed the 
 general of a weak part of the fortification, where the 
 besieged, exhausted with famine and fatigue, neglected 
 to keep a sufficient guard. He offered to conduct a 
 party thither in the night, and the proposal being 
 accepted, a select detachment scaled the walls un- 
 perceived, and having seized one of the gates of the 
 city, gave entrance to the rest of the army. The 
 Anabaptists, being thus surprised, concentrated them- 
 selves in the market-place, where they fought with 
 desperate valour; but being overpowered by numbers 
 most of them were slain, and the rest made prisoners. 
 Among the last were Buccold the king, and Knipper- 
 dolling the governor. The king, loaded with fetters, 
 was carried from city to city, as a spectacle to gratify 
 public curiosity, and exposed to every kind of popular 
 insult. His spirit, however, was not broken ,by his 
 misfortunes; and he adhered with inflexible firmness 
 
 to the distinguishing tenets of his sect. Being 
 
 
 
 * Robertson'* Hiet. Charlc V, vol. 3, p. 89. 
 
 brought
 
 350 GERMANY. 
 
 brought back to Minister, he was put to death with 
 the most exquisite and lingering tortures, all which 
 he bore with astonishing fortitude. Such are the 
 wonderful effects of enthusiasm in communicating 
 courage ; and as an elegant modern writer observes, 
 " So difficult it is in such cases to distinguish be- 
 tween the martyr and the visionary."* This extra- 
 ordinary man, who though only a journeyman taylor, 
 had been able to acquire so astonishing a dominion 
 over the minds of his followers, was no more than 
 twenty-six years of age.f His talents, as well as those 
 of Matthias, his predecessor, might, perhaps, in some 
 situations, have proved as useful as they were here 
 found dangerous to society. This extraordinary affair 
 is here detailed at some length, as it exhibits the 
 most singular conjunction of voluptuousness with 
 religion, and of dissolute sensuality with fanatical de- 
 votion, any where recorded in history ; a moral phoeno- 
 menon, indeed, which, by developing in so striking a 
 manner the wonderful and almost incredible effects of 
 enthusiasm on the human mind, highly merits the 
 attention of the moral philosopher. 
 
 It is requisite here to observe, that after the extinc- 
 tion of the fanatical kingdom of Mount Sion, at 
 Munster, the sect of Anabaptists, so tumultuous and 
 sanguinary at its first appearance, soon became in- 
 noxious and pacific. In England and some other 
 countries they exist in considerable numbers ; but 
 they reject the enthusiastic and dangerous tenets of 
 
 * Russ. Hist. Mod. Eur. vol. 2, lett. 59. 
 
 t Mosheim. Hist. Eccles. vol. 4. For the Anabaptist war see Dr. 
 Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. 3, book 5, and the numerous authorities 
 there referred to. 
 
 those
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 351 
 
 those who first bore that name, and are in general 
 industrious, humane, and charitable, and in every 
 respect worthy members of society. 
 
 During these commotions in Germany, Charles was 
 in Spain, preparing for an enterprise, which may be 
 esteemed the most glorious transaction of his reign. 
 The famous corsair, Hay nidi u Barbarossa, had suc- 
 ceeded his brother in the kingdom of Algiers, and 
 obtained the command of the Ottoman fleet. By a 
 complicated train of treachery and force he had seized 
 the kingdom of Tunis; and Muley Hassan, the exiled 
 king, finding none of the African princes able and 
 willing to afford him effectual support against the 
 usurper, applied to the emperor for his assistance in 
 recovering his throne. At the same time his own 
 subjects in Spain and Naples brought daily complaints 
 against the piracies and ravages committed by the 
 galleys of Barbarossa.* Every motive, therefore, that 
 nmbition and policy could present, or the love of 
 glory inspire, impelled him to undertake the restora- 
 tion of an exiled prince, and the relief of his own 
 subjects from barbarian oppression. He therefore 
 concluded a treaty with Muley Hassan, and set sail for 
 Tunis with a formidable armament. The strong fort 
 of Goletta, situated on an island in the bay of Tunis, 
 and the key of that city, was carried by assault, and 
 the whole fleet of Barbarossa was either captured or 
 destroyed. He was also defeated in a bloody engage- 
 ment on the land ; and 10,000 Christian slaves having 
 at the same time made themselves masters of the 
 citadel, Tunis offered to surrender at discretion. But 
 the victorious troops stained their laurels by an act of 
 the most savage cruelty, which would have disgraced 
 * Robcrlson'i Kin. Charle* V. tol. 3, p. 100, 114. 
 
 Mahoineddiig
 
 352 GERMANY. 
 
 Mahommedans or -Pagans. While the emperor was. 
 deliberating on the means of preserving the lives of 
 the inhabitants, his soldiers, fearing to be deprived of 
 the booty which they expected, burst suddenly into 
 the town and massacred all without distinction. No 
 fewer than 30,000 perished in this indiscriminate 
 carnage, and 10,000 were made prisoners. Muley 
 Hassan was put in possession of the kingdom, on 
 condition that he should acknowledge himself a vassal 
 
 O 
 
 of the crown of Spain, put into the emperor's hands 
 all the fortified sea-ports, and pay an annual sum of 
 12,000 crowns, for the subsistence of a Spanish garri- 
 son in the fort of Goletta. In addition to the glory of 
 conquest a spectacle presented itself, which a philan- 
 tropist might have contemplated with pleasure, amidst 
 the horrors of war. Twenty thousand Christian slaves 
 of all nations, liberated from bondage, by arms or by 
 treaty, imploring the blessing of heaven on the em- 
 peror as their deliverer, spread his fame throughout 
 Europe. This was certainly the most glorious triumph 
 ever enjoyed after victory.* The expedition being 
 thus fortunately terminated, Charles returned to 
 Europe covered with glory, and Barbarossa retired 
 to Bona, where he recovered new strength, and again 
 became the tyrant of the Mediterranean. 
 
 This African expedition, and the extinction of the 
 fanatical kingdom of the Anabaptists, at Munster, took 
 place in the summer of 15 Jo, and the next year the 
 war was renewed between Francis and Charles; but 
 neither party gaining any decisive advantage, a truce 
 was concluded in 1538, through the mediation of 
 Paul III. the reigning pontiff. The year 1.540 was 
 signalized by the revolt of Ghent, where Charles 
 RoK'rttou's Hilt. Charles V. rol. 3, book 5, p, 114. 
 
 exhibited
 
 GENERAL HlSTORr. 
 
 9 
 
 exhibited an awful instance of his severity. Twenty- 
 six of the principal citizens were executed ; a greater 
 number were banished. The city was despoiled of its 
 ancient privileges; a new political and civil adminis- 
 tration was prescribed. A large sum was levied on 
 the inhabitants in order to defray the expences of 
 erecting a citadel ; and an annual tax was imposed for 
 the support of a garrison. The Ghentois were, in al- 
 most every respect, treated as a conquered people. 
 
 The emperor now found it ;necessary to direct his 
 attention to Germany, where the breaches in the 
 church were daily widening. A conference was ap- 
 pointed between some of the most celebrated divines, 
 and commenced in the diet at Worms. The pope 
 highly disapproved of the measure, considering any 
 attempt to regulate the affairs of religion in a confer- 
 ence of German divines, as an infringement of his au- 
 thority. His remonstrances, however, were ineffec- 
 tual. The conference was renewed at the diet of Ra- 
 tisbon, in the emperor's presence. But all attempts" 
 to procure a reconciliation, and to re-establish the 
 unity of the church, proved ineffectual. The minds 
 of men were agitated with theological disputes ; the 
 different parties were influenced by opposite interests 
 and mutual jealousies ; and a spirit of fanaticism ac- 
 tuated the professors both of the old and of the new 
 religion. The pope, the rigid Catholics, and the Pro- 
 testants, were alike displeased at the proceedings of 
 the diet : the former thought that too much, the lat- 
 ter that too little was conceded. 
 
 The alarms of war now again interrupted the deli- 
 berations on religion. After various disputes con- 
 cerning the possession of Hungary, Solyman, em- 
 peror of the Turks, under a pretence of supporting the 
 
 vet., in. 2 A claims
 
 $,54 GERMANY. 
 
 claims of the infant son of John Zopol, had seized oq 
 that kingdom, and annexed it to the Ottoman empire, 
 having allotted the province of Transylvania to the 
 infant sovereign. This revolution proved extremely 
 favorable to the Protestants, to whom the emperor 
 made great concessions, and who in return granted 
 him such liberal supplies of men and money, as re- 
 lieved him from all anxiety concerning the security of 
 Germany. He hastened, therefore, to join the fleet 
 and the army which he had ordered to assemble on 
 the coast of Italy, for an expedition against Algiers, 
 that port having, since the taking of Tunis, become 
 the common receptacle of all the Barbary corsairs, 
 from the time that Hayradin Barbarossa, as Captain 
 Basha, had taken the command of the Ottoman fleet, 
 Algiers had been governed by Hascen Aga, a renega- 
 de eunuch, who exceeded, if possible, his master in 
 daring courage and savage cruelty, and whose gallies 
 interrupted the commerce and harrassed the coasts of 
 the Mediterranean. Charles, resolving to humble 
 these desperate riffians, set sail late in the autumn 
 contrary to the advice of Andrew Dorm, who con- 
 jured Jiim nof to expose so fine an armament to al- 
 most inevitable destruction, by venturing to approach 
 at that season the stormy coast of Algiers. 
 
 The remonstrances of Doria proved prophetical. 
 No sooner had the emperor landed in Africa, than a 
 dreadful hurricape arose, which scattered his fleet; 
 and a great number of his vessels were totally wrecked; 
 while he, with his land forces, were left exposed to all 
 the fury of the elements in a hostile country, without 
 a hut or a tent to afford them a shelter, and harrassed 
 at the same time by the attacks of the Algerines. The 
 admiral, Doria, having at last the good fortune to as<- 
 
 semble
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. S55 
 
 sembJe the shattered remaios of the fleet, Charles re* 
 embarked, after having lost a great part of his army 
 by the inclemency of the weather, by fatigue, famine, 
 and the sword.* Those who survived were doomed to 
 encounter new difficulties in their return. The fleet 
 was dispersed by a second storm, and the ships were 
 obliged separately to take shelter in different ports of 
 Spain and Italy. As the first expedition of this em- 
 peror to Africa was the most glorious, the second was 
 the most disastrous of his reisrn : and its unfortunate 
 
 O ' 
 
 issue shews the danger of temerity in important under- 
 takings. Had Charles listened to the counsel of Do- 
 ria, his 'experienced admiral, and to that of the pope, 
 who also represented to him the danger which he 
 would incur by not waiting for a more favorable sea- 
 son, he might have avoided this dreadful calamity. 
 But if he paid dearly for his obstinate rashness, his 
 misfortune developed some valuable qualities in his 
 character. His magnanimity, fortitude, and huma- 
 nity were, on this occasion, eminently conspicuous. 
 He never appeared more truly great. He endured 
 the same hardships as the meanest soldier; he exposed 
 his own person wherever danger threatened; he en- 
 couraged the desponding, visited the sick and wounded, 
 and animated all by his example. When the army 
 embarked, although a body of Arabs, hovering at no 
 great distance, threatened to attack the rear, he was 
 among the last that left the shore. 
 
 The calamitous issue of this expedition, which took 
 place in the year 1541, encouraged the French mo- 
 narch to recommence hostilities; and an action, equally 
 contrary to the law of nature and of nations, furnished 
 him with too good a pretext. The Marquis del Guasto, 
 * Robertson's Hist. Charles V, vol. 3, book 6. 
 
 2 A a governor
 
 556 GERMANY. 
 
 governor of Milan, having received intelligence of 
 the deslinution of two Trench ambassadors, one to 
 Venice, and the other to Constantinople, ordered 
 some soldiers of the garrison of Pavia 10 lie in wait for 
 them as they sailed down the Po. The ambassadors, 
 with most of their attendants, were murdered, and 
 their papers weie seized. So horrible a crime, which 
 would have dishonoured the most barbarous period 
 and the most uncivilized nations, justified Francis in 
 the public opinion of Europe.* After a war of three 
 years without any decisive advantages, a peace was 
 concluded between France and the emperor in 1544. 
 About two years afterward Charles, resolving to reduce 
 the Protestants, concluded a dishonourable truce with 
 the Turks, leaving Solyman in the undisturbed posses- 
 sion of that part of Hungary which he then occupied, 
 and stipulating that his brother Ferdinand should pay 
 to the Porte an annual tribute for the other part, which 
 acknowledged his dominion. 
 
 The emperor had constantly solicited the calling of a 
 general council ; in this he had been joined by the other 
 princes of Europe : the Protestants had united their suf- 
 frages for the same purpose; and Luther had constantly 
 declared his determination to submit to its decisions. 
 But by a strange kind of policy successive popes had 
 invariably sought and found pretexts for postponing 
 a measure, which alone could re-establish the unity of 
 the church. If the papal see had not been more in- 
 tent on preserving its power and authority than on 
 providing for the security of religion, it would cer- 
 tainly have concurred with the general wish of Chris- 
 tendom. Had a general council been called within a 
 lew years after Luther first Awgan to propagate his 
 
 * Mem. dc Bellay, p. 367, 368. 
 
 doctrines,,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 357 
 
 <k>ctrines 3 what salutary reforms might have been 
 introduced into the church ; what wars and commo- 
 tions might have been prevented ! But the authority 
 assumed by the councils of Constance and Basi 1 , had 
 created in the court of Rome u decided aversion 
 against those assemblies. The difficulty of fixing on 
 a place of assembly agreeable to all parties, particu- 
 larly to the king of France and the emperor, together 
 with the intervening wars between those two monarchs, 
 had furnished various and plausible pretexts for delay. 
 At last, however, the court of Rome being no longer 
 able to resist the earnest solicitations of the emperor, 
 the council of Trent was called in Io46, not less than 
 twenty-seven years after Luther's defection, during 
 which period the doctrines of that reformer had been 
 rapidly spreading. It requires no great depth of pe- 
 netration to perceive, that the remedy was applied too 
 Jate, and that a council summoned by the authority, 
 and under the influence of the papal see, could pro- 
 duce no beneficial e fleet, when half of Germany had 
 separated from the communion of Rome, and the re- 
 formed doctrines had struck so deep a root in several 
 other countries. The Protestants, as might have been 
 /expected, denied the legality of the council of Trent, 
 which they considered as called to condemn rather 
 than to examine their opinions. The de*ith of their 
 great apostle, Luther, which happened about this time, 
 threw tbcm into great (consternation ; but his opinions 
 were now so firmly rooted, and so extensively spread, 
 .as to stand in no further need of his fostering hand. 
 
 The military preparations of the emperor, in the 
 .mean while, began to rouse the attention of the princes 
 *>f the Smalkaldic league-. Having discovered that he 
 entered into an alliance with l j aul 111. tor the 
 2 A 3 extirpation
 
 .558 GERMANY. 
 
 extirpation of heresy, they saw that not only the sup- 
 pression of the reformed religion, but also the extinc- 
 tion of the German liberties was intended. They 
 therefore resolved neither to renounce their religious 
 opinions, nor to abandon their civil rights; and, in 
 consequence of this determination, they immediately 
 had recourse to arms. A warlike people soon crowded 
 to the standard of religion. Enthusiastic zeal seconded 
 their native ardour.* In a few weeks the confederates 
 were able to muster 70,000 foot and 1,500 horse, pro- 
 vided with every thing necessary for the operations of 
 war, and had they immediately commenced hostilities, 
 they might have dictated their own terms. But either 
 through imprudence or pusillanimity, they spent their 
 time in negotiating instead of acting, till the emperor 
 received supplies from the Netherlands and Italy. Se- 
 veral of the Protestant princes, dreading his power, 
 remained neutral, and others allured by the prospect 
 of advantage, had entered into his service: among the 
 
 O * O 
 
 latter, was Maurice of Saxony, Marquis of Misnia, 
 who surpassed 'all the other Protestants in political 
 abilities and military skill. Ulm submitted to the 
 emperor, and examples of defection from the common 
 cause were daily multiplied. Thus a confederacy at 
 first so powerful as to threaten the imperial throne, in 
 the space ef a few weeks, fell to pieces. Its members, 
 however, obtained no very favorable terms; for Charles 
 wanting money, 'imposed heavy fines on those who 
 had taken arms against him, besides obliging them to 
 deliver up their artillery and warlike stores, and to ad- 
 mit garrisons into their principal towns and fortresses. f 
 The. Elector of Saxony, and the Landgrave of Hesse 
 
 * Hist Mod. Europe, yol. 2, p. 298. Tliuanns, lib. 1. 
 t Robcrtson'i Hist. Charles V, vol. 3, hook 8. t Thuamis Hist. lib. 4. 
 
 Still
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 359 
 
 still remained in arms, aftd Charles resolved to make 
 them the victims of their obstinacy. 
 
 A storm, however, began to gather round the em- 
 peror, which threatened to baffle all his views, and de- 
 feat all his projects. Paul III, alarmed at his rapid 
 progress against the Protestants, began to have wefl 
 grounded apprehensions for the liberties of Italy, 
 while the king of France observed, with deep concern 1 , 
 the humiliation of Germany, and saw the necessity of 
 a timely and vigorous effort for reducing the power of 
 his rival ; who, without some speedy check, would 
 soon be able to give the law to all Europe. He re- 
 solved, therefore, to form such a combination against 
 the emperor, as might put a stop to his career of ag- 
 grandisement. He negotiated for this purpose with 
 the pope, the Ottoman Porte, the Venetians, and Eng- 
 land ; and began to make the most formidable prepa- 
 rations for war.* Francis, however, was prevented by 
 death from carrying his schemes into execution ; and 
 this, together with various other circumstances, left 
 Charles atlibertv to act with vigour in Germany. He 
 
 / > 
 
 marched into Saxony with an army of 16,000 veterans, 
 defeated the Elector of Saxony at Mulhausen, and 
 made him prisoner. He then caused him to be tried 
 for treason and rebellion by a court-martial of Italian 
 and Spanish officers, who condemned him to suffer 
 death by decapitation.^ The elector heard with the 
 utmost indifference this sanguinary sentence, which, 
 however, was not carried into execution. At the ear- 
 nest entreaty of his wife, he resigned the electoral dig- 
 nity, and put Wittemberg, his capital, into the hands 
 of the emperor, who, in return for these important 
 
 Mem. dc Ribicr, vol. 1, p. 595. 
 
 t Rubertson'i Hist. Charles V, vol. 3, hooJc 9. 
 
 2 A 4 concessions,
 
 3<5 GERMANY. 
 
 concessions, granted him his life, and promised to 
 settle the city of Gotha, with its territory, and a reve- 
 nue of .50,000 florins, on him and his posterity. The 
 electorate of Saxony was immediately bestowed on 
 Maurice, Marquis of Misnia. By the persuasion of 
 this prince, the Landgrave of Hesse, who was still in 
 arms, submitted to the emperor, and threw himself at 
 Jris feet. But Charles immediately ordered him to be 
 confined as a prisoner, although Maurice and the 
 Elector of Brandenburg had rendered themselves 
 sureties for his personal freedom. The good fortune 
 of the house of Austria was now at its height ; and its 
 power scarcely admitted of any controul. In Germany 
 the emperor exercised all the rights of a conqueror, 
 while his brother Ferdinand tyrannized with still 
 greater severity over Bohemia.* 
 
 The emperor now summoned a diet at Augsburg, 
 and having entered that place at the head of^his Spa- 
 nish troops, quartered them in the city, and cantoned 
 the rest of his army in the environs ; he took possession 
 of the cathedral, where he re-established, with solemn 
 pomp, the Roman mode of worship. After these pre- 
 liminary steps, calculated to intimidate the members, 
 and make them acquainted with his will, he exhorted 
 them to recognize the authority of the general council, 
 which he had been so solicitous to procure. This 
 council itself, however, had undergone an important 
 change. The pope, actuated by jealousy at the em- 
 peror's rapid success against the Protestants, had not 
 only withdrawn his troops from the imperial army, but 
 had also translated the council from Trent to Bologna, 
 a city subject to his own jurisdiction. 1 !' Such of the 
 prelates, however, as depended on the emperor, still 
 
 * Jhuanus, lib. $, t Pallav. p. 1 1, &c. 
 
 remained
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. SOJ 
 
 remained at Trent, so that the council was separated 
 into two divisions. The diet of Augsburg, at the em- 
 peror's desire, petitioned the pope, in the name of the 
 whole Germanic body, to enjoin the prelates to retura 
 to their first place of assembly. But Paul III, eluding 
 their request, Charles saw that he could not entertain 
 any hope of acquiring such an ascendant in a council 
 held at Bologna, as to render it subservient to his aim. 
 He sent. thither two Spanish lawyers, who, in the name 
 of the emperor, and in presence of the legates, pro- 
 tested against the translation of the council, declaring, 
 that while its sittings continued at Bologna, it ought 
 to be considered as a schismatical conventicle, and all 
 its decisions held null and void. 
 
 Charles, resolving not to acknowledge the council 
 assembled at Bologna, as a legal representation of the 
 church, employed some divines of known abilities and 
 erudition, to prepare a provisional system of doctrine, 
 known by the name of " the Interim." This he pre- 
 sented to the diet, as a regulation to which all should 
 conform, " till such a council as they desired could be 
 called." It was in almost every article conformable 
 to the church of Rome ; and the observance of the 
 llomish rites were enjoined. In regard to two parti- 
 culars, some latitude in doctrine and discipline 
 was admitted. Such ecclesiastics as had married were 
 allowed to retain their wives, and to perform their sa- 
 cerdotal functions; and those provinces which had 
 been accustomed to partake of the cup in the commu- 
 nion, were still indulged in that privilege.* This con- 
 ciliatory system was hastily ratified in the diet ; and 
 although disapproved by many, not one had the con- 
 rage to make any opposition. The emperor, therc- 
 
 * F. Paul Jib. 3,' 
 
 fore,
 
 $62 GERMANY. 
 
 fore, prepared to enforce its observance as a decree of 
 the diet. It was accordingly published in the Latitt 
 and German languages ; but, like all conciliatory 
 schemes proposed to men- heated by disputes, religious 
 or political, it pleased neither party. The Catholics 
 thought it granted too much indulgence, the Protest- 
 ^ ants thought it allowed too little; and both were dis- 
 sntisfied. The measure was no sooner known at Rome, 
 than the "members of the sacred college were filled 
 wri'th indignation, and exclaimed with the greatest acri- 
 mony against the emperor's profane encroachment on 
 the pontifical function. Several of the German princes 
 remonstrated against the Interim, and the imperial 
 cities, with one voice, refused its admission. Charles, 
 however, resolved to carry the plgtn into execution, in 
 spite both of Rome and the Protestants. Employing 
 force to teach submission, he stripped Augsburg and 
 Ulm of their privileges, and by the prompt severity of 
 his measures, terrified the other cities into a feigned 
 compliance. The pope, in the mean while, although 
 highly displeased at the emperor's assumption of the 
 pontifical authority, in presuming to define articles of 
 faith, and to regulate modes of worship, had the satis- 
 faction to see, in those measures, the seeds of new 
 commotions, which would soon shake the imperial 
 throne, and prevent its dangerous aggrandisement. 
 His long experience in important transactions, and his 
 extensive observation of human affairs, enabled him 
 to perceive, that the Interim would prove one of the 
 .most troublesome enterprizes of Charles's reign ; and 
 that a system which all condemned, and none approved, 
 couUl not be of long duration.* Paul, however, did 
 not live to see the result. His death was, by most of 
 
 * F. I'aul, lib. 3. Cardinal Talaviciiu, TO!. 2. 
 
 the
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. S6'3 
 
 the writers of that age, attributed to an excess of 
 for the conduct of his grandson, Octavio Farnese, who 
 had withdrawn from his alliance, and put himself un- 
 der the prcrection of the emperor : and their fanciful 
 narratives are considered by the judicious and eiegant 
 Dr. Robertson, as a striking instance of " the credu- 
 lity or weakness of historians, in attributing the death 
 of illustrious personages to extraordinary causes." 
 None such, indeed, need be sought to account for the 
 exit of an old man in the eighty-second year of his 
 
 O / */ 
 
 age, which can scarcely be considered as a wonderful 
 event.* 
 
 Paul was succeeded by Julius ill; who, knowing by 
 experience the difficulty of confining the enquiries 
 and decisions of a general assembly of the church 
 within such bounds as the court of Koine wished to 
 prescribe, shewed no haste in causing the council of 
 Trent or Bologna to resume its deliberation?. Unable, 
 however, to resist the pressing solicitations of the em- 
 peror, who persisted in his resolution of forcing the 
 Protestants into the pale of the church, this pope at 
 last issued a bull, commanding the council to reassem- 
 ble at Trent.*{- Charles, in the mean while, held a 
 diet at Augsburg, in order more fully to enforce the 
 observance of the Interim, as well as to procure an au- 
 thentic act of the empire, acknowledging the autho- 
 rity of the council, and commanding implicit con- 
 formity to its decrees.;}; He carried hi* point in the 
 diet : all Europe was astonished at the absolute ascen- 
 
 * Dr Robertson, in a long note in which he has compared numerous 
 UthuriUey, has exposed and confuted thost; whimsical relations. Vol. 4, 
 book 10. 
 
 t F. Paul Hist. Conn. Trent, lib .". 
 
 $ Russ. Hit. M d. Eur. vol. 2, letter 61. 
 
 dancy
 
 S()4 GERMANY. 
 
 dancy which he had acquired over the Germanic bo- 
 dy. Germany itself was no les terrified than amazed 
 at seeing the emperor assume the powers and prero- 
 gatives which the pontiffs of Rome had so long exer- 
 cised. The princes who had hitherto supported hi* 
 measures, and contributed to his aggrandisement, be- 
 gan to tremble for their own safety, and to take mea- 
 sures for preventing the dangers with which they were 
 threatened. 
 
 Charles had long aimed at bringing all Germany to 
 an uniformity in religion, and of rendering the impe- 
 rial power despotic. His measures had hitherto beeu 
 so successful, that he considered the accomplishment 
 of these designs as almost infallible, and formed, in the 
 next place, the grand project of transmitting the Ger- 
 man empire, as well as his other dominions, to his pos- 
 terity. But here his ambition received a check. Fer- 
 dinand, his brother, had already been elected king of 
 the Romans, and had not only made it his study to 
 render himself agreeable to the Germanic body, but 
 had also a son who was born a German, and whose ac- 
 .complishments endeared him to his countrymen. Phi- 
 lip,* the emperor's son, born and educated in Spain, 
 was a stranger to tlie language and manners of Ger- 
 many. Charles had brought him to the diet at Augs- 
 burg, that the members might have an opportunity of 
 becoming acquainted with the prince, in whose favour 
 he solicited their interest. But the character of Phi- 
 lip being haughty, reserved, and severe, and his man- 
 ners diametrically opposite to those of his uncle Fer- 
 dinand, and his cousin Maximilian, his stately and 
 distant demeanour, instead of gaining new friends, 
 disgusted those who were the most inclined to favour 
 
 * Philip II, King of Spain. 
 
 f his
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 36* 
 
 his pretensions. In this project, therefore, of placino- 
 his son Philip on the imperial throne of Germany, 
 Charles met with so determined an opposition from 
 his brother Ferdinand, and from all the electors, both 
 ecclesiastical and secular, as convinced him of its im- 
 practicability. Seeing his hopes disappointed in this 
 scheme of domestic ambition, he directed his whole 
 attention towards the establishment of uniformity in 
 religion. 
 
 JSew troubles in Italy, unimportant in themselves, 
 prevented the council from re-assembling on the first 
 of May, 1551, the time that had been fixed for that 
 purpose. It was therefore adjourned to the 1st of 
 September, when about sixty prelates, mostly from the 
 ecclesiastical state, or from Spain, with a few Germans, 
 convened at Trent.* At the opening of the session, 
 the abbot of Bellorane, the French king's ambassador, 
 demanded audience ; and in the name of his master, 
 Henry II, protested against the authority of an as- 
 sembly convened at so improper a juncture, when a 
 war, wantonly kindled by the pope, rendered it impos- 
 sible for the Gallican prelates to resort to Trent with 
 safety, or to deliberate on matters of religion with the 
 requisite tranquillity. He finished by declaring that 
 the king, his master, did not acknowledge this to be 
 an oecumenic council, but should consider it as a pai> 
 ticular and partial convention.* 
 
 The emperor, in the mean while, exerted his utmost 
 authority, in order to establish the reputation and ju- 
 risdiction of the council. His zeal even anticipated 
 its decrees ; and he began to take the most rigorous 
 measures towards exterminating the Protestant doc- 
 
 * F.Paul Jib. 4, \>. 2-'3. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 3Q1, Uobtfruon'* Hist. Charles V. TO). 4, p. 37. 
 
 trines,
 
 366 GERMANY. 
 
 trines, before they were condemned. His arbitrary 
 proceedings now fully developed his intention of sub- 
 verting the Germanic constitution as- well as the re- 
 formed religion. Maurice, elector of Saxony, and 
 other Lutheran princes, who, allured by the promise 
 of liberty of conscience, and the prospect of further 
 advantages, had hitherto adhered to the emperor, saw 
 the necessity of setting bounds to his usurpations. 
 Maurice conducted the execution of his designs with 
 admirable policy and impenetrable secrecy. In order 
 to preserve the emperor's confidence, he established 
 in his dominions the form of doctrine and worship 
 prescribed by the interim, and adopted every other 
 measure that could tend to conceal his designs, while 
 a revolution which happened in Hungary greatly con- 
 tributed to their successful execution.* 
 
 It has already been observed, that when Solyrnan 
 seized on Hungary, he assigned to the infant king 
 and his mother the province of Transylvania, of 
 which the government was administered by the 
 queen-mother and Martinuzzi, bishop of Waradin, 
 whom, the late king had appointed co-regents, when 
 the office was of greater importance. This co- 
 ordinate jurisdiction creating dissentions, the queen 
 courted the protection of the Turks ; and the 
 bishop, whose ambitious and enterprising genius was 
 fertile in expedients, engaged Ferdinand to invade 
 Transylvania. The army destined for that service, 
 consisting of veteran Spanish and German troops, 
 commanded by Castaldo, Marquis de Piadena, an 
 able and enterprising officer, was powerfully seconded 
 by Martinuzzi and his faction among the Hungarians. 
 The queen was obliged to resign her son's title to Fer- 
 
 * For a circumstantial account of his profound policy aud artful dissi- 
 mulation, vide Robertson's Hist. Charles V, book 10. 
 
 diuand,
 
 CENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 dinatid, on conditiotj of his granting him the investi- 
 ture of the principalities of Oppelen and Ratibor ia 
 Silesia, and bestowing on him one of his daughters ia 
 marriage. According to this stipulation she surren- 
 dered the fortresses which she held, and gave up the 
 ensigns of royalty, particularly a crown of gold, which, 
 as the Hungarians were made to believe, had descend- 
 ed from heaven, and conferred on the person that 
 wore it, an undoubted right to the sovereignty. In 
 return for his important services, Martin uzzi was ap- 
 pointed governor of Tran.-ylvania ; his revenues al- 
 ready very great, were increased ; he was nominated 
 Archbishop of Gran; and Ferdinand prevailed witlt 
 the pope to raise him to the dignity of cardinal. This 
 enterprising prelate, having acquired so extensive an 
 authority, assumed the direction of the war against 
 the Turks, and conducted' it with great success. He 
 not only established Ferdinand's authority in Transyl- 
 vania, but reduced under his dominion the Bannat of 
 Temeswar, and several of the adjacent countries, Cas- 
 taldo, jealous of the authority and merit of this brave 
 and enterprising prelate, misrepresented all his actions 
 10 Ferdinand, who soon began to dread his abilities 
 and to suspect his fidelity. He was at last persuaded, 
 that in order to secure to himself the Hungarian 
 crown, it was necessary to cut off that ambitious eccle- 
 siastic ; but considering it dangerous to proceed 
 openly against so powerful a subject and so consum- 
 mate a statesman, he degraded himself so fur as to 
 adopt the detestable measure of assassination. Cas- 
 taldo undertook the infamous service; and, with some 
 Spanish and Italian officers, entered inlo Martin uzzi's 
 apartuvent under pretence of presenting to him some 
 dispatcher ; and while he was attentively perusing a\ 
 y paper,
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 paper, one of them stabbed him with a poignard. The* 
 .cardinal, with his usual intrepidity, notwithstanding 
 his wound, seized the 'assassin, and threw him on the 
 ground. But the other conspirators rushing on, it was 
 i;o difficult matter to dispatch an old man, who, alone 
 and unarmed, could not long sustain so unequal a con- 
 flict. Thus fell the brave cardinal, Martinuzzi, a dis- 
 tinguished patriot, politician, and warrior, and in every 
 respect one of the greatest characters of his age. The 
 consequences, however, which followed from his death, 
 although such as Ferdinand deserved, were very dif- 
 ferent to those which he expected* All men spoke of 
 the deed with horror and execration. The Hungarian 
 nobles detested the jealous and cruel policy of a court 
 which, upon uncertain surmises, had given up a per- 
 son equally conspicuous for his merit and his rank, to 
 be butchered by assassins. And the Turks, encou- 
 raged by the death of an enemy whose abilities they 
 knew and dreaded, immediately began to prepare for 
 renewing hostilities. Thus Ferdinand, instead of se- 
 curing the possession of Hungary by that infamous 
 act, saw that kingdom about to be more vigorously 
 attacked, while it had lost its most able and zealous 
 defender.* 
 
 Princa Maurice of Saxony had now completed his 
 preparations, and, formed an alliance with the king of 
 "France; but even when ready to take the field he did 
 not. lay aside his ajrts of policy, which he so dexterously 
 employed as to elude the penetration both of the em- 
 peror and of Grenville his minister, who, though one 
 pf the most profound and subtle politicians of his own 
 or any other age, was deceived by the exquisite ad- 
 
 * Tbuan, lib. 9. Istuanhessi Hiit. Hung, apud Robertson's Wist.. 
 Charles V, book 10. 
 
 dress
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 dress with which the elector concealed his designs.* 
 Maurice having assembled his army, which amounted 
 to 25,OOO foot and 5,000 horse, published a manifesto^ 
 explaining his reasons for taking arms ; namely, to se- 
 cure the reformed religion, to maintain the Germanic 
 constitution, and deliver the landgrave of Hesse from 
 a long and unjust imprisonment. The French king 
 at the same time published also a manifesto, in which 
 he assumed the extraordinary title of Protector of the 
 liberties of Germany, and of its captive princes.^ 
 
 Imagination may conceive, better than words can 
 express, the emperor's astonishment at events so unex- 
 pected. He was far from being in a condition to re-* 
 sist so formidable a force, and attempted to elude the 
 danger by negotiatien. An interview took place be- 
 tween Maurice and Ferdinand, king of the Romans j 
 but nothing was concluded. The elector continued 
 his operations with such vigour and rapidity, that he 
 was very near surprising the emperor at Inspruck : but 
 Charles being informed of his danger, saved himself 
 by a precipitate flight. Being at that time ill of the 
 gout, which rendered him incapable of bearing any 
 violent motion, he was carried in a litter across the 
 Alps in a dark and rainy night, and by roads that were 
 almost impassable. His courtiers and attendants fol- 
 lowed with equal precipitation ; some on such horses 
 as they could hastily procure, many of them on foot, 
 and all in the utmost confusion .J Maurice arrived at 
 Inspruck only a few hours after the emperor's flight ; 
 and having pursued him to some distance without 
 success, he returned to the town, and gave up the im- 
 perial baggage to the pillage of the soldiers. Charlts, 
 
 * Mem. de Ribier, p. *. f Robertson, boojc JO, p, 61. 
 
 J Robertson's Hut. Charles V, book 10, p, 81. 
 TOL. III. 14
 
 370 GERMANV. 
 
 in the mean while, pursuing his journey, arrived at 
 Villach in Carinthia. In consequence of these trans- 
 actions, the Council of Trent was broken up. The Ger- 
 man prelates .immediately returned home to provide 
 for the safety of their territories ; and the pope's le- 
 gate was glad of so plausible a pretext for dismissing 
 an assembly which he found it so difficult to govern. 
 On the 28th of April, 155'2, the council was prorogued 
 for two years; but ten years elapsed before it re-as- 
 sembled.* 
 
 : This Council, so long and so earnestly desired 
 by the princes and states of Christendom, and from 
 which so much had been expected, instead of restor- 
 ing harmony to the church, .had, by the mixture 
 of human policy and passions with the. views of reli- 
 gion,, rendered the breach irreparable. Instead of any 
 attempt being made to reconcile the contending par- 
 ties, a line of distinction was drawn with studied accu- 
 racy, which confirmed their separation,, and still keeps 
 them at a distance -and, indeed, as Dr. Robertson- 
 observes, "without some signal interposition of Divine 
 Providence, the separation must now be perpetual." 1 !' 
 The success of Prince Maurice, however, produced 
 the memorable . peace of Papsau, concluded in 1552; 
 the principal conditions of which were the liberty of 
 the Landgrave of Hesse, the establishment of the Pro- 
 testant-as well as the Catholic religion, and the com- 
 plete rejyturation of the Germanic constitution. This 
 celebrated treaty overturned the vast fabric of despo- 
 tism, in erecting which Charles had, during so many 
 years, exerted all the efforts of his power and po- 
 icy, ami established the Protestant church on a solid 
 foundation. Bui it was somewhat singular, that 
 
 * F. Paul Hist. Coun. Trent, lib. 4. 
 Hut Charlas V, book 10, p. 84. 
 
 nothing
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 3? 1 
 
 iiothing was stipulated in favour of the king of France, 
 who thus deserted by his allies, considering it as con- 
 ducive to his interest to keep on good terms with the 
 Germanic body, dissembled his dissatisfaction, and 
 continued single-handed his war against the erriperor. 
 
 Immediately after the signature of this treaty, Mau- 
 rice 1 , elector of Saxony; in pursuance to his engage- 
 ments with the king of the Romans, marched into 
 Hungary with his forces, which consisted of about 
 20,000 men. But the superiority of the Turkish 
 armies, th.e frequent mutinies of the Spanish and 
 Italian soldiers, occasioned by their want of p.ly, and 
 the dissentions which took place between him and 
 Castaldo, prevented him from performing any thing 
 of great importance. The emperor, in the mean while, 
 leaving his retreat at Villach, made formidable prepa- 
 rations for carrvinff on the war against France. The 
 
 JO O 
 
 French having conquered Metz, Toul, and Verdun; 
 Charles resolved to make a vigorous effort for the 
 recovery of those important places. The French 
 monarch, apprized of his design, had committed the 
 government of Metz to the celebrated Francis of Lor- 
 rain, duke of Guise, and he could not have chosen a 
 person more worthy of such a trust. The reduction 
 of that place was the first object of the emperor's ope- 
 rations. He undertook the siege in person, having 
 under him the famous duke of Alva, with the most 
 experienced of his Italian and Spanish generals, who 
 represented the danger of commencing the siege of a 
 place of such strength at so advanced a season. 
 Charles, however, with his usual obstinacy, ordered 
 the city to be invested on the lyth October, 1552, 
 and the trenches were almost immediately opened. 
 The result, however, was completely calamitous. 
 2 B 2 Every
 
 572 GERMANY. 
 
 Every effort 'wa^ made to reduce the place : but the 
 winter setting in with unusual rigour, the imperial 
 camp was alternately deluged with rain and covered 
 with snow. Provisions became extremely scarce, as 
 bodies of French cavalry, hovering iu the neighbour- 
 hood, often intercepted the convoys; and a contagious 
 disease raged in the army ; while the valour and vigi- 
 lance of the duke of Guise and the garrison, composed 
 of veteran troops, with numbers of the French nobi- 
 lity who served as volunteers, baffled every mode of 
 attack. The emperor, in order to save the shattered 
 remains of his army, was obliged to raise the siege, 
 after having laid seven weeks before the town, and 
 lost upwards of 30,000 men by disease and the sword. 
 The duke of Guise at the same time, by his humanity 
 to the sick and wounded of the enemy, who were left 
 in the most pitiable condition, completed the fame 
 which he had acquired by the gallant defence of Metz 
 and covered himself with merited glory.* The follow- 
 ing year, 1553, was rendered memorable by the death 
 of the celebrated Maurice, elector of Saxony, who 
 was mortally wounded in a battle fought against 
 Albert of Brandenburg, whose turbulent ambition had 
 long disquieted the empire. The contest was long 
 and obstinate. Maurice gained a decisive victory, but 
 died two days after the battle, in the thirty-second 
 year of his age. He may justly be considered as the 
 most remarkable personage of that active age, when 
 singular occurrences and violent revolutions afforded 
 an opportunity for the display of extraordinary 
 talents. His exorbitant ambition, and his unwarrant- 
 able usurpation of his kinsman's dominions, exclude 
 him from the praise of a virtuous character; but hi 
 
 * RoberUon'f Hitt. Ch. V. book 11, and authorities there referred to. 
 
 prudence
 
 0ENERAL HISTORY. 373 
 
 prudence and vigour in forming and conducting the 
 most intricate plans, entitle him to the appellation of 
 a profound politician.* 
 
 The war between the emperor and France continued 
 with vigour and with various success. Charles, 
 although the most potent prince of Europe, if extent 
 of territory and number of subjects be considered as 
 the criterion of power, had so greatly exhausted his 
 finances by schemes of ambition, by continual wars 
 and expensive political intrigues, that the want of pe- 
 cuniary resources frequently crippled his exertions. 
 His armies often mutinied for want of pay, when they 
 might have marched to victory, and thus disconcerted 
 the best laid plans.f This was also the case with Fer- 
 dinand, king of the Romans. His troops in Transyl- 
 vania were so irregularly paid, that they -lived almost 
 at discretion upon the inhabitants. Their insolence 
 and rapacity disgusted all ranks of men, and alienated 
 them from a sovereign, who instead of protecting, 
 plundered his subjects. The affairs of the house of 
 Austria daily declined in Hungary, where the murder 
 of Martinuzzi was not yet forgotten ; and the national 
 indignation at that outrage was kept alive by fresh 
 injuries. The Spanish and German soldiers, instead 
 of advancing against the Turks, mutinied for want of 
 pay ; and declared their resolution of marching back to 
 Vienna. Castaldo, their general, was therefore ob- 
 liged to abandon Transylvania, and to put himself at 
 the head of the mutineers, in order to restrain them 
 from plundering the Austrian territories through which 
 they had to pass in their return. 
 The emperor concluded, in 1554, the marriage of hii 
 
 Robertson's Hist. Charles V, book 11. 
 
 t See various instances of this in Robertton'i Hilt. Charles V. 
 
 e B 3 eon
 
 374 GERMANY. 
 
 son Philip with Mary, queen of England. The year 
 following, he resumed his favorite project of placing 
 him on the imperial throne ; but his second attempt 
 vas attended with no better success than the former : 
 he found the same inflexible firmness in the king of 
 the Romans, and the same dislike to the measure 
 among the princes of Germany. In the same year, 1.555, 
 was framed the recess of Augsburg, an amplification of 
 the treaty of Passau. This recess, after confirming the 
 establishment of the Protestant religion as formerly 
 regulated, provided that the Catholics and the Pro- 
 testants should give no disturbance to each other ; that 
 the Lutherans should hold all the ecclesiastical benefices 
 of which they were then in possession ; that each par- 
 ticular state should have the right of establishing what 
 system of religion it might deem proper, granting to 
 such of its subjects as did riot chuse to conform, per- 
 mission to remove whithersoever they pleased with 
 their effects. That if any prelate or ecclesiastic should 
 in time to come abandon the Catholic religion, he 
 must relinquish his. diocese or benefice, and a successor, 
 immediately be appointed, 
 
 This recess confirming, explaining, and amplifying 
 the treaty of Passau, may be considered as the basis 
 of religious peace in Germany, and the bond of union 
 between its different states. It has been the founda- 
 tion of the religious system of the empire, and has 
 fixed the German church in that state in which it has 
 with little alteration ever since remained. For at the 
 same time that it placed the reformed religion on a 
 firm and permanent basis, it proved an effectual bar- 
 rier to its further extention ; as from that period few 
 dignified ecclesiastics have been willing to sacrifice 
 \vealthy benefices to unsubstantial ideas and theologi- 
 cal
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 375 
 
 cal opinions. It may here also be observed, that this 
 famous treaty was merely a political institution formed 
 on views of mutual convenience and benefit-, not on 
 any principles of religious toleration. One of its arti- 
 cles expressly declared, that the benefits of this pacifi- 
 cation should extend only to the Catholics and to the 
 Protestants of the confession of Augsburg. The fol- 
 lowers of Zuinglius and Calvin, with all other secta- 
 ries, still remained exposed to all the rigour of the 
 laws denounced against heretics ; nor did they obtain 
 any legal security until the peace of Westphalia, near 
 a century after this period. 
 
 After reviewing the complicated series of negotia- 
 tions, wars,- and revolutions, which so long agitated 
 the empire and the neighbouring states, we now draw 
 towards the termination of this eventful reign. Charles, 
 whose ruling passion had ever been the love of power, 
 and who during so many years had harrassed and ter- 
 rified Europe by his intrigues and his arms, on a sud- 
 den astonished the world by renouncing all schemes 
 of ambition, and changing the highest station of 
 human grandeur for the calm tranquillity of retire- 
 ment. It is no wonder that the voluntary resignation 
 of such extensive power and dominion should give 
 rise, among the historians of that period, to various con- 
 jectures concerning the motives that could induce a 
 prince of so restless and enterprising a character, to 
 take so extraordinary and unexpected a resolution, at 
 the age of fifty-six, when objects of ambition operate, 
 with full force on the mind, and are often pursued 
 with the greatest ardour. But without examining 
 the motives assigned by some frivolous and fanciful 
 authors, it suffices to follow intelligent historians, who 
 ascribe to neither caprice, nor to mysterious secrets 
 2 B 4 of
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 of state, a conduct, for which simple and obvious 
 causes will readily account. Charles's health was 
 rapidly declining; he had been attacked early in life 
 by the gout, and its violence increased as he advanced 
 in age. The vigour both of his body and his mind 
 was broken by the excessive pains which he frequently 
 suffered. The long and violent paroxysms of that ex- 
 cruciating disorder, often rendered him totally incapa- 
 ble of attending to public affairs. As he had been 
 always accustomed to inspect the business of every 
 department, to examine every thing with his own 
 eyes, and to decide according to his own ideas, it 
 gave him the utmost concern to find himself obliged 
 to commit the conduct of all affairs to his ministers, 
 and both in council and in action to rely on the 
 abilities of other men. It is somewhat astonishing 
 that writers should torture their imagination to dis- 
 cover the motives for this extraordinary act, when 
 Charles has so fully explained them himself. After 
 reading the act of resignation, in presence of his son 
 Philip, his sister the Queen of Hungary, the assembled 
 states of the Netherlands, and numbers of the gran- 
 dees of Spain and of the princes of Germany, he rose 
 from his chair of state, and leaning on the shoulder 
 of the prince of Orange, because unable to stand 
 without support, he recounted with dignity, but with- 
 out ostentation, all that he had undertaken and per- 
 formed since the commencement of his reign. He 
 observed, that " From the seventeenth year of his 
 age, he had dedicated all his thoughts and attention 
 to public objects, reserving no portion of his time for 
 the indulgence of ease, and very little for the enjoy- 
 ment of private pleasure; that either in a pacific or 
 * hostile manner, he had visited Germany nine times, 
 
 Spain
 
 GENERAL HlStOTCY. 377 
 
 Spain six times, France four times, Italy seven times, 
 the Netherlands ten times, England twice, Africa 
 twice, ond had made eleven voyages by sea; that 
 while his health permitted him to discharge his duty, 
 and the vigour of his constitution was equal in any 
 degree to the arduous office of governing so extensive 
 dominions, he had never shunned labour, nor repined 
 under fatigue ; that now when his health was broken, 
 and his vigour exhausted by the rage of an incurable 
 disease, his growing infirmities admonished him to 
 retire, nor was he so fond of reigning as to retain the 
 sceptre in an impotent hand, which was no longer 
 able to protect his subjects." From this speech of 
 the emperor, his motives for resigning his crown are 
 sufficiently evident,,and they appear to be inspired by 
 prudence and magnanimity. Constitutional disease 
 and excessive fatigues having brought on him a pre- 
 mature old age, he judged it more prudent to conceal 
 his infirmities in solitude, than to expose them to th 
 public eye; and wisely determined not to forfeit the 
 fame, nor lose the acquisition of his better days, by 
 vainly struggling to retain the reins of government, 
 " when he was no longer able to hold them with 
 steadiness, or guide them with address." Having, in 
 the most pathetic manner, given to his son Philip his 
 last instructions, on the 17th September, 1556, he 
 set sail for Spain. His voyage was prosperous, and 
 as soon as he landed, considering himself as a man 
 dead to this world, he kissed the earth, saying, 
 " Naked came 1 from my mother's womb, and naked 
 I now return to thee thou common mother of all man- 
 kind." He then retired to the monastery of St. 
 Justus, only a few miles distant from the city of Pla- 
 centia in Kstremadura. In passing that way many 
 
 years
 
 878 GERMANY. 
 
 years before, he had been struck with its charming 
 situation, and remarked, that this was a place to which 
 Dioclesian might have retired with pleasure. The 
 impression had remained so strong on his mind, that 
 he fixed on this monastery as his last retreat. It was 
 seated in a vale of no great extent, watered by a small 
 brook, and surrounded by rising grounds covered with 
 lofty trees. From the nature of the soil, as well as 
 the temperature of the climate, it was esteemed the 
 most salubrious and delightful situation in Spain. 
 His apartments consisted of six rooms, four of them 
 with naked walls, the other two hung with brown 
 cloth, and furnished in the simplest style.* Here he 
 buried in solitude and silence his grandeur, his ambi- 
 tion, and all his vast projects, which now seemed com- 
 pletely effaced from his mind. He even restrained 
 his curiosity from any enquiry concerning: the politi- 
 cal transactions of Europe, and appeared to regard 
 the busy scene which he had left, with a contempt 
 and indifference arising from his experience of its 
 vanity. He employed a considerable portion of his 
 time in religious exercises, and the rest in cultivating 
 with his own hands the plants in his garden, in riding 
 te the neighbouring wood attended by a single servant 
 on foot, in entertaining at his homely table a few 
 neighbouring gentlemen, or in mechanical amuse- 
 ments in which he had always delighted. He was 
 particularly curious in regard to the construction of 
 clocks and watches ; and having found, after a multi- 
 plicity of trials, that he could not bring any two of 
 them to go exactly alike, he is said to have reflected 
 with surprize and regret on the time that he had 
 employed, and the pains he had taken in the still more 
 
 * Robertson's Hist. Charles V, book 12. 
 
 vain,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 379 
 
 vain attempt of bringing mankind to an uniformity 
 of opinion on the speculative doctrines of religion.* 
 Happy would it have been for himself, happy for his 
 subjects, had he begun sooner to make such reflec- 
 tions, r 
 
 In this sequestered retirement, Charles probably 
 enjoyed, during more than a year, greater happiness 
 than he had ever found on the imperial throne. But 
 q.bout six months before his death, the gout, after a 
 longer intermission than usual, returned with increased 
 violence. His constitution, already exhausted, was 
 unable to withstand such a shock, and it seems that 
 his mind as well as his body was impaired. From 
 that time a kind of languor depressed his whole 
 frame, and the eccentric act of celebrating his own. 
 obsequies, seems an indication of a weak and dis- 
 ordered fancy. His domestics, with black tapers in 
 their hands, marched in funeral procession to his 
 tomb, which was erected in the chapel of the monas- 
 tery. Charles himself followed, wrapped in his shroud, 
 and being with awful solemnity laid in his coffin, the 
 service for the dead was chanted by the monks. This 
 mock ceremony was soon followed by his real funeral. 
 The very next day he was seized with a fever, and 
 expired on the 21st September \556, in the fifty-ninth 
 year of his age.f 
 
 On the momentous reign of Charles V, I have ven- 
 tured to expatiate more largely than on most other 
 periods. The great and singular revolutions which 
 then took place, and the order of things to which it 
 gave rise, hold it up to the reader's attention as the 
 
 * Robertson ubi supra. 
 
 t Fdininanus Stratia dc Bell. Bclgico lib. 1. p. 11. .Robertson's Hist. 
 Charles V, book 12, and the authorities there referred to. 
 
 most
 
 380 GEnMANY. 
 
 most remarkable and important aera of modern history. 
 It forms the most conspicuous line of demarcation 
 between the barbarity of the middle ages and the 
 civilization of modern times. The revival of learning, 
 its subsequent progress, and its rapid diffusion by 
 means of the newly invented art of printing, had 
 begun to operate an important change in the state of 
 the human mind. And the reformation, which was in 
 a great measure one of the effects of this incipient 
 revolution, contributed in no small degree towards its 
 Completion. The reformation, indeed, was the most 
 important event that had occurred since the reign of 
 Charlemagne, or even since the subversion of the 
 western empire. Its consequences were greater, perhaps, 
 in a political and moral, than even in a religious point 
 of view. The reformers separating into the two grand 
 divisions of Lutherans and Calvinists, and a number 
 of subdivisions, differing not less from one another 
 than from the church of Rome, were far from estab- 
 lishing an uniformity of doctrine. But the reforma- 
 tion produced two great effects of more conspicuous 
 importance than all speculative opinions, the freedom 
 of the human mind, and the improvement of clerical 
 morals. Spiritual despotism was banished from one 
 half of Europe, and in the other its power has ever 
 since gradually diminished. The clergy being before 
 that period all powerful, acted almost without control, 
 And, as already observed, scarcely shewed in their 
 manners any conformity to their sacred profession. 
 But as soon as the church was split into different 
 divisions, the clergy of each party seeing their actions 
 exposed to the rigorous inspection of the other, grew 
 more cautious in their moral conduct, while the iraV 
 mease field of theological controversy which was then 
 
 opened,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 3S1 
 
 opened, obliged them to cultivate their intellectual 
 faculties. A system of emulation was naturally estab- 
 lished, which roused them to exertion ; and the great 
 body of the Christian clergy, including all parties, 
 soon made a considerable advancement in learning 
 and piety. 
 
 The reformation of religion is singly sufficient to 
 distinguish the reign of Charles V. as one of the most 
 remarkable periods in the history of Europe ; but 
 several other circumstances also concur to render it 
 memorable. The Germanic constitution, in regard 
 both to church and state, after being for some time 
 ready .to sink under imperial despotism, recovered it* 
 former privileges, and assumed the form under which 
 it has ever since appeared, until the recent changes 
 effected by the arms of France. In this reign, the 
 power and glory of the house of Austria was in its 
 zenith. On the resignation of Charles V, that illus- 
 trious house was divided into two branches, the Ger- 
 man and the Spanish, and soon afterwards began to 
 decline. This memorable reign, in fine, may be con- 
 sidered as the period which fixed the political system 
 of Europe, and gave rise to a long train of succeeding 
 events.* 
 
 In regard to the character of this celebrated prince, 
 ambition was his ruling passion, and occasioned the 
 restless activity of his life. Artful, politic, bold and 
 enterprising ; he was equally remarkable for cautious 
 prudence in deliberation, and promptitude in execu- 
 tion. Those qualities which so strongly marked his 
 character, gave him that decided superiority over the 
 
 * For a clear view of the political and religious events of th period. 
 Dr. Roberftoa'i Hit. of Charles V, and father Paul's Hist, of the couiv 
 oU of Trent, arc tht best guides, and tbes I hare chiefly consulted. 
 
 other
 
 S82 GERMANV. 
 
 Other princes his contemporaries, which he long main-* 
 tained. He possessed in an eminent degree the 
 science which is of the utmost importance to a sover- 
 eign, that of knowing men, and adapting their talents 
 to their proper departments. This was conspicuous 
 in his generals, his ministers, his ambassadors, &c. 
 whose abilities scarcely ever failed of justifying his 
 choice. But his ambitious projects were the bane 
 of his government, and involved him in continual 
 wars, which exhausted his resources, oppressed his 
 subjects, and prevented him from giving due attention 
 to the interior police and improvement of his exten- 
 sive dominions. His whole reign was a series of in- 
 sidious policy and restless hostilities. 
 
 Charles at the same time that he abdicated his here- 
 ditary crowns in favor of his son Philip, resigned also 
 the imperial dignity to his brother Ferdinand, king 
 of Bohemia and Hungary, who had long before been 
 elected king of the Romans. This prince ruled the 
 empire in peace; and his reign, though not distinguish- 
 ed by any remarkable occurrence, was the com- 
 mencement of a happy period in the annals of Ger- 
 many. Paul IV. being dead, in 1559 Pius IV, his 
 successor, issued his bull for re-assembling the Council 
 of Trent. All attempts for re-establishing the unity 
 of the church, however, were ineffectual. The Pro- 
 testants unanimously resolved to adhere to the con- 
 fession of Augsburg. They contended that the right 
 of convoking such an assembly belonged not to the 
 pope, but the emperor.* The conciliatory measures 
 proposed by Ferdinand, were rejected both by his 
 Holiness and the Protestant princes. From a view of 
 preceding occurrences, of the interests, the passions, 
 
 * JJarii Hist. d'Allemane, torn. 9. Thuanus, lib. 9. 
 
 4 and
 
 GENEtTAl HISTORY. 
 
 and prejudices of the parties concerned, and of the 
 then existing state of things, it evidently appears that 
 the breach was irreparable. The court of Rome re- 
 solved -to engross, if possible, all the power that 
 Heaven was supposed to have delegated to mortals on 
 earth; the reformers had already obtained and were 
 determined to keep their share, and neither party was 
 inclined to give up the claim. To reconcile such op- 
 posite interests and views, which the various occur- 
 rences of almost half a century had produced and 
 confirmed, was impossible; and the famous Council of 
 Trent, which had been .so often suspended and renew- 
 ed, convened much too late, prorogued too often, 
 and continued too long, was, in December 1563, 
 finally dissolved, almost twenty-one years after Paul III. 
 issued his first bull for its convocation, and about 
 seventeen years after the opening of its first session.* 
 
 Ferdinand I, a prudent and peaceable prince, dying 
 in 1564, was succeeded by his son Maximilian II. 
 This prince found himself obliged to enter into a war 
 with the Turks, which proving successful, the im. 
 perialists took Tokay, and were ready to enter Tran-> 
 sylvania when a negotiation took place, and a transient 
 peace was concluded. Maximilian, however, not 
 trusting to appearances,, convened a diet at Augsburg, 
 and in concert with the whole Germanic body, took 
 every precaution for the security of the empire 
 against the Turks. The famous expedition of Soly- 
 man against Malta, does not properly belong to the 
 history of Germany ; but its failure induced him to 
 invade Hungary. The Turks advanced to Sigoth, a 
 trong city situated in a marsh, \\hich they took after 
 
 * Vide Father Paul of Venice, and Cardinal Palavincini's Hist, of this 
 
 council. 
 
 a murderous
 
 GERMANY. 
 
 a murderous siege and the loss of 30,000 men. Zerini, 
 the governor, sallying out with a small number of 
 men, gallantly fell by the sword of the enemy.* 
 During the siege of this place, Solyman dic-'J in the 
 seventy-sixth year of his age, and soon after a truce 
 of twelve years was concluded bet\veeu bis successor, 
 Selim II, and the emperor Maximilian. The re- 
 mainder of this reign was pacific, and amidst an ex- 
 tensive scene of war, in which most of the neighbour- 
 ing nations were engaged, Germany enjoyed a long 
 and hpppy repose. This internal tranquillity was in- 
 terrupted only by Grumbach and his associates, who 
 having murdered the bishop of V\ r urtzburg and pillaged 
 the nobility, was banished the empire; and John 
 Frederick, duke of Saxony, his protector, being made 
 prisoner, the affair was soon terminated. t Maxi- 
 milian II. dying in 1576, was succeeded by his son 
 Rhodolph, who inheriting the pacific disposition of 
 his father, Germany continued in tranquillity. But 
 the Turks having invaded Hungary, Matthias, the 
 emperor's brother, was sent to oppose their progress, 
 and his arms proving successful, a peace was soon 
 after concluded. The Hungarians thus freed from a 
 powerful enemy, and growing jealous of some of the 
 measures of Rhodolph, conferred their crown on 
 Matthias their deliverer, who confirmed their civil 
 and religious liberties. He obtained by similar means 
 possession of Austria, and the pacific Rhodolph, in 
 order to avoid the horrors of a civil war, resigned to 
 him those usurped dominions, together with the suc- 
 cession to the crown of Bohemia.J 
 
 Rhodolph dying in 1612, Matthias his brother sue- 
 
 Heiss Hit. de 1'Erop. lib. 3. BarrS Hist, de 1'Allemaae, torn. 9. 
 t Puffead. torn. 1, cb. t. % Ueiss, iiv. :>. 
 
 ceeded
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 385 
 
 ceecled him in the imperial dignity, as well as in the 
 other possessions of the German house of Austria. 
 A war soon after broke out between this emperor and 
 the Turks. Achmet II. having succeeded his father 
 Selim II, aimed at signalizing the commencement of 
 his reign by the conquest of Hungary. But a war at 
 the same time taking place against the Persians, he 
 was obliged to withdraw his forces from the western 
 to the eastern frontier of his empire. A peace was 
 therefore concluded, in consequence of which the 
 Turks, who were then in possession of Buda, Pest, 
 and several other places, restored them and evacuated 
 Hungary.* Fortune [thus procured for Matthias all 
 the advantages that could have been expected from 
 arms. Finding himself advancing in years, and de- 
 clining in health, and without either sons or nephews 
 t6 succeed him, he procured his cousin Ferdinand, 
 duke of Styria, to be elected king of the Romans. 
 The happy period of repose which Germany had, 
 with few and trilling interruptions, enjoyed ever since 
 the resignation of Charles V,was now about to expire. 
 Discontents which had taken rise under the mild ad- 
 ministration of lihodolph, had been augmented during 
 the reign of Matthias, and towards its close broke out 
 in a furious war, which interested all the powers of 
 Europe, and during the long and calamitous period of 
 thirty years, desolated Germany. Mutual jealousies 
 had given rise to two politico-religious confederacies, 
 distinguished by the names of the Catholic League 
 and the EvangeKcal Union. Henry IV. of France, in 
 order to humble the house of Austria, had determined 
 to support the latter. The Swiss, the duke of Savoy, 
 and the Venetians, took part in the alliance, and the 
 
 * Iluiifc iliDt, de 1'Kmpire, iir, 3. 
 
 V.OL. in. 2 c Frcucli
 
 386 GERMANY. 
 
 French monarch having assembled an army of 40,OOt) 
 veteran troops, was abo>ut to take the command in 
 person;* but his assassination in JO 10, two years be- 
 fore the death of llhodolph, put au end to the under- 
 taking arid prolonged the tranquillity of Germany. 
 The tlame, however, although smothered, waa not 
 extinguished. The Lutheran religion had taken deep 
 root in Hungary and Bohemia, and Matthias, in order 
 to accoinpiisn his ambitious designs, had formerly 
 shewn great favour to its professors. On b.is accession, 
 therefore, to the imperial dignity, they presented 
 memorials, demanding an extension of their privileges, 
 while their enemies of the Catholic league wished to 
 impose on them new restrictions. The dispositions of 
 Matthias, now emperor, were different from those 
 which he had shewed when'only archduke ; he thought 
 himself in no further need of their assistance, and hi* 
 conduct convinced them that he resolved to be their 
 master. Various circumstances too minute to be de- 
 tailed in a general history, contributed to exasperate 
 the two great factions which divided the empire. 
 A revolt of the Hungarians and the Bohemians, wa 
 only the beginning of troubles which continued so 
 long and extended so far: tiie former were soou ap- 
 peased, but the latter continuing in arms, were joined 
 by the mal-contents of Sile.sia, Moravia, and Upper 
 Austria, as well as by an army of Gorman Protestants. 
 Such was the state of things when the emperor Mat- 
 thias died and was succeeded in the imperial dignity, 
 as well as in his other dominions, b^y Ferdinand If, 
 notwithstanding the opposition of the elector Pala- 
 tine and the states of Bohemia. The elevation of 
 Ferdinand, however, instead of intimidating the Bo- 
 
 * Mem. n. Sully, lit . 27.
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 387 
 
 hemiuns, roused them to more vigorous measures. 
 Having formally deposed him in an assembly of the 
 states, they chose for their king Frederick, the elector 
 Palatine, who, notwithstanding the remonstrances of 
 his father-in-law James I, king of England, impru- 
 dently accepted the precarious crown, and exposed 
 himself to the vengeance of so powerful an enemy as 
 Ferdinand. Bethlem Gabor, waiwode of Transylvania, 
 was also proclaimed king of Hungary.* 
 
 Ferdinand was now abandoned by all the Protestant 
 princes except the elector of Saxony. But as motives 
 of interest mostly predominate in wars which have 
 religion for their pretext, that prince still adhered to 
 his party, in hopes of obtaining the investiture of 
 Cleves and Juliers, which had long been an object of 
 dispute. The efficient force of the Germanic body 
 was almost equally balanced for and against the em- 
 peror, while both Hungary and Bohemia fiad totally 
 cast off his authority. Assisted by the Catholic princes 
 of the empire, the king of Spain and the archduke 
 Albert, he proved, however, an overmatch for all his 
 enemies. The elector Palatine being totally routed 
 near Prague, was degraded from his electoral dignity 
 and stripped of his dominions : the Bohemians were 
 reduced to subjection, and Bethlem Gabor was obliged 
 to resign his title to the crown of Hungary.-}- 
 
 Ferdinand thus triumphant over all opposition, 
 carried every thing before him. By repeated defeats 
 he completely reduced to subjection the members of 
 the Evangelical union; obliged the king of Denmark, 
 who had been chosen general of the league in lower 
 Saxony, to sue for peace; and saw himself at last in 
 possession of almost an absolute authority. For- 
 
 * i3arrc, torn, 9. t Barrc Hist, d 1'Allcuiane, torn. <J. 
 
 '1 c 2 tunatelv.
 
 309 GERMANY. 
 
 tunately, however, for the German princes, and per- 
 haps for Europe, Ferdinand's ambition overshot itself, 
 and raised obstacles, which neither his policy nor his 
 power could surmount. He formed the two vast de- 
 signs of re-establishing the imperial jurisdiction in 
 Italy, and of converting Germany into an absolute 
 monarchy. But in this view of reducing the princes 
 and prelates of Germany from the condition of sove- 
 reigns to that of simple subjects, he was sensible of 
 the danger of attacking both the religions at once. 
 He resolved, therefore, to begin with the Protestants, 
 and accordingly issued an edict, ordering them imme- 
 diately to restore all the benefices and church lands, 
 which they had held since the pacification of Passau. 
 The princes of the Augsburg confession remonstrated 
 against this edict, which being issued by the sole 
 authority of the emperor, they considered as an in- 
 fringement of the Germanic constitution, and con- 
 tended that the affair ought to have been made a sub- 
 ject of deliberation in a general diet. A diet was ac- 
 cordingly convoked at Ralisboa ; but although the 
 majority of the Catholic princes exhorted Ferdinand 
 to preserve the peace of the empire by confirming the 
 treaty of Passau, the ecclesiastical electors opposing 
 their counsel by arguments more conformable to his 
 views, he continued inflexible in his purpose. Car- 
 dinal Richelieu, and Gustavus Adolphus, king of 
 Sweden, however, defeated his ambitious designs both 
 in Italy and Germany. The cardinal having con- 
 cluded a peace with the Hugcnots, crossed the Alps at 
 the head of 20,000 men, gained several advantages 
 over the imperialists and the Spaniards their allies, 
 expelled the duke of Savoy from his dominions, and 
 
 prevented
 
 GENERAL HT3TOEY. S8Q 
 
 prevented the revival ~>f the imperial power in Italy.* 
 The alliance which the Protestants were driven to 
 make with the king of Sweden, the part which France 
 took in the war, first as an auxiliary and afterwards 
 as a principal, are concisely developed in treating of 
 France and Sweden.f It may here, however, be ob- 
 served, that during this memorable contest the Ger- 
 man Protestants did little for themselves; all was done 
 by their allies, particularly the Swedes, whom on 
 their defeat at the battle of NorcHingen they'pusillani 
 motisly abandoned. The Protestants of Germany, 
 indeed, seem to have had in those ages, either less 
 zeal or less courage than those of France. The reli- 
 gious wars of the empire exhibited few great native 
 characters, and were productive of few splendid a- 
 chievements.J Ferdinand II. did not live to see the 
 end of this sanguinary contest; lie died in 1637, and 
 was succeeded by his son Ferdinand III, who con- 
 tinued the .var with unabated vigour. On both sides 
 the greatest exertions were made. The emperor 
 sometimes brought to the verge of ruin, recovered 
 his losses by his vigorous efforts and the conduct of 
 his brave commanders. He was, however, reduced 
 to the utmost distress; and Prague, with the whole 
 kingdom of Bohemia, was about to fall a second time 
 into the hands of the enemy, ^ when the Hollanders 
 growing jealous of the power of France, and the 
 
 * Auberi Hist, de Card. Rich. apud. Russ. Hist. Mod. Eur. vol. 3, 
 
 p. 10-;. 
 
 t Sec Historical Accounts of France and Sweden in this work. 
 
 f Compare the German Histories of lleiss, Barrc, &c., with those of 
 France by iMezt'rai, Hcnnuult, &cc. 
 
 j Prague had been taien, and the greatest part of Bohemia conquered 
 in the beginning of the war aud recovered by Wallestein. See Historical 
 Accouut oi'Swedcu. 
 
 2 c 3 Swedes
 
 390 GERMANY. 
 
 Swedes being weary of long continued hostilities, 
 afforded him an opportunity of saving himself from 
 destruction by a timely peace. This war was distin- 
 guished by brilliant exhibitions of military skill and 
 bravery, too numerous to be particularized in general 
 history. The great Gustavus Adolphus, and the 
 Swedish generals, duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar, 
 Bannier, Torstenson, Wrangel, and others, immor- 
 talized their names. Among the French, Turennc 
 and the famous Conde, acquired a fame as lasting as 
 history itself; and the imperial commanders, Tilli, 
 Wallestein, Piccolomini, Merci, Montecuculli and 
 others, will ever be illustrious in the military annals 
 of Europe. But after all their inarches and counter- 
 marches, battles and sieges, less alteration took place 
 in the territorial division of Germany than might have 
 'been expected. The princes and states of the empire 
 were, with a few trifling exceptions, restored to the 
 lands and prerogatives which they enjoyed previous 
 to the war. The lower Palatinate was restored to the 
 "son of the deposed elector Palatine, and an eighth 
 electorate was created in his favour, the upper Pala- 
 tinate and the electorial dignity being confirmed to 
 the duke of Bavaria. . The republic of Switzerland 
 was declared independent of the imperial jurisdiction. 
 In regard to religion, the stipulations were accurate 
 and comprehensive. Those of the treaty of Passau 
 were fully confirmed, and extended to the Calvinists 
 as well as the Lutherans. It was also agreed that the 
 imperial chamber should consist of twenty-four Pro- 
 testant and twenty-six Catholic members, that six 
 Protestants should be admitted into the aulic council, 
 and that the general diets of the empire should con- 
 sist of an equal number of Catholic and Protestant 
 
 deputies.
 
 GE.VEKAL HISTORY. 3^1 
 
 v 
 
 deputies. To these grand regulations were added a 
 number of others of inferior importance. Such were 
 the outlines of the treaty of Westphalia, which 
 terminated the thirty years war so famQus in the 
 annals of Germany, and which was generally con- 
 sidered as the basis of all subsequent treaties, until the 
 extraordinary and unprecedented consequences of the 
 Jate revolution in France overturned the whole political 
 system of Europe. 
 
 During the long period which elapsed from the 
 elevation of the house of Austria till the famous 
 treaty of Westphalia, commerce had made a gradual 
 progress.^ A country so extensive and populous, 
 generally fertile, and affording great quantities of 
 indigenous produce, must also, as civilization ad- 
 vanced, have had a great demand for foreign com- 
 modities. From circumstances alreadv mentioned 
 numerous cities arose,* and the German princes, from 
 feudal lords, becoming petty sovereigns, began gradual- 
 ly to imitate in their little courts, the splendor of 
 great monarchs. The cities situated on the shores of 
 the Baltic, or on the great rivers, taking advantage of 
 their situation, equally convenient for exporting the 
 native productions and for importing and dispersing 
 throughout Germany those of foreign countries, began 
 at an early period to turn their attention to trade. 
 The famous confederacy of the Hans Towns has al- 
 ready been mentioned. This confederacy, of which 
 Ltibeck was the head, was first formed, as already 
 observed, in the turbulent times of robbery and piracy, 
 which rendered all commercial intercourse unsafe, 
 
 * See what is said on this subject in this chapter, and in tkat f Franc* 
 under the rei<;M of Charlemagne. 
 
 2 c 4 botk
 
 39$ GERMANY. 
 
 Loth by land and. by sea.* The .accounts of old 
 German writers relative to .more ancient etnporia, 
 sucli as Julin, VViuet, Staden, Bardewie, &e. are so 
 obscure, so uncertain, and at the least so apparently 
 tinctured with exaggeration, as to merit but little 
 regard. But although the origin of the llansealic 
 league be involved in some degree of circumstantial 
 obscurity, its subsequent history, during the period 
 now under consideration, is well known, and forms a 
 commercial phcenomenon of the middle ages. Sixty 
 cities are said to have entered at last into this ctm- 
 federacy, and they obtained particular privileges from 
 the German emperors, and from foreign potentates. 
 They were divided into four classes. Lubeck was at 
 
 Y 
 
 the head of the first, which comprised the Vandaiic 
 and Pomeranian towns. This city, indeed, was consi- 
 dered as the head of the whole union, and to its care 
 were committed the common stock and the records ; 
 and here the general assemblies were held. Cologne 
 was the chief of the second division, comprising the 
 towns of Cleves, Overyssel, Gelderland, and Wesit- 
 phalia. Brunswick was at the head of the third, con- 
 taining the cities of Saxony ; and Dantzick presided 
 over the fourth, which consisted of the towns of 
 Prussia and Livonia.f Tiius forming a singular com- 
 mercial republic under the paramount sovereignty of 
 the emperor, they employed themselves in extending 
 their commerce and acquiring wealth. They established 
 comptoirs in. different parts of Europe, aiMl obtained 
 great privileges from several sovereigns. About the 
 year 1 C 262, they began to resort much to Bruges, in 
 
 * And. Hist. Cora. vol. 1, p. 151 161300 et auctor. cit. in loco. 
 ' Ibid, vol. 1, p. 12. 
 
 Flanders.
 
 GENEBAL HISTORY. 
 
 "Flanders. Hpre they had one of their chief comptoirs, 
 which, as already observed, was one principal cause 
 of the great and almost incredible riches of that city, 
 and of others in the Netherlands, during the four- 
 teenth, fifteeiuh, -and sixteenth centuries.* Almost 
 the whole commerce of Europe was carried on by the 
 cities of Italy, Venice, Genoa, Pisa, 8cc. in the south; 
 the German Hanse Towns in the north ; and the 
 Netherlands as the middle station.-)- This was a sort 
 of systematic commence, on which the trade of all the 
 other parts of Europe depended. Cologne, Hamburg, 
 &c. dispersed the commodities of foreign nations into 
 the interior of Germany, and collected the native 
 .commodities for exportation. Through the medium 
 of the comptoir at Novagorod, their trade was also 
 extended into Russia, and even to Constantinople. 
 Tii order, however, to caution the reader against form- 
 ing false ideas, it is requisite here to observe, that this 
 commercial system, though very remarkable for those 
 barbarous times, would sink into insignificancy in a 
 comparison with that of modern Europe. It was, 
 however, sufficiently important to procure for the 
 Italian, the Flemish, and the Hanseatic cities, a de- . 
 gree of power, wealth and splendor, which eminently 
 displayed the advantages arising from trade. The 
 Hanse Towns, which, in this place, are particularly the 
 subject of consideration, soon grew so powerful as to 
 excite the jealousy of some of the neighbouring princes, 
 particularly of the kings of Denmark and Norway, 
 with whom they had violent contests. So early as to- 
 wards the close of the thirteenth century, Olaus III. 
 king of Norway, having abolished, or atkast suspend- 
 
 * Vide Historical View of ihe Nctlicrlanja. 
 t And. Ilia. Com. vol. J, p. 225 
 
 ed
 
 394 
 
 cd tlte privileges which the Hanseatic merchants had 
 enjoyed in that country, the fleets of Lubeck and 
 Hamburg blocked up all the ports of his kingdom, 
 and obliged him to conclude a peace on such condi- 
 tions as they proposed.* About the middle of the 
 fourteenth century, the Hanse Towns, in a naval war 
 with Denmark, totally destroyed the Danish fleet and 
 compelled Waladimir III. to make a disadvantageous 
 peace .-f- In 1360, this mercantile confederacy seems 
 to have beea completed by the union of no fewer than- 
 sixty-six cities. From that time they were almost the 
 only carriers by sea between the northern nations of 
 Europe, till after the commencement of the fifteenth 
 ceatury, when the improved method of curing her- 
 rings gave to the Flemish fisheries a superiority over 
 those of all other countries, and greatly increased the 
 trade and naviga'ion of the Netherlands.^; During 
 the latter part of the fourteenth century, the Hanss 
 Towns were in the zenith of their greatness, absolute 
 masters of the northern seas : their naval power was 
 dreaded, and their alliance courted by the greatest 
 princes, who often hired their ships for the purpose of 
 maritime war. They cleared the Baltic of the nu- 
 merous pirates by which that sea was Infested, and 
 who were mostly persons of quality possessing strong 
 castles on the shore. The castles were taken and 
 destroyed, and the pirates dispersed.^ This may be 
 reckoned among the number of circumstances which 
 shew the turbulent and unhappy state of society in 
 those ages, and the insecurity of commerce and navi- 
 
 * Latnb. Origines Hamburgens. lib. 2. 
 
 t And. Hist. Com. TO!. 1, p. 324. % 
 
 * De Witt. Intcret de la Hollande, par. 1, ch. 11. 
 \ And. Hist. Com. vol. 1, p. 377. 
 
 gat ion,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. SQ5 
 
 gation, when both the land and the sea were rendered 
 unsafe by an extensive system of robbery and pillage. 
 
 The Hanseatic confederacy, however, having once 
 attained to its meridian greatness, began gradually to 
 decline. About the year 1403, bavins engaged in a 
 destructive war with Eric VIII. king of Denmark, 
 that prince called to his assistance the Flemings, who 
 then had acquired a numerous shipping. By the help 
 of those allies, he humbled the pride and greatly 
 diminished the naval power of the Hanse Towns. 
 From this time, the Netherlands gained ground on the 
 Hanseatic league, and in little more than a century, 
 acquired the ascendency in the trade, even of the 
 countries bordering on the Baltic.* It appears, how- 
 ever, that for some time they still continued formid- 
 able ; and in 1420, they not only fitted out a powerful 
 fleet, with which they defeated and almost annihilated 
 a new confederacy of pirates, called the Vitclfiani, 
 but the cities of Lubcck and Hamburg having levied 
 a corps of 0000 foot and 800 horse, attacked, took, 
 and utterly destroyed some towns and forts in Saxonv, 
 where the duke had afforded them encouragement 
 and protection. t The naval strength of the Hanse 
 Towns was at this time so great, that in the vear 1428 
 they sent out from the station port of YVismar a fleet 
 of f lf)0 ships, carrying 1 '2,000 men, on an expedition 
 against Copenhagen, \\hich however proved unsuc- 
 cessful.^; Many causes contributed to the decline of 
 this potent confederacy, among which may be reckon- 
 ed their frequent quarrels with the neighbouring 
 princes, but particularly their ruinous wars with Den- 
 mark, and the rising trade of Copenhagen, wnich 
 
 * An.I. Hist. Com. vol. 1, p. 4%. t Ibid, vol. 1, p. 4*2. 
 
 * Mcui-iiti*. Ili.-t. iJninca, lib. />. 
 
 being,
 
 396 GERMANY. 
 
 being, by Christiern II. in 1515, made tiie sole em- 
 porium for Danish commodities, gave a fatal blow to 
 the trade of the Vandalic Hanse Towns.* About the 
 commencement of the seventeenth century, the Hol- 
 landers had almost entirely supplanted them in the 
 Mediterranean trade, of which the Hansemics scarcely 
 retained any other branch except that of selling their 
 large ships at Venice, after which they returned over- 
 land home.f The Hanse Towns had scarcely any 
 manufactures to support their trade, while the Nether- 
 lands could supply vast quantities of manufactured 
 goods.;}; The rise and fall of the Hanseatic, and 
 afterwards of the Dutch trade, were chiefly owing to 
 the same causes. The inattention of other nations 
 to mercantile affairs, threw the whole of the carrying 
 trade into their hands. As soon as those nations 
 tegan to make commerce an object of attention, and 
 to traffic with their own commodities, the trade and 
 consequently the shipping of the Hanse Towns began 
 to decline. In this respect Holland exhibits a counter- 
 part of their history. Before the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century, the famous Hanseatic league was little 
 more than a name, and among all the cities of which 
 it was composed, only Dantziek and Hamburg have 
 retained till our clays any great commercial Im- 
 portance. 
 
 From a view of commerce we must again turn to 
 the turbulent scenes of polities. The outlines of a 
 great part of the Germanic history, subsequent to the 
 peace of Westphalia, are noticed in treating of the 
 
 * Meursius. Hist. Daiiica, lib. 3. 
 
 t Werderhagen, ap. And. Hist. Cora. TO!. 2, p. 201. 
 
 De Witt. Int. de la Hollande, part. 1, cli. 8. 
 f See Historical View of tht Bataviaa llepublifi. 
 
 affair*
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 397 
 
 affairs of England and France; and to these the 
 reader must, in many places, be referred, in order to 
 avoid repetition. Ferdinand III. after having con- 
 cluded that treaty, passed the remainder of his days 
 in pea.ce, and dying in 1657, was succeeded by Leo- 
 pold, who had to contend with two formidable enemies, 
 France and the Ottoman Porte. Both these made 
 encroachments on his territories. In 1664, the Grand 
 Vizier, Cuprogli, entered Hungary at the head of 1 00,000 
 men, where he was totally defeated by the famous 
 Montecuculli. But the emperor being threatened by 
 a revolt of the Hungarians, the Turks obtained a 
 favourable peace. The Hungarians revolted, but in. 
 in consequence of the vigorous measures of Leopold, 
 they were soon subdued. That brave people, how- 
 ever, who had so often repelled the infidels, and 
 watered their native fields with their own blood and 
 with that of their enemies, still remained dissatisfied, 
 and at last broke out again into open rebellion. Peace 
 had been concluded at Nimeguen, in l6?8, between, 
 the empire and France, and general tranquillity was 
 restored to Europe. But the encroachments of 
 Louis XIV. were about to rouse Leopold to arms, 
 when the revolt of the Hungarians threatened the 
 ruin of the house of Austria Tekcli, chief of the 
 insurgents, called in the Turks to his support ; and 
 Mahomet IV. the reigning sultan, prepared the most 
 formidable force ever sent by the Ottoman Porte 
 against Christendom. Leopold, seeing the gathering 
 storm, entered into an offensive and defensive alliance 
 with the famous John Sobieski, king of Poland, 
 whose name had long been terrible to the Ottoman 
 armies. Their force on this occasion, however, seemed 
 lo be such a* might get all opposition at defiance, arid 
 
 the
 
 *98 GERMANY. 
 
 tile circumstances of the times were extremely favour- 
 able to their undertaking. Ever since Constantinople 
 fell under the power of the Turks, Hungary had been 
 the barrier of Europe; and the valour of its inhabitants 
 had always presented an insuperable obstacle to the 
 progress of the Ottoman arms. But now those brave 
 Hungarians, driven to despair by imperial oppression, 
 were constrained to unite with the enemies of Chris- 
 tendom, iu order to resist the arbitrary measures of 
 the house of Austria. 
 
 Every thing being ready for this important enter- 
 prize, on the issue of which the fate of Europe de- 
 pended, the Grand Vizier, Kara Mustapha, set out 
 from Constantinople to take the chief command. The 
 Turkish forces consisted of 50,000 Janissaries, 30,000 
 Spaliis, and 200,000 other soldiers, with an immense 
 artillery proportioned to the magnitude of the arma- 
 ment. Being joined by the Hungarians under Tekeli, 
 chief of the mal-contents, this prodigious assemblage 
 of military force entered Austria, and advanced to- 
 wards Vienna. The Duke of Lorraine, the imperial 
 general, found himself unable to check the progress 
 of the enemy : the emperor abandoned his capital : 
 an immense crowd of inhabitants followed the example 
 of the court: the roads were thronged with fugitives 
 iu carriages, on horseback, and on foot, and numerous 
 waggons, laden with moveables, completed the scene 
 of confusion.* A general consternation prevailed 
 throughout Germany ; and all Europe waited the 
 event with anxious expectation. On the l?th of July, 
 lf)8:i, the Turks invested Vienna. The garrison con- 
 sisted of about 15,000 men; to these were joined near 
 0,000 armed citizens, and all were determined to 
 
 * Auualeg dc 1 Empire, tutu. 2. 
 
 make
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 make the most vigorous defence. Before the 1st of 
 September, however, the suburbs being destroyed, a 
 breach was made in the fortifications of the city, and 
 an assault was hourly expected. The Ottoman army 
 having ui its march taken the right side of the 
 Danube, and the Hungarians, under Tekeli, the left, 
 the Duke of Lorraine succeeded in preventing their 
 junction, but was unable to .afford any relief to the 
 capital. The fate of Vienna was now drawing toward* 
 a decision when a signal made from the mountain of 
 
 o 
 
 Calemberg, by John Sobieski, king of Poland, in- 
 spired the besieged With hopes of deliverance. That 
 prince> with his troops, having joined the imperialists, 
 the whole Christian army amounted to about (>4,000 
 men, a force not equal in number to one-fourth part 
 of that which it had to oppose. The Grand Vizier, 
 relying on the strength of his army, which he consi- 
 dered as irresistible, had consumed his time in luxury 
 and indolence, instead of attending to the operations 
 of war, and neglected to push the assault till it was too 
 late to repair the mistake. The Christian army, under 
 the command of the King of Poland, and the Duke 
 of Lorraine, attended by a great number of the Ger- 
 man princes, descended the mountain and advanced 
 towards the Turkish camp, while the Grand Vizier, 
 resolving to make a vigorous effort, inarched out to 
 battle with the main body of his army, and ordered 
 a corps of 20,000 men to make, at the same time, an 
 assault on the eity. But the name of the King of 
 Poland was sufficient to paralize the Turks. Those 
 \vho made the as.-ault on the citv were vigorously 
 repulsed, and their vast army being 'seized with a 
 panic, was routed almost without resistance. Of the 
 Christians, not above 600 fell in this singular engage- 
 ment.
 
 400 GERMANY, 
 
 ment, nor did the loss of the enemy amount to much 
 more than double that number. So great however was. 
 the terror, and so precipitate the flight of the Turks, 
 that they left behind them not only their tents, artillery 
 nnd baggage, but even the famous standard of Maho- 
 met, which was taken and sent as a present to the 
 pope. The King of Poland and the imperialists 
 advanced soon after in the pursuit of the enemy. A 
 battle took place in the plain of Barcan, in which the 
 Turks were again defeated, and at last the emperor 
 recovered all Hungary. Such was the success of one 
 of the most formidable armaments that had menaced 
 the civilized world since the irruption of the northern 
 nations into the Roman empire.* 
 
 Leopold having completed the conquest of Hungary, 
 got the crown declared hereditary in the house of 
 Austria, and his son Joseph proclaimed king. Al- 
 though still engaged in war against the Turks, he had 
 leisure to turn his attention towards France, and framed 
 that famous association known by the name of the 
 League of Augsburg, the object of which was to check 
 the power and put a stop to the encroachments of 
 France. In this league the emperor, Spain, and Hol- 
 land were principals: Denmark, Sweden, and Savoy 
 afterwards acceded. The flames of war were again 
 lighted up in Germany; and the Palatinate was wasted 
 Vilth fire and sword, in a manner that reflects eternal 
 disgrace on Louis XIV. and the commanders employ- 
 ed in that quarter. The emperor in the mean while, 
 was successful against the Turks. Belgrade was taken, 
 pnd the imperialists, commanded by the Prince of 
 Baden, defeated the Ottoman armies in three succes- 
 
 * For a circumstantial account of this memorable siege of Vienna, vide 
 Anaales de-1'Enipue, torn. 2, anil Barre Hist, de 1'Aileiuane, toni. 10. 
 
 * sive.
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 401 
 
 sive engagements. This good fortune, however, was 
 not permanent. The Turks imputing their losses to 
 the misconduct of the Grand Vizier, that officer was 
 made a sacrifice to the public indignation. A new 
 vizier, a man of abilities and exertion, was appointed. 
 Tekeli, the Hungarian mal-conlent, was declared 
 waiwode of Transylvania. The Turks recovered Bel- 
 grade, and all the Upper Hungary; but again received 
 a dreadful check, being, in the year 1691, totally de- 
 feated by the Prince of Baden, with the loss of about 
 20,000 men. The Grand Vizier, the Seraskier, and 
 mo*t of the principal officers were slain. The next 
 year the town of Great Waradin was taken by the 
 imperialists.* 
 
 The year 1697 gave a favourable turn to the em- 
 peror's affairs. The treaty of Ryswick re-established 
 tranquillity in the west of Europe, and in the east his 
 arms were successful. Mustapha II. the reigning 
 sultan, more enterprising and active than his prede- 
 cessor, commanded his army in person; and the cele- 
 brated Prince Eugene, of Savoy, who had already 
 distinguished himself on many occasions, was placed 
 at the head of the imperialists in Hungary, where his 
 consummate abilities shone forth in all their lustre at 
 the memorable battle of Zenta. In this decisive en- 
 gagement the Grand Seignor was totally defeated 
 Above 20,000 Turks fell by the sword, and 10,000 
 were drowned in the river Theysse, which runs by the 
 village of Zenta. The Grand Vizier, the Aga of the Janis- 
 saries, and twenty-seven Pashas were found among 
 ,the slain. All the ammunition, provisions, artillery, 
 and baggage of the Turks, with the magnificent pavi- 
 
 Henault. Ab. Chron. v<A. '2, p. 1691. liarrS Hist, dc l'Al!eraan, 
 lorn. 10. 
 
 VOL. in. 2 D lion
 
 402 GERMANY", 
 
 lion of tlie sultan, and the great seal of the Ottomart 
 empire, fell into the hands of the imperialists.* 
 Scarcely any victory was ever more complete ; but 
 from the advanced season of the year, its immediate 
 consequences were less important than might have 
 been expected. After a fruitless attempt to retrieve 
 his losses in another campaign, Mustapha, however, 
 was obliged to agree to a peace, which was signed at 
 Carlowitz, in 16^9, by the plenipotentiaries of all the 
 belligerent powers. By this treaty, the Morea and 
 several parts of Dahnatia were ceded to Venice, 
 Kauiinieck was restored to the Poles, Russia was con- 
 firmed in the possession of Asoph ; but what most 
 particularly appertains to the portion of European 
 history here under consideration, all Hungary on this 
 side the Save, with Transylvania and Slavonia, were 
 ceded to the house of Austria.^ This treaty, by which 
 general tranquillity was restored Ur Europe, fixed the 
 boundaries of the Austrian dominions and the Ottoman 
 empire nearly the same as they have ver since re- 
 mained. 
 
 This pleasing calm, however, was only a prelude to 
 one of the most extensive scenes of war that had 
 hitherto ensanguined the history of modern Europe. 
 The Spanish succession was the grand object, which, 
 since the peace of Ryswick, had exercised the specu- 
 lative talents of politicians, and which shortly after 
 spread the flames of war over all the western and 
 southern countries of the continent. Charles II. king 
 of Spain, being without issue, and in a languishing 
 state of health, his death, which was daily expected, 
 
 * Barre, torn. 10. 
 
 t Dumont Corps Diplomatique, apud lluss. Hist. Mod. Eur. vol. 4, 
 part <H, p. 214. 
 
 raised
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 403 
 
 raised the hopes of the various competitors for the 
 succession. These were Louis XIV. the Emperor 
 Leopold, and the Elector of Bavaria. The two first 
 were in the 1 same degree of consanguinity with the 
 King of Spain, being both grandsons of Philip III. ; 
 the Dauphin and the Emperor's eldest son, Joseph, 
 king of the Romans, had, therefore, a double claim, 
 their mothers being two daughters of Philip IV. The 
 King of France and the Dauphin were both descended 
 from the eldest daughters of Spain ; but the imperial 
 family pleaded in support of their claim, besides the 
 solemn renunciations of Louis XIII. and Louis XIV. of 
 their title to the Spanish succession, the blood of Maxi- 
 milian the common parent of both branches of the house 
 of Austria. The Elector of Bavaria claimed the right of 
 male representation, as husband of the Archduchess, 
 the only surviving child of the Emperor Leopold by 
 the infanta Margaret, second daughter of Philip IV. 
 \vho had declared her descendants heirs to his crown 
 in preference to those of his eldest daughter, Maria 
 Theresa. In virtue, therefore, of that declaration, and 
 of the renunciation of Maria Theresa, the son of the 
 elector was, in default of issue by Charles II. entitled 
 to the succession. The general interests of Europe 
 required, that in order to prevent the aggrandise- 
 ment of either Austria or France, the Prince of 
 Bavaria should succeed to the crown of Spain; but 
 he was unable to contend with either of the other two. 
 competitors. A complicated train of political in- 
 trigues, therefore, took place, and every machination 
 that statesmen could devise was employed by the 
 claimants and their abettors. William Ilf. king of 
 England, foresaw the dangerous consequences that 
 ugt arise from a translation of the Spanish monarchy 
 a i 2 to
 
 404 GERMANY. 
 
 to the house of Bourbon, und considered it as a 
 master-piece of policy to provide against that event, 
 by a partition treaty concluded with Louis XIV. by 
 which Spain and her American empire were assigned 
 to the Electorial Prince of Bavaria, and the rest of 
 her territories were divided between the Dauphin and 
 the Archduke Charles, second son of the emperor. 
 This treaty was to have been kept a secret ; but as it 
 was necessary to obtain the emperor's consent to a 
 measure, which deprived him of the great object of 
 his ambition, the whole negotiation soon transpired. 
 The Spanish ministry were fired with indignation 
 at finding a division of their monarchy made by 
 foreigners. The king called an extraordinary council 
 in order to deliberate on so unprecedented a trans- 
 action, and at length came to the resolution of making 
 a testament, by which he declared the Electoral 
 Prince of Bavaria sole heir to the whole of his 
 dominions.* This decision, which was conformable 
 both to the testament of Philip J V. and to the maxims 
 of sound policy, was perfectly calculated to remove 
 the apprehensions of Europe, as it was infinitely more 
 favourable to the general balance of power than the 
 partition treaty. But the sudden death of the Electoral 
 prince annulled the whole transaction, and revived 
 those hopes and fears which had undergone n tem- 
 porary extinction. William TJI. and Louis XIV r . 
 again set their politics to work, in order to obviate 
 the consequences ; and a second treaty of partition 
 was privately agreed to by England, France, and 
 Holland, by which Spain and her American domi- 
 nions were assigned to the Archduke Charles, and the 
 rest of the Spanish territories, with some trifling ex- 
 
 * Voltaire Siedc 4 Louii XIV. tirnj), 16. 
 
 changes
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 changes and indemnifications, were guaranteed to the 
 Dauphin. Particular clauses also provided that Spain 
 should never be united either with France or the 
 Empire under one monarch. Whether Louis XIV. 
 was sincere in any of these negotiations, however, is L 
 extremely problematical. 
 
 Every engine of political manoeuvre was now set to 
 work. The Emperor Leopold expecting the succes- ; 
 sion to the whole Spanish monarchy, rejected the. 
 treaty of partition. The German princes were un- 
 willing to excite the resentment of the house of 
 Austria, and the Italian states were alarmed at the 
 idea of seeing France in possession of Naples and 
 Sicily, and of other districts in their country. The 
 Swiss cantons refused to accede as guarantees, and 
 the Duke of Savoy affected a mysterious neutrality. 
 Louis XIV. though he had agreed to the partition, 
 resolved to try for the whole; and the Marquis d'Har- 
 court, the French ambassador, by his dexterous policy, 
 and insinuating address, soon gained a powerful party, 
 to his master's interest at the court of Madrid. The 
 inclinations of Charles preponderated in favour of the 
 house of Austria; but the Spanish grandees and the 
 clergy, especially the latter, desired a prince of the 
 Bourbon family. Every intrigue was practised, and 
 every argument was used to sway the mind of the 
 dying monarch, who, wishing to act in conformity to 
 justice, consulted the pope on this important subject. 
 His Holiness, sensible that the aggrandisement of the 
 house of Austria would endanger the liberties of Italy, 
 decided in favour of the family of Bourbon. In con- 
 sequence of this decision, Charles made a will in 
 which he declared the Duke of Anjou, second son of 
 2 D 3 tUe
 
 406 GERMANY. 
 
 the Dauphin, his successor in all his dominions.* The 
 nomination fell on this young prince, in order to pre- 
 vent the union of France and Spain, as it was the par- 
 ticular wish of the Spaniards to preserve their monar- 
 chy entire and independent. This testament was kept 
 a profound secret till the death of Charles II, A.D. 
 1701, developed its contents. The Duke of Anjou 
 being immediately proclaimed king of Spain by the 
 nam of Philip V, was crowned at Madrid, with the 
 universal consent of the whole nation. t Louis XIV. 
 took the most effectual measures for supporting him 
 in his newly acquired throne. French squadrons were 
 sent to the port of Cadiz, and to those of Spanish 
 America ; and the court of France being empowered 
 by Spain to seize on the barrier towns of Flanders, the 
 Dutch immediately acknowledged his right.J The 
 Icing of England, unable to draw his Parliament into 
 his hostile views, found it necessary to adopt the same 
 measures. Of all the great powers of Europe, the 
 emperor was therefore the only one who refused to 
 acknowledge the title of Philip V. to the crown of 
 Spain. 
 
 Leopold, therefore, entered the lists against France 
 and Spain, without a single ally. Iu J70J he com- 
 menced hostilities by sending Prince Eugene into the 
 Milanese with an army of 30,000 men. That general 
 drove the French beyond the Oglio, made himself 
 
 * For the whole detail of these complicated politics, vide Voltaire Sid- 
 cle de Louis XIV. Mem. de Torey ; Hume's Hist. Eng. Burnet's History 
 f his own Times, &c. 
 
 t This portion of history might have been placed under the article of 
 Spain : but all these intrigues and negotiatioa-s were the act* of foreigners. 
 
 i Mem. de Noailles, torn. 1. 
 
 maste
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 407 
 
 master of all the district between the Adige and the 
 Adda, and penetrated into the territory of Bresciano.* 
 But Louis XIV, having, on the demise of James II, 
 acknowledged the pretender, his son, king of England, 
 by the name of James III, the Parliament immediately 
 concurred with the sovereign in resenting the insult. 
 William III. died amidst his preparations for war; but 
 his political views were adopted by Anne, his succes- 
 sor. The Dutch entered fully into the measures of 
 England. The grand alliance was formed between 
 England, Holland, and the emperor, and war was de- 
 clared against France, on the same day, at London, 
 the Hague, and Vienna. Savoy and Portugal after- 
 wards acceded to the confederacy, and a general war 
 was kindled in the west of Europe. In this compen- 
 dium of history, the object of which is to exhibit the 
 progress of nations, rather than the cabals of courts 
 and the operations of campaigns, it would be impossi- 
 ble to examine the intricate maze of politics, or to de- 
 tail the military manoeuvres of this period. All that 
 this work can admit on the subject, is concisely 
 sketched in treating on the affairs of England and 
 France. It suffices here to observe, that the allies, as 
 is often the case in war, incurred an immense expendi- 
 ture of blood and of money to little purpose. Louis 
 XIV. carried his point by exhausting his dominions, 
 and his grandson, Philip V. was, by the treaty of 
 Utrecht, in 1714, confirmed on the throne of Spain. t 
 
 Leopold, who began the succession war, dying in 
 1703, left it to be continued by Joseph I, his son and 
 
 * Voltaire Siccle de Louis XIV, ch. 17. 
 
 t For a detailed account of the military transactions of this period, vido 
 the abovementioned authors, Dukeof Berwick's Meiuoirs,and Memoirs de 
 Noailles. For the events of this period, see abo Hist. Views of England 
 and France. 
 
 8 D 4 successor,
 
 408 GERMANY. 
 
 successor, whose reign it entirely occupied. Joseph 
 died in 1711, and was succeeded by his brother, the 
 Archduke Charles, whom the allies were endeavouring 
 to place on the throne of Spain. The elevation of this 
 prince to the imperial throne materially changed the 
 state of political affairs, and greatly contributed to 
 promote the peace of Utrecht. That treaty, however, 
 which the emperor in vain endeavoured to prevent, 
 was no sooner concluded, than a war, which arose in 
 another quarter, gave occupation to his arms. The 
 Turks had happily remained quiet during the grand 
 contest of the Christian princes for the Spanish suc- 
 cession ; but no sooner was the general peace con- 
 cluded, than Achmet III, who by this conduct appears 
 to have been no profound politician, commenced hos- 
 tilities against the Venetians, and seized on the Morea, 
 in direct violation of the treaty of Carlowitz. The 
 house of Austria being guarantee of that treaty, and 
 one of the principal parties concerned, Charles was 
 bound, both in honour and interest, to oppose its in- 
 fringement. He accordingly declared war against the 
 Ottoman Porte in 17 Ifi; and the celebrated Prince 
 Eugene was sent to add fresh laurels to those which 
 he had already acquired in Hungary, Italy, the Nether- 
 lands, and Germany The prince having passed the 
 Danube with a powerful army, totally defeated the 
 grand vizier, Ali, at the battle of Peterwaradin. The 
 year following he undertook the siege of Belgrade, 
 where, being surrounded in his camp by a numerous 
 army of the enemy, he sallied out of his intrenchments, 
 routed 1 he Turks with great slaughter, and took all 
 their artillery, ammunition, and baggage. The imme- 
 diate surrender of Belgrade was the fruit of this im- 
 portant victory ; and after a short war of two years, 
 
 <) the
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 409 
 
 the Porte was reduced, by successive defeats, to the 
 necessity of concluding the treaty of Passarowitz, by 
 which Belgrade and the bannat of Temeswar were 
 ceded to the emperor. But Venice did not recover her 
 possessions in Greece ; the Morea being left in the 
 hands of the Turks. After these transactions followed 
 a series of political intrigues, negotiations, and alli- 
 ances, which produced no events of great importance. 
 The emperor, after some unsuccessful hostilities with 
 France, Spain, and Sardinia, undertook a new war 
 against the Turks. The Porte was at that time enr 
 gag-ed in hostilities with Russia, and had already lost 
 Asoph and Ockzakow. Charles thought the crisis ex- 
 tremely favorable for making new acquisitions, by 
 dismembering from the Ottoman empire some of it 
 provinces. But the result was contrary to his expec- 
 tation. Prince Eugene was dead; and none of the sur- 
 viving generals equalled him in abilities. The impe- 
 rialists .were repeatedly defeated : several important 
 places were lost ; and Charles, resolving to terminate 
 a war from which he reaped nothing but disgrace and 
 misfortune, a peace between Russia, Austria, and Tur- 
 key, was concluded in 1739. Belgrade, Sabatz, the 
 isle and fortress of Orsova, with Servia and Austrian 
 Wallachia, were ceded to the Porte; and the Danube 
 and the Save were made the boundaries between the 
 Imperial and the Ottoman dominions. The next year, 
 1 "40, Charles VI. died. In him was extinct the male 
 issue of tiie ancient and illustrious house of Austria, 
 the disputed succession to whose hereditary domi- 
 nions rekindled :he flames of war, and involved Europe 
 in new calamities. 
 
 One of the grand objects of this emperor's politics- 
 was the arrangement, known by the name of the Prag- 
 matic
 
 410 CERMANY. 
 
 roatic Sanction, which guaranteed to his daughter, the 
 Archduchess MariaTheresa, married to Francis of Lor- 
 raine, Grand Duke of Tuscany, the succession to all 
 the hereditary dominions of the house of Austria. 
 Almost all the European powers had guaranteed the 
 Pragmatic Sanction ; but lawless ambition can only be 
 restrained by force ; and as Prince Eugene had before 
 observed, "A hundred thousand men would bave been 
 a better guarantee than a hundred thousand treaties/' 
 Charles was no sooner laid in the grave, than numerous 
 pretenders to the Austrian succession arose. The 
 Elector of Bavaria laid claim to the kingdom of Bohe- 
 mia, and the king of Sardinia pretended a right to 
 Milan, while Augustus III, king of Poland, as well a* 
 the kings of Spain and France, had claims to the 
 whole of the hereditary dominions, as descendants from 
 different branches of the house of Austria. Maria 
 Theresa, however, took peaceable possession of her 
 vast inheritance, and by her engaging affability soon 
 gained the hearts of her subjects. Her first care after 
 conciliating the affections of her people, was to raise 
 her husband to the imperial throne ; but she w r as des- 
 titute of money, and a number of pretenders were 
 rising up against her in order to assert their claims, 
 either to the whole or a part of her dominions. The 
 king of Prussia, Frederick the Great, was the first who 
 proceeded to action. In virtue of certain antiquated 
 claims, he made a sudden irruption into Silesia, with 
 an army of SO,OOO men, in order, as he said, to esta- 
 blish his right. When in the heart of that province, 
 and in possession of Breslau, its capital, he shewed an 
 inclination to negotiate. He proposed to Maria The- 
 resa to supply her with money and troops, to protect 
 all her other dominions, and to exert all his interest to 
 * place
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 4U 
 
 place her husband, Francis of Lorraine on the impe- 
 rial throne ; and, in consideration <if all these goad 
 offices, he required only the cession of the Lower Si- 
 lesia. 
 
 This was, indeed, a small sacrifice to make for so 
 many and so great ad vantages; but the queen of Hun- 
 gary knowing, that to comply with the requisitions of 
 one pretender, would only give encouragement to 
 others, resolved to begin with vigorous measures, to 
 repel aggression by force, and oppose every attempt 
 to dismember her dominions. She accordingly sent 
 Count N v euperg, one of her ablest commanders, with a 
 strong body of troops, to expel the invaders. At the 
 village of Molwitz, near Neiss in Silesia, a desperate 
 engagement took place between the two armies, which 
 were nearly equal in number. The Austrians, in spite 
 of the most vigorous efforts, were defeated with the 
 loss of 4,000 men. This victory was soon after fol- 
 lowed by the reduction of the whole province of Si- 
 lesia.* 
 
 Although Trance had guaranteed the Pragmatic 
 Sanction, the Cardinal de Fleury, a lover of peace, was 
 unable to withstand that ardour for war, which was 
 excited in the French court by, -the king of Prussia's 
 successful invasion of Silesia. A plan was immediately 
 formed for finally crushing the house of Austria, and 
 exalting that of Bourbon on its ruins. This was to be 
 effected by dismembering the dominions of the queen 
 of Hungary, and raising to the imperial dignity the 
 elector of Bavaria, a stipendiary of France. The 
 Count, afterwards Marshal and Duke de Belleisle, 
 with the chevalier, his brother, were the principal au- 
 thors of this project; and to them its execution was 
 
 * Voltaire Sicle de Louis XV, ch. 5. 
 
 chiefly
 
 412 GERMANY. 
 
 chiefly committed. Two French armies, one of 50,000, 
 the other of 40,000 men, immediately entered Ger- 
 many ; and the Count de Belleisle, acting in the 
 double capacity of ambassador and general, con- 
 cluded on the basis of this plan a treaty between 
 France, Prussia, and the elector of Bavaria. The 
 elector being appointed by Louis XV, generalissimo, 
 with the Mareschals Belleisle and Broglio, to act un- 
 der him, surprised Passati, entered the Upper Austria, 
 and advanced within a few leagues of Vienna, which, 
 being ill fortified, was not thought capable of making 
 any vigorous defence. Multitudes of the inhabitants 
 fled from the capital : the Danube was daily covered 
 with boats, and the roads were crowded with carriages 
 $nd passengers. In this extremity the queen, commit- 
 ting her desperate affairs to the care of her husband 
 and her generals, retired to Presburg, where having 
 assembled the states of Hungary, she recommended 
 herself an-d her eldest son, yet an infant in her arms, 
 to their protection. Her youth, her beauty, and her 
 distress, made a deep impression on all that were pre- 
 sent. The Palatines, drawing their sabres, declared 
 themselves ready to die for the support of her cause. 
 From promises they immediately proceeded to action. 
 The nobility were instantly in arms, and Count Palfy, 
 with 30,000 Hungarians, marched, to the relief of 
 Vienna. Kevenhuller, the governor, had a garrison of 
 12,000 men. The grand duke and his brother, Prince 
 Charles of Lorraine, were at the head of another large 
 body ; Count Neuperg had 20,000 under his command 
 in Bohemia, while Prince Lobkowitz and other gene- 
 rals were exerting themselves in raising fresh levies. 
 These formidable appearances induced the elector of 
 of Bavaria to moderate his expectations. Instead of 
 
 investing
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 41S 
 
 investing Vienna he marched into Bohemia, and being 
 joined by 0,000 Saxons, laid siege to Prague. The 
 famous Count Saxe, natural son of Augustus II. king 
 of Poland, took the city by storm, and displaced, on 
 this occasion, his humanity not less than his courage 
 and bravery. He not only saved the inhabitants from 
 violence, but the town from pillage ; by which he ac- 
 quired a glory that conquest alone cannot give. The 
 elector of Bavaria was crowned king of Bohemia at 
 Prague, and, proceeding to Frankfort, was elected 
 emperor by the name of Charles VII. But the day of 
 his elevation to the imperial throne was the last of his 
 good fortune. The Austrian general, Kevenhuller, re- 
 took Lintz, dislodged the French from all their posts 
 in Upper Austria, entered the emperor's hereditary 
 dominions, and made himself master of Munich, the 
 capital of Bavaria. Prince Charles of Lorraine, ad- 
 vancing at the head of 48,000 men, expelled the Prus- 
 sians and Saxons from Moravia, and Prince Lobko- 
 witz, with 16,000 men, was appointed to observe the 
 motions of the French in Bohemia. The retreat of 
 the Prussians and Saxons seemed to afford the Aus- 
 trians an opportunity of concentrating their whole 
 force against the French under Belleisle and Broglio ; 
 but the king of Prussia having received a re-inforce- 
 ment of 30,000 men, marched to the assistance of hi* 
 allies, and defeated Prince Charles of Lorraine at 
 Czaslan. The loss, however, was nearly equal, about 
 5,000 men beins; killed on each side. Soon after this 
 
 7 O 
 
 engagement the Prussian monarch, cither weary of 
 the war, or dissatisfied with the court of Fiance, con- 
 cluded nu advantageous peace with the queen of Hun- 
 gary, by which he obtained the cession of the whole 
 province of Silesia, with the county of Glut/. A peace 
 
 was
 
 414 GERMANY. 
 
 was also about the same time concluded between the 
 cueen and Augustus III. king of Poland and elector 
 of Saxony. 
 
 The Mareschuls Belleisle and Broglio no sooner 
 found themselves deserted by their allies, than aban- 
 doning their magazines and baggage, they retired 
 with precipitation under the cannon of Prague. There 
 they entrenched themselves in a meadow, which the 
 windings of the river Mold aw formed into a sort of 
 peninsula, while prince Charles of Lorraine, with the 
 Austrian army, encamped in sight of them on the 
 hills of Grisnitz. The French generals now surrounded 
 Ly superior forces, deprived of all supplies, and har- 
 rassed by perpetual assaults, were reduced to the 
 greatest extremity. A situation so difticujt and dis- 
 tressing, gave rise to a complicated plan of military 
 operations, of which the brevity of this work pre- 
 cludes the detail : a short summary of this curious 
 portion of military history must therefore suffice. 
 Mareschal Maillebois, commander of the French 
 forces on the Rhine, marched with 42,000 men to 
 the relief of Prague, and was joined at Amberg by 
 30,000 French and Imperialists under Seckendorf and 
 Count Saxe. The prince of Lorraine, apprised of this 
 movement, committed the blockade to general Fes- 
 titz with 18,000 men, and advanced with the main 
 tody of his army against Maillebois. In the mean 
 while the Mareschals Belleisle and Broglio broke out 
 of Prague, in spite of the blockading arm}', which 
 was -too weak to oppose them, and attempted to form, 
 a junction with Maillebois, who was (hen in the 
 neighbourhood of Egra. But the prince of Lorraine 
 having secured all the passes, rendered the measure 
 impracticable. Mailleboii was at last obliged to re- 
 
 treat
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 415 
 
 treat into the Palatinate, while Belleisle and Broglio 
 were driven back into Prague. The siege of this 
 important place was now resumed. Maillebois being 
 recalled, Mareschal Broglio made his escape in' dis- 
 guise, in order to take the command of the French, 
 forces in the Palatinate. The eyes of all Europe 
 were turned towards Mareschal Belleisle and his small 
 but gallant army, now destitute of all resources but 
 those of military skill and courage. In this desperate 
 situation, Belleisle made known all the resources of 
 his genius, while his intrepid spirit, undaunted by 
 misfortune, communicated itself to his officers and 
 soldi^s. Almost every day the French made des- 
 perate sallies, which occasioned great loss to the be- 
 siegers. The blockade, however, being closely kept 
 up, the French were reduced to the greatest distress 
 for want of provisions ; and Mareschal Belleisle saw, 
 with great concern, the havoc which famine and dis- 
 ease, its usual concomitant, were beginning to make 
 among his troops. He resolved, therefore, to make 
 one grand effort, in order, if possible, to effect a 
 retreat. The great extent of the walls of Prague, 
 about twelve English miles in circuit, rendered his 
 plan more practicable. Having made in one quarter 
 of trfe town, such dispositions as led the besiegers to 
 expect a general sally, he marched out on the oppo- 
 site side with 1 1,000 foot and 3,000 horse, and got 
 almost a days march of the enemy. The ground was 
 covered with snow, and the cold was intense. He 
 was in the heart of an enemies country. Prince Lob- 
 kowitz, with a superior force, hung on his rear; and 
 the Austrians occupied all the passes on the two prin- 
 cipal roads to Egra, which was still in the hands of 
 the French. Amidt all these difficulties, Mareschal 
 
 Belleisle
 
 416 GERMANY. 
 
 Belleisle so judiciously planned bis route, Striking 
 over frozen morasses, perhaps never before trodden 
 by the foot of man, he himself always pointing out 
 the way, that after a fatiguing march of twelve days 
 he reached Egra, and proceeding into Alsace com- 
 pleted his retreat, one of the most memorable in 
 military history, having lost about 1000 men through 
 the excessive rigour of the season, but not one by 
 the sword of the enemy. 
 
 The court of Great Britain now appeared seriously 
 disposed to take a part in the continental war against 
 France, and the queen of Hungary elated with her 
 unexpected success, as well as rendered confident by 
 the acquisition of so powerful an ally, rejected propo- 
 sals of peace that were made by the court of Ver- 
 sailles. She was now completely victorious, being in 
 possession of the territories of the emperor Charles VII, 
 while the French had lost above 100,000 men in sup- 
 porting his cause. Her good fortune still continuing 
 to attend her, she daily received the news of fresh 
 victories : the prince of Lorraine defeated the impe- 
 rialists near Branaw, and Prince Lobkowitz marching 
 from Bohemia, drove the French from all their posts 
 in the Upper Palatinate. These two generals after- 
 wards obliged MareschalBroglio to abandon his strong 
 camp on the Danube, and to retire with precipitation 
 towards the Pthine, while the Austrian irregulars har- 
 rassing him in his march, cut off great numbers of 
 his troops. The emperor finding himself stripped of 
 his dominions, and abandoned by his allies, took re- 
 fuge in Frankfort, where he remained some time in 
 obscurity and indigence. 
 
 Great Britain at last sent an army to the continent, 
 which being joined by the troops of the electorate x>f 
 
 Hanover,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 41? 
 
 Hanover, the earl of Stair took the command of the 
 whole. A series of complicated movements took 
 place, and the duke de Noailles, the French general, 
 at last cut off all supplies from the allied army. At 
 this juncture George II, king of Great Britain, with 
 his son the duke of Cumberland, arrived at the camp 
 of the allies, whom he found in great want of provi- 
 sions. The necessity of a retreat in order to procure 
 subsistence, as well as to join a body of 12,000 Hano- 
 verians and Hessians which was in danger of being 
 cut off by the enemy, brought on the battle of Det- 
 tingen. In this engagement, George II. and the 
 duke of Cumberland displayed great courage and con- 
 duct. The British and Hanoverian troops, animated 
 by the presence and example of their sovereign, dis- 
 tinguished themselves by their valour. Victory de- 
 clared herself in favour of the allies, and the duke de 
 Noailles was obliged to retreat with the loss of about 
 5000 men.* By some it has been said, that if the 
 French had been closely pursued, their defeat would 
 have been total ; but the king of Great Britain here 
 shewed his conduct, as eminently as he had already 
 displayed his courage. His troops had been long 
 under arms after a fatiguing march, and during some 
 days had received little sustenance ; while the enemy, 
 who had still a superior army, having retreated over 
 the Maine, on bridges previously erected, was ready, 
 with a formidable train of artillery, to dispute the 
 passage of the river. In such circumstances a pursuit 
 must have been dangerous, and scarcely warrantable 
 by the rules of prudent warfare. 
 
 A series of treaties and political intrigues now occu- 
 
 * For an accurate account ef this battle, and of the previous more- 
 incuts, vide Mem. dc Js 1 Dailies, torn. 4, 
 
 VOL. in. li pied 
 
 r
 
 413 CERMANY. 
 
 pied tlie contending powers. The Queen of Hungary, 
 who at the commencement of the war was reduced 
 to such extreme distress, now every where successful, 
 refused to listen to any reasonable terms of accom- 
 modation with the emperor, who was now reduced 
 to the condition of an illustrious beggar, dependent 
 on the bounty of France for a precarious subsistence. 
 Her haughty behaviour produced a great change in 
 the sentiments of the principal German powers. 
 Their ancient jealousy of the house of Austria was 
 revived, and they resolved to interpose in favour of 
 the head of the empire. The court of Versailles en- 
 couraging these dispositions, a treaty of alliance was 
 concluded with the emperor, the king of Prussia, the 
 king of Sweden as Landgrave of Hesse Cassel, and 
 the elector Palatine.* A family compact of perpetual 
 alliance, and mutual guarantee of possessions and 
 claims, was also concluded between France and 
 Spain. f The greatest preparations were made by 
 those two powers for supporting nn extensive system 
 of war. And his Prussian majesty, by a previous 
 agreement with the court of Versailles, had exempted 
 himself from the obligation of taking up arms until 
 France should begin to make vigorous exertions. 
 The king of Sardinia at the same time entered into 
 a treaty with the queen of Hungary, by which, in 
 consideration of various advantages,, besides an annual 
 subsidy of 28O,000/. sterling from Great Britain, he 
 engaged to keep up an army of 40,000 infantry and 
 5,000 cavalry . In consequence of her engagements 
 with his Prussian majesty, France now began to act 
 with great vigour. Louis XV. put himself at the 
 
 * Mciu. do Noaille*, torn. 4. t Ibid. ibid. 
 
 J Ibid, ubi iupm. 
 
 head
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 414) 
 
 head of his army in Flanders, which consisted of 
 120,000 men. The field mareschals the duke de 
 Noailles and the count de Saxe, commanded under 
 the king, and carried all before them. But Prince 
 Charles of Lorraine, having passed the Rhine with 
 60,000 Austrians, and entered Alsace, the duke de 
 Noailles was obliged to march with 40,000 choice 
 troops to join Mareschal de Coigni who commanded 
 in that province. The king himself follo\ved with a 
 farther reinforcement, and left the count de Saxe to 
 command the forces in Flanders. In the mean while 
 the king of Prussia had entered Bohemia, and before 
 Prince Charles could march to oppose his progress, 
 had made himself master of Prague, and of all that 
 
 O * 
 
 part of the kingdom which lies to the east of the 
 Moldavv. Prince Charles, however, being joined by 
 a large body of Saxons and another of Hungarians, 
 obliged his Prussian majesty to evacuate Bohemia 
 and retire with precipitation into Silesia. In this re- 
 treat the Prussians lost above 30,000 men, with all 
 their heavy baggage and artillery. While Frederick 
 III. experienced this reverse of fortune, the fugitive 
 emperor, Charles VII, recovered once more possession 
 of his capital and his hereditary electorate ; Secken- 
 dorf, the imperial general, with the assistance of a body 
 of French, having driven the Austrians out of Bavaria. 
 But by the retreat of the Prussians, and the rapid 
 progress of the prince of Lorraine, he was in danger 
 of being again expelled from his dominions, when 
 death relieved him, in 1745, from a life of disquie- 
 tude and misfortunes. His son, Maximilian Joseph, 
 wisely concluded a peace with the queen of Hungary, 
 who confirmed him in the possession of his hereditary 
 dominions, on condition, that renouncing nil claim 
 a li 2 to
 
 4CO GERMANY. 
 
 to any part of the Austrian succession, he should 
 guarantee the Pragmatic Sanction, and give his vote 
 to the grand duke qf Tuscany, her husband, at the 
 ensuing election of an emperor.* 
 
 During the whole of this period, the war was not 
 less vigorously carried on in Italy than in German}'; 
 but as it is not the design of this compendium to 
 enter into details of military transactions, and as no 
 important revolutions were effected in that country, 
 it is requisite to confine our historical remarks to the 
 house of Austria, the principal party in all these 
 transactions, and whose exaltation and decline is the 
 chief political feature in the modern history of Ger- 
 many. The queen of Hungary had now no other 
 object in view, than the elevation of the grand duke 
 her husband to the imperial throne, and would gladly 
 have agreed to a peace on such terms as might have 
 promoted her views. But the courts of France and 
 Spain were resolved to oppose his election, and made 
 an offer of the imperial crown to Augustus [II, king 
 of Poland and elector of Saxony. That prince, how- 
 ever, prudently refusing a gift which it was not in 
 their power to bestow, renewed his engagements with 
 the courts of London and Vienna. The two grand 
 objects of Louis XV, being the exclusion of the 
 grand duke from the imperial throne, and the con- 
 quest of the Austrian Netherlands, he assembled two 
 great armies, one on the Maine in order to support 
 the king of Prussia, and overawe the deliberations of 
 the electors at Frankfort ; the other in Flanders under 
 the famous Count de Saxe, who invested Tournay. 
 The famous battle of Fontenoy, took place April 30, 
 1745, in consequence of the allies attempting to relieve 
 
 * Tindal's Contin Rapin, p. 11. 
 
 this
 
 GENERAL HISTORY, 421 
 
 this important barrier town. The king of France and 
 the dauphin were present at this battle. The British 
 and Hanoverian troops were commanded by his royal 
 highness the duke of Cumberland, the Austrians by 
 Count Konigseg, and the Dutch by the prince of 
 Waldec. The dispositions of Mareschal Saxe were 
 the most masterly that could be c6nceived. The can- 
 nonading began in the morning as soon as it was 
 light. About nine both armies were engaged, and 
 the action lasted till three in the afternoon. Military 
 history does not record a more desperate and gallant 
 attack than that made by the British infantry, com- 
 manded by the duke of Cumberland in person, assist- 
 ed by Sir John Ligonier. Mareschal Saxe himself, 
 seeing them bear down all before them, concluded 
 that the battle was lost, and sent advice to the king 
 to provide for his own safety by retreating over the 
 bridge of Colonne. But Louis XV, sensible that 
 such a measure would give a decided victory to the 
 allies, refused to quit his post; his firmness prevented 
 the ruin of his army, and gave an unexpected turn to 
 the action. All the bravery, however, of the French 
 monarch and his son, as well as the tactical skill of 
 Count Saxe, would have been ineffectual, had the 
 English been properly supported by the Dutch; the 
 French would have been totally' defeated, and even 
 the retreat of the king and the dauphin perhaps inter- 
 cepted.* The English column, after having repulsed 
 all the regiments in the French army which ad- 
 vanced in succession, was at last obliged to retire 
 with the loss of 7,000 men. The Hanoverians also 
 behaved gallantly and sustained great loss; but that of 
 the Austrians and the Dutch was inconsiderable. The 
 
 * Voltaire Sie. dc Louis XV, cii. 13. 
 
 2 3 Frcuch
 
 4 r t3 GERMANY. 
 
 French lost about 10,000 men, among whom were 
 man}* persons of distinction. Their victory, how- 
 ever, was followed by important consequences. The 
 allies were never afterwards able to face the enemy. 
 Saxe and Lowendahl carried all before them, and at 
 the end of the campaign had reduced every town in 
 Austrian Flanders. 
 
 The queen of Hungary, meantime, obtained the 
 great object of her ambition, the elevation of her 
 husband the grand duke to the imperial throne, in 
 spite of the policy and power of France, whose army 
 on the Maine being inferior to that of the Austrians, 
 was unable to impede the election The king of 
 Prussia in the mean while having gained two bloody 
 victories over the Austrians at Fridburg on the con- 
 fines of Silesia, and at Slandentz in Bohemia, invaded 
 Saxony and made himself master of Dresden. So 
 many advantages and losses alternately succeeding, 
 and counterbalancing one another, at last induced the 
 German powers to think of restoring tranquillity to 
 the empire. The queen of Hungary, and the king 
 of Poland, elector of Saxony, concluded treaties of 
 peace with the king of Prussia and the elector Pala- 
 tine. . Augustus agreed to pay the king of Prussia 
 1,000,000 of German crowns in consideration of his 
 evacuating Saxony, "and the queen of Hungary con- 
 firmed him in the possession of Silesia. His Prussian 
 majesty on his part, as well as the elector Palatine, 
 agreed to acknowledge the validity of the emperor's 
 election. Such was the termination of this memora- 
 ble contest, which at its commencement threatened 
 the total annihilation of the house of Austria, and 
 ended in its complete re-establishment. The grand 
 duke of Tuscany, husband of Maria Theresa, was by 
 
 the
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 423 
 
 the whole Germanic body acknowledged as emperor 
 under the name of Francis I, and their union being 
 blessed with- male issue, the imperial sceptre, as well 
 as the hereditary crown, were continued in the an- 
 ctent and illustrious house of Austria. 
 
 The war, so far as it particularly related to Ger- 
 many, was now terminated ; but it was still carried 
 on with vigour in the Netherlands and Italy. In the 
 Netherlands, the French under Saxe and Lowendahl 
 were almost constantly victorious. In Italy, success 
 fluctuated between the contending parties. The treaty 
 of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, put an end to this 
 singular war, in which almost all the powers of Europe 
 had been engaged; and after an infinite number of 
 complicated operations, and of gallant exploits, after 
 various turns of fortune, and a prodigious destruction 
 of the human species, all, except the queen 6t Hun- 
 gary and the king of Prussia, were losers. Even the 
 two latter had gained nothing by all their exertions 
 since the year 1742. The queen, except in the eleva- 
 tion of Francis to the imperial throne, might then 
 have made peace on as good terms as she afterwards 
 obtained ; and his Prussian majesty gained nothing 
 more by the treaty of Dresden in the year 17-i.> 
 than had been ceded to him in 1742 by the treaty of 
 Breslaw.* 
 
 Germany reposed in tranquillity till the year 17oO, 
 when the empress queen of Hungary, who could 
 never be reconciled to the loss of Silesia, one of the 
 most fertile countries of Europe, and which yielded 
 an annual revenue of 4,000,000 of dollars, entered into 
 a league with the empress of llussia and the king of 
 
 * Vide reflections on tlio peace of Ah-Ia-Clinpelle, as relative to Great 
 Britain and the IIOUBC of Hourbon, in the Historical View <>!' t upland. 
 
 2 E 4 Sweden
 
 424 GERMANY. 
 
 Sweden for the purpose of recovering this fine pro- 
 vince, and even of stripping the king of Prussia of 
 his dominions. The ancient animosities and jealousies 
 which had ever subsisted between the houses of Aus- 
 tria and Bourbon, seemed to be forgotten ; a close 
 union was formed between the courts of Vienna and 
 Versailles, and France entered into a league with 
 Austria, Russia, and Sweden, against Prussia. An 
 account of that war, which during the space of seven 
 years devastated Germany, will be more properly 
 placed in a sketch of Prussian history, in order to 
 exhibit with greater perspicuity and connection the 
 contrast between the past and the present state of a 
 kingdom, not half a century ago so illustrious in arms, 
 but at present so unfortunately humiliated. It suf- 
 fices, therefore, in this place to say, that after one of 
 the most active and bloody, as well as the most ably 
 conducted wars recorded in history, peace was, in 
 1763, restored on the principle of mutual restitution. 
 Austria and Prussia were placed in the same situation 
 as at the commencement of hostilities; and thus the 
 two great powers, that divided the efficient strength 
 of Germany, were finally fixed in the station which 
 we have seen them occupy previous to the late tre- 
 mendous revolutions on the continent. 
 
 The emperor Francis I. dying in 176.5, Joseph II, 
 his son by Maria Theresa queen of Hungary and Bo- 
 hemia, succeeded to the imperial dignity. Immedi- 
 ately after his accession, he began to discover great 
 ambition, penetration, and activity. Desirous of ob- 
 serving the state of other countries besides his own, 
 he visited incognito, and with few attendants, Rome 
 and the other principal cities of Italy. He afterwards 
 paid * visit to Paris, where he was received with 
 
 the
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 425 
 
 ihe most distinguished honours by his illustrious sister 
 and her husband, the late unfortunate king and queen 
 of France. He also made the tour of his own do- 
 minions, and in every place where he travelled, ob- 
 served with accuracy the state of arts, science, manu- 
 factures and trade. His journey to Cherson, and its 
 supposed consequences, are mentioned in treating of 
 the affairs of Russia under Catherine II. The politi- 
 cal events of Ins reign, 1 except the part which he 
 took in the partition of Poland, were not of great im- 
 portance. The dispute concerning the Bavarian suc- 
 cession, is spoken of in the historical sketch of Prussia, 
 and the Beigic revolt in that of the Netherlands. la 
 1789 the emperor, in conjunction with Russia, en- 
 tered into a war with the Ottoman Porte, and took 
 the command of his army in person, having under 
 him the celebrated general Laudohn, who had so 
 greatly distinguished himself in the last contest with 
 Prussia. On the 12th September the Austrians com- 
 menced the siege of Belgrade, and on the 8th Octo- 
 ber that important place, with its numerous garrison, 
 surrendered after a vigorous resistance. The re- 
 mainder of the campaign was a scries of important 
 successes. Bucharest, the capital of Wallachia, sur- 
 rendered almost without opposition to the prince of 
 Cobourg. Orsova, however, gave a check to the 
 rapid progress of the Austrian arms; Mareschal Lau- 
 dohn, after having laid six weeks before that place, 
 was about the middle of December obliged to raise 
 the siege. But in a short time after the place was 
 again invested, and notwithstanding the gallant de- 
 fence made by its garrison, Orsova was, on the l6th 
 April, 1700, reduced under the Austrian dominion. 
 Amidst this tide of success, the Beigic revolt greatly 
 
 disconcerted
 
 4CG GERMANY. 
 
 disconcerted the emperor's measures. Other circum* 
 stances also contributed to that langour, which was 
 visible in the military operations of the Austrians after 
 the reduction of Orsova. Joseph II. was never a 
 favorite of the Hungarians, who had so greatly idolized 
 Maria Theresa his mother. She gained their affec- 
 tions by the affability of her manners, and by her res- 
 pect for their privileges. Joseph's manners were 
 affable and engaging, but his measures were arbitrary, 
 and many of his most beneficial reforms gave um- 
 brage to the haughty Hungarians, for no other reason 
 than because they were introduced by the imperial 
 authority. On his succession to the hereditary do- 
 minions of his mother, the empress queen, he lost the 
 affections of the Hungarians by omitting the cere- 
 mony of his coronation at Buda, and still more by 
 removing the crown of Hungary to Vienna. ' Such is 
 the attachment of men to ceremonies, forms, and 
 insignia, and such the necessity of respecting estab- 
 lished prejudices. Nothing can more fully demon- 
 strate this truth, than the incredible joy, pomp, and 
 festivity, with which the Hungarian crown was re- 
 ceived, when sent back to Buda two days before the 
 death of this emperor.* The abolition of villainage, 
 although afterwards confirmed in a general diet of the 
 states of the kingdom, was at first deemed illegal, 
 because it proceeded from an imperial mandate and 
 not from an act of that assembly. But Joseph's 
 attempt to impose a land tax. a measure unprece- 
 dented in Hungary, completely alienated the affec- 
 tions of the nobility. These well meant, but arbitrary 
 measures, prevented the emperor from receiving any 
 assistance from the Hungarians, to whom the house 
 
 * Stotzlcr Staats Anzeigen 3p. Tovmson. 
 
 of
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 427 
 
 of Austria, when attacked on every side in the com- 
 mencement of the preceding reign, owed its principal 
 support, and perhaps even the continuation of its ex- 
 istence. And a well informed writer makes us ac- 
 quainted with a circumstance not generalty known, 
 namely, that Joseph's failure in the Turkish war, after 
 so successful a beginning, was owing to the want of 
 supplies, and the backwardness with which the Hun- 
 garians complied with the military requisitions.* A 
 peace, however, was concluded between Austria and 
 the Porte, in consequence of which all conquests were 
 restored. 
 
 The character of Joseph II. is singular and striking. 
 Possessing a penetrating, active, and enterprising 
 genius, and an extraordinary talent for observation, 
 he was anxiously desirous both of aggrandizing his 
 own power, and of meliorating the condition of his 
 subjects. His various institutions and reforms, most 
 of them highly beneficial as' well as rational, often 
 met with considerable opposition, especially among 
 those of his own religion ; among the Protestants 
 they were in general better received. In his manners, 
 he was affable and condescending. Amiable in pri- 
 vate, and active in public life, he was constantly 
 forming views for the improvement of his dominions, 
 and the happiness of his people. To sum up, in a few 
 words, the character of Joseph II, it may suffice to 
 say, that he was a philosopher and a philantropist. 
 His only fault was that of riot, perhaps, sufficiently 
 respecting the prejudices of mankind. His reforms 
 seem to have been introduced in too arbitrary a man- 
 ner; but perhaps that was the only manner in which 
 
 * rovvnson's Trav. in Hungary, p. 94. 
 
 they
 
 428 GERMANY. 
 
 they could be carried into effect. He seems to have 
 been desirous of rendering mankind happy, even 
 against their will. His peculiar views of things led 
 him into arbitrary measures, and the whole plan of 
 his government tended towards despotism. This ex- 
 cited great disaffection in the minds of his subjects, 
 and the latter part of his reign was agitated by tur- 
 bulent commotions. Few mgnarchs have had an 
 opportunity of being more fully convinced of the in- 
 gratitude of mankind. But if the character of Joseph 
 II. has been aspersed, if he has been represented as 
 despotic and capricious, and if his most salutary mea- 
 sures have excited discontent and met with opposi- 
 tion, let it be remembered that he only experienced 
 the common lot of reformers. 
 
 The view of progressive improvement throughout 
 an extensive empire is a pleasing object in history. 
 The brevity of this compendium renders it impossible 
 to enter into a detail of the salutary regulations which 
 took place, not only in his hereditary dominions, but 
 throughout the empire during his reign. It may not 
 be amiss to mention some that carry an appearance 
 of singularity, though founded on the soundest phy- 
 sical and moral principles. He considered it as a 
 practice equally indecent and dangerous to convert 
 the temples of the Supreme Being into pesthouses, by 
 making them the receptacles of putrid carcases. This 
 superstitious custom he entirely abolished, by a law 
 which he enacted in his hereditary dominions, and of 
 which he procured the establishment throughout the 
 whole empire, prohibiting the interment of the dead 
 jn any church or chapel whatever. This law is strictly 
 enforced without respect of persons : neither rank nor 
 * opulence
 
 GEXERAL HISTORY. 42Q 
 
 opulence can obtain any exemption from its opera- 
 tion.* He also prohibited, under severe penalties, the 
 wearing of stays by females, as a practice destructive 
 to their health and shape. Another of his wise regula- 
 tions was the suppression of Blue Monday, a riotous 
 holiday among the mechanics, spent in drinking and 
 all kinds of debauchery. In consequence of this per- 
 nicious custom, which prevailed throughout Germany, 
 not only a dav's labour was lost among that class of 
 people ; but Monday was particularly distinguished 
 by riots, tumults, and outrages of every description. 
 At length the abuse became intolerable. The com- 
 panies of taylors, shoe-makers, and other mechanics 
 in many cities of Germany, formed riotous confe- 
 deracies, and being soon joined by numbers of dis- 
 orderly and ill-disposed persons, committed the most 
 violent outrages, and openly set all laws at defiance. 
 The edicts issued by different German princes were 
 totally disregarded, the affair became of the most 
 serious nature, and equally hostile to trade and to 
 public security. The mechanics of Vienna sent 
 notices to those of Berlin, Dresden, Leipsic, Frank- 
 fort, 8cc. exciting them to riot, and denouncing ven- 
 geance on all who should presume to work on Mon- 
 day. These proceedings excited a general alarm 
 throughout Germany, and seriously attracted the at- 
 tention of the emperor, especially as Vienna was the 
 focus of the mischief. At his command the matter 
 was taken into serious consideration at the diet. The 
 baneful effects which such disorders must produce on 
 trade, were evident; and the whole Germanic body 
 
 * Dr. Render's Travels in Germany, vol. 1, p. 66. This writer relates 
 a shocking accideiit in consequence of an interment in a Protestant 
 church. 66 to 73. 
 
 considered
 
 430 GERMANY. 
 
 considered it as highly necessary to interpose. An 
 edict of the emperor and the diet was therefore pub- 
 lished, by which the custom of keeping Blue Monday 
 was totally abolished. .The punishment inflicted on 
 offenders was six years confinement to hard labour in 
 the fortifications. The edict was at first disregarded, 
 but as it was vigorously carried into execution, and 
 several ringleaders were condemned to the punish- 
 ment which it denounced, all those disorders ceased, 
 Blue Monday was soon forgotten, and the empire 
 received an increase of labour as well as of public 
 security.* The numerous monasteries in the Austrian 
 dominions could not escape the observation of the 
 penetrating Joseph. He considered their enormous 
 number as a political evil, and without dreading the 
 imputation of impiety suppressed a great part of those 
 religious houses. But the measure which throws the 
 greatest lustre on his reign, is the establishment of 
 religious and civil liberty, in granting an universal 
 toleration, and abolishing the feudal system. If, 
 therefore, his government was despotic, he used his 
 despotism for. the laudable purpose of freeing one part 
 of his subjects. from the tyranny of the other. 
 
 The depressed state of the peasantry had, soon after 
 the general peace of 17C3, attracted the attention of 
 the empress queen of Hungary, Maria Theresa; and 
 the year following, she enacted the regulation called 
 the Urbariun;, by which indeterminate dues, whether 
 in labour, produce, or money, from the peasantry to 
 the lords, were abolished, and the rights of both were 
 defined. The standard of this regulation was taken 
 from a farm containing twenty-live acres of 1200 square 
 fathoms each. For such a faun the peasant was to 
 
 * Render's Travels in Germany, vol. 1, p. 100 104. 
 
 pay
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 4 3 t 
 
 pay one-ninth of the produce of the soil," and also of 
 the lambs, kids, and bees, two shillings for ground 
 rent, three shillings for fowls, butter, 8cc. twelve days 
 mowing in meadow ground, and about 1 1 1 days of 
 other labour. The commutation of labour, for money, 
 was estimated at about nine-pence sterling per day's 
 work. Such was the fixed rent for what was called a 
 whole farm ; and for the half, one-fourth, one-eighth 
 &c. part in proportion.* The Urbarium of Maria 
 Theresa may be considered as a curious monument in 
 the history of society, and far more interesting than 
 the relation of a battle or a siege. The emperor, 
 Joseph II. completely put an end to the feudal system 
 in his dominions, by abolishing the adscriptio glebai 
 in Bohemia and ISloravia, in 1781, and in Hungary 
 in 1736. The nobility, although they considered .the 
 abolition of villainage, by an imperial mandate, a 
 illegal, were soon so fully convinced of the benefits 
 arising from that measure, that in 171)1, after the 
 emperor was dead, the liberty of the peasants, as 
 well as religious toleration in its fullest extent, was 
 established in the Hungarian diet.-j- A late traveller, 
 speaking of Joseph II. says, " Had the life of that 
 profound legislator been extended to a later period, 
 his empire would have made, at the present dav, u 
 more brilliant figure than it does in the improvement 
 of the arts and sciences, in the police, in agriculture^ 
 and in every thing that can interest the welfare of 
 society. "| Another observes, that it was the avowed 
 intention oi Joseph II. to form out of his extensive, do- 
 minions, peopled by <2.3 ,000,000 of inhabitants, governed 
 by di He-rent laws, enjoying dillerent privileges, speaking 
 ditl'crent languages, and in diiicrent degress of civi'i- 
 * Towiison iihi iupia. t Ibid. j Heuiler's 'IVave!*., \ol. 1. p. '.>(.
 
 432 GERMANY. 
 
 zation, one uniform government.* This, indeed, ap- 
 pears to have been the chief object of his political 
 views : it was a grand, and perhaps not an impracticable, 
 plan; and it was certainly not unworthy of a great 
 politician and legislator. Could this great design 
 have been carried into effect, and history affords- 
 many examples which seem to demonstrate its possi- 
 bility, it must have greatly contributed to increase 
 the prosperity and power of the Austrian empire.-]- 
 
 Since the trade and navigation of the Hanseatic 
 confederacy fell to decay, the commerce of Germany 
 took a turn more suitable to the situation and natural 
 resources of the country. The establishment of nu- 
 merous manufactures, especially in the free cities, 
 proved a great source of wealth. But the period 
 which elapsed from the general peace of 17^)3 to the 
 French revolution, was the happiest that Germany 
 ever experienced. The courts of Vienna and Berlin 
 vied with each other in promoting national improve- 
 ment. jVlany of the other princes imitated their 
 example ; and amidst the enjoyments of peace, Ger- 
 many made a rapid progress in arts, sciences, litera- 
 ture, apiculture, and commerce. 
 
 Joseph II. dying iu 1791, his brother, Peter Leo- 
 pold, grand duke of Tuscany, succeeded to the im- 
 perial throne, as well as to the hereditary dominions 
 
 * To\rn?on's Travels, p. 99. Both Townson and Ileisbeck scorn to 
 have a less favourable opinion of Joseph II. as a legislator and a politician 
 than Dr. Hender and several other entertain. Some historical and poli- 
 tical writers, represent him as capricious and tyrannical. From a com- 
 parison f.f different opinions on the subject, and especially from the 
 transactions of his reign, his character is here delineated. 
 
 t Witness the union of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of th 
 different nations of Russia, &c. All great empires are formed by the 
 uaiou of smaller states. 
 
 of
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 433 
 
 of the house of Austria. By his conciliatory measures 
 the Belgic provinces were re-united to the Austrian 
 empire, and a peace was concluded with the porte. 
 In his reign was held, at Pilnitz, the famous conference 
 in which the plan of attacking France was proposed 
 and discussed. The emperor hesitated for some time, 
 but at last seemed to resolve on vigorous measures, 
 when he died, after a short sickness, in 1792. His 
 politics were far more conciliatory than those of his 
 predecessor. He appeared little inclined to innova- 
 tion, and willingly left mankind to enjoy their pre- 
 judices. 
 
 Francis II. his son, succeeded to his hereditary 
 dominions, and in July the same year was elected 
 emperor. His reign has been distinguished by bloody 
 and unsuccessful wars against France. From its com- 
 mencement, the history of Austria, and, indeed, of 
 the whole German empire, is implicated in that of 
 France, to, which, for the sake of avoiding repetition, 
 the reader must be referred. It may here suffice to 
 observe, that in consequence of these wars Austria 
 has been stripped of her Italian and Belgic d- 
 tnioions. 
 
 VOL. Ill- 
 
 3 F HIS-
 
 434 
 
 HISTORY OF PRUSSIA. 
 
 THE history of. Prussia cannot bring forward any 
 claims to a splendid antiquity; but it may justly 
 boast of its modern lustre, although it has lately 
 suffered a temporary eclipse. The two great branches 
 of the monarchy of Prussia and Brandenburg were 
 long distinct : while the former was first governed by 
 its native chiefs, the latter was an electorate of the 
 empire, and its history, until the formation of the 
 present Prussian monarchy, is included in that of 
 Germany. 
 
 Amidst the obscurity of barbarous agfes, and the 
 confusion of names, it is difficult to discover whether 
 the first known inhabitants were of Slavonic or Gothic 
 original. The Pruzzi, however, from whom the 
 country is supposed to derive its name, are mentioned 
 by the most ancient chroniclers of the northern 
 nations as one of the chief Slavonic tribes. Tacitus 
 and Pliny had only a very confined knowledge of 
 those countries, which lay beyond the limits of Roman 
 conquest, and almost of Roman geography ; but the 
 amber of Pomerania and Prussia was well known a* 
 one of the luxuries of Rome.* Those countries had 
 been subdued by the Swedes, the Danes, and the Poles, 
 but had always recovered their liberty. Their inha- 
 
 * Heliaold, lib. 1, c. 4. 
 
 bitanU,
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 435 
 
 bitans, however, adhered to Paganism longer than 
 any other nations of Europe except the Laplanders, 
 and, perhaps, some other tribes in its northern ex- 
 tremities. The frenzy of the croisades and the 
 romantic rage for fighting the infidels, so prevalent in 
 the middle ages, had, during the eleventh and twelfth 
 centuries, given rise to several orders of religious 
 knighthood, who were obliged, by vow, to use their 
 endeavours to protect and extend Christianity. Among 
 these, the Teutonic order in Germany was one of the 
 jnost illustrious. Those knights having distinguished 
 themselves in the wild enterprises carried on in Pales- 
 tine, and being at last expelled from their acquisitions 
 in Asia, were obliged to return into Europe. Their 
 fervid zeal and impetuous valour, however, could not 
 remain inactive. After having so long employed 
 their arms against the Mahometans of the east, they 
 resolved to turn them against the Pagans of the north. 
 They invaded Prussia, and after bloody wars and great 
 slaughter, completed, about the middle of the thirteenth 
 century, the conquest and conversion of that country.* 
 These knights, in 1239, built the town of Elbing, and in 
 1254, they, in conjunction with Ottocar, king of 
 Bohemia, laid the foundation of Koningsberg, the 
 capital of Prussia. f Their government was a kind of 
 republic under its grand master, who was a prince of 
 the empire. They had long and bloody wars with the 
 Poles, but about the year 1458, the cities of Dautzick, 
 Thome, and Elbing, dissatisfied at the administration 
 of the knights, transferred their allegiance to Casimir, 
 king of Poland. A war in consequence took place 
 between that prince and the Teutonic knights ; aud 
 
 * Robertson's Hist. Charles V. vol. 2, p. 375. 
 t Aud. Hbt. Com. vol. 1, p. 211219. 
 
 2 F 2 after
 
 PRUSSIA. 
 
 after a contest which continued thirteen years the 
 Poles were victorious. That part of Prussia which 
 lies on the west of the Vistula was annexed to Poland, 
 from which circumstance it became distinguished by 
 the appellation of royal ; the knights retained the 
 other part situated to the east of that river, under 
 condition of doing homage to the Polish monarch.* 
 This homage, however, was often disputed by the 
 knights, which occasioned frequent wars between them 
 and tb^e Poles. Albert, a prince of the house of Bran- 
 denbourg, being, in 1.51 1, elected Grand Master of the 
 Order, maintained a long war against Sigismund, 
 king of Poland ; but having become a convert to 
 Luther's doctrines, his zeal for the interests of his 
 fraternity was gradually abated. The confusions 
 which prevailed in the empire afforded him a favour- 
 able opportunity of concluding a treaty with the 
 Polish monarch greatly to his private emolument. 
 That part of Prussia which belonged to the Teutonic 
 Order was erected into a hereditary duchy, of which 
 the investiture was given to Albert, under condition 
 of doing homage to the kings of Poland. f The 
 knights exclaimed so loudly against the dissolution of 
 their government, and the treachery of their Grand 
 Master, that he was put to the ban of the empire ; but he 
 still kept possession of the province, and transmitted it 
 to his posterity. In 1618, the inheritance devolved 
 on the electoral branch of the family of Branden- 
 bourg, in the person of John Sigismund. This prince 
 dying the next year, was succeeded by George 
 William, whose reign, coinciding with the thirty 
 years war, was a continued series of misfortunes, his 
 
 * J'em. de Brandeubourg, vol. 1. 
 
 t Robertson'* Hiit. C|iarle V. vol. 2, p. 37*. 
 
 country
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 437 
 
 country being alternately ravaged by the Swedes and 
 the imperialists. 
 
 Frederick William succeeded, in 1(540, to the elec- 
 torate of Brandenbourg, and the duchy of Prussia. 
 He was then about twenty years of age, and dis- 
 covered uncommon marks of genius and prudence. 
 The greatest part of his dominions were in the hands 
 of the Swedes; Cleveswas in those of the Spaniards.* 
 By skilful negotiations, and pecuniary sacrifices, 
 which at this juncture he found necessary, he obtained 
 a truce from the Swedes, with the restitution, of part 
 of his dominions. At the general peace of West- 
 phalia, he lost a part of Pomerania, but that treaty 
 assured to him Magdeburgh and several other im- 
 portant places. He distinguished himself in several 
 wars against the Poles and the Swedes. He acquired 
 Elbing and extended his frontiers. The peace of 
 Oliva, while it fixed the balance of the northern powers, 
 secured to the elector his conquests. . Frederick 
 William also gained great reputation by the aid which 
 he gave to the emperor, when Austria was threatened 
 with destruction by the Turks. In the war against 
 France, he shewed himself a worthy rival of the great 
 Turenne, and had the glory of saving that illustrious 
 enemy by giving him information of a plot formed 
 against his life.f This prince, who succeeded to the 
 wreck of a dismembered inheritance, not only re- 
 covered hig" dominions and extended their ancient 
 limits, but also retrieved his finances. Having re- 
 stored peace to his country, he promoted the arts, 
 and, wisely profiting by the errors of despotism and 
 intolerance, he received and encouraged the French 
 
 * Scgur's Frederick William II. Introduction, p. 11. 
 t Ibid, Introduction, p. 41. 
 
 'I F 3 . refugees.
 
 458 PRUSSIA. 
 
 \ f> I* ' .! 
 
 refugees, who recompensed the protection afforded 
 them by diffusing knowledge and industry throughout 
 his dominions. 
 
 This prince, justly called the Great Elector, dying 
 in 1690, Frederick I. his son and successor, obtained 
 from the emperor, Joseph I. the regal title, and was 
 soon after acknowledged as king of Prussia, by all 
 the European powers. This first Prussian monarch, 
 however, does not appear to have possessed any 
 great talent? for govenment. He was succeeded, in 
 1713, by his son, Frederick-William I. a prince of 
 great political abilities,* who, having undertaken 
 a successful war against Charles XII. king of 
 Sweden, obtained the cession of part of Pomerania. 
 Frederick-William, however, was rather a politician 
 than a warrior. He encouraged trade and added to 
 the improvement and population of his dominions by 
 establishing in various parts of them numerous co- 
 lonies of Swiss and other foreigners. His admini- 
 stration was externally pacific, but internally severe. 
 He was more intent on preserving, than on extending 
 his possessions ; but being of an austere disposition, 
 and a strict observer of military discipline, he governed 
 the state by the same laws as the army. His political 
 principles were completely despotic, and some idea 
 may be formed of the obdurate inflexibility of his 
 temper, in recollecting that for a trifling fault he im- 
 prisoned his son, and compelled him to be present at 
 
 * In the enumeration of the kings of Prussia, a distinction is made 
 between the Fredericks and the Frederick Williams, not only by the 
 Prussians, but by all the Germans. The princes, therefore, who in Eng- 
 land arc so frequently called Frederick II. Frederick III. and Fre. 
 derick IV. are on the continent always called Frederick William I. 
 Frederick II. and Frederick William II. I have followed the Prussian 
 mode of speaking Mem. de Brandeubourg, torn. 1. 
 
 9 the
 
 CENERAL HISTORY. 439 
 
 the execution of his intimate and confidential friend. 
 Several other instances of his severe and arbitrary 
 conduct might be adduced ; but he was certainly on 
 the whole a great prince. The immense treasure 
 which he had amassed by the most rigid ceconomv, 
 and the army which he had raised and disciplined, 
 enabled his son, the great Frederick, to make such 
 efforts as astonished Europe. Frederick-William I. 
 may justly be considered as the author of the sub- 
 sequent greatness of Prussia, and his illustrious son 
 in his memoirs gives him that honour. " Frederick- 
 William," says he, " left at his death 66,000 men, 
 whom he maintained by his ceconomy, his finances 
 augmented, the public treasury well filled, and a 
 surprising order in all his affairs. If we owe the 
 shade of the oak to the virtue of the acorn which 
 produced it, all the world will agree that in the 
 laborious life and sagacious conduct of this prince 
 may be discovered the source of the future prosperity 
 of the royal house."* 
 
 Frederick-William I. died in 1740, and his son 
 Frederick IF. frequently called by the English Fre- 
 derick III. and by all Europe deservedly surnamed the 
 Great, ascended the Prussian throne. Reviving some 
 antiquated claims of his family to a part of Silesia, he 
 entered that province, about a year after his accession, 
 with an army, in order to establish his right. As the 
 queen of Hungary, sole heiress of the dominions of 
 the house of Austria, which has so lohg been the head 
 of the empire, was the most conspicuous personage in 
 the complicated war that ensued, its principal events 
 are related in the historical view of Germany, to which 
 the reader must in consequence refer, for an account 
 
 . <lc Brandcnbourg, lorn. 2. 
 
 2 I" 4 of
 
 440 PRUSSIA. 
 
 of the Prussian affairs from the commencement of 
 hostilities in 1741 till the peace of .Dresden, in 1745. 
 After a bloody and eventful war Prussia again enjoyed 
 the blessing of peace, and its monarch the sweets of 
 Jleisure. Frederick, however, did not consume his 
 hours in the display of vain pomp, or in the indiil- 
 gencies of -voluptuous effeminacy and indolence. 
 Study served him as a relaxation from labour. He 
 rendered his hours of repose illustrious by his literary 
 productions ; and his Memoirs of the House of Bran- 
 denburg, published in 1751, six years after the con- 
 clusion of peace, shew how well he filled up the 
 vacances of time. In the year 1756, however, the 
 calm was succeeded by a storm, which agitated the 
 greatest part of Europe, and which to Prussia was 
 tremendous and dangerous beyond all example. The 
 court of Vienna had, ever since the treaty of Dresden, 
 viewed the rising greatness of Prussia, with jealousy, 
 and had never been reconciled to the loss of Silesia. 
 The empress queen, therefore, entered secretly into a 
 league with Russia and the king of Poland, as elector 
 of Saxony, for the recovery of ihat fine province, and 
 even for partitioning all the Prussian dominions. This, 
 confederacy did not escape the vigilance of the pene- 
 trating Frederick. He had ever observed, with a watch- 
 ful eye, the intrigues of the court of Vienna, and regard- 
 ed only as a truce the treaty of peace which transferred 
 Silesia from the house of Austria to that of Branden- 
 burg.* The war between France and Great Britain taking 
 place at the same time, and the former of these powers 
 entering into the confederacy with Austria and Russia, 
 'the king of Prussia concluded with his Britaniaic 
 majesty a treaty, of which the fundamental article was 
 
 * Htit. delaGuert de Sepuui, ch. 1. 
 
 to
 
 GENERAL HISTOHY. 441 
 
 to oppose the entrance of foreign troops into Ger- 
 many. His Prussian majesty having demanded iroui 
 the qabinet of Vienna a clear explanation o>i the sub- 
 ject of the hostile preparations which lie saw carrying 
 forward on the borders of Silesia, and receiving ouiy 
 evasive answers, resolved to anticipate the designs of 
 his enemies. He called heaven and earth to witness, 
 that the empress queen, whom he had made the arbi- 
 tress of peace or war, would alone he chargeable with 
 all the blood that must be spilt, and all the conse- 
 quences that must ensue from the prosecution, of 
 hostilities. 
 
 Being fully convinced of the intentions of the court 
 of Vienna, Frederick resolved to begin hrs operations, 
 by carrying the war into the heart of the enemy's do- 
 minions, intead of waiting for their attack. In order 
 to facilitate the successful invasion of Bohemia, he 
 iirst took possession of Saxony with an army of se- 
 venty battalions and eighty squadrons, which, entering 
 the electorate in three bodies, and pursuing as many 
 different routes, formed a junction in the vicinity of 
 Dresden. Augustus being unable to resist such a 
 force, abandoned his capital, and retired to his camp 
 ;it Pirna. The king of Prussia, leaving a considerable 
 body of troops to blockade the Saxon camp, resolved 
 to give battle to the Austrian army under GcnenJ 
 Brown,- who had taken a strong position at Lowositz. 
 The action was long and obstinate, and the loss nearly 
 equal. Both parties claimed the victory ; bur, if we 
 may judge from the consequences, the only means of 
 deciding such questions, it is evident that the Prus- 
 sians had the advantage; for Marshal Brown, failing 
 in -his attempt to relieve the Saxons, their ai my con- 
 sisting of about 14,000 men, was obliged to surrender ; 
 
 and
 
 442 PRUSSIA. 
 
 mid Augustus, who had taken refuge in the fortress of 
 Konigstein, retired into Poland. Saxony being thus 
 abandoned, served for winter quarters to the Prussians. 
 "Flie victorious Frederick levied heavy contributions 
 on the country, seized the public revenues, made him- 
 self master of the archives of Dresden, and broke open 
 the secret cabinet, where the papers relating to fo- 
 reign transactions were kept. From these documents, 
 he learned the particulars of the confederacy formed 
 against him by the courts of Vienna, Dresden, and 
 Petersburg. A process was now instituted in the 
 Aulic Council against his Prussian majesty on account 
 of his invasion of the Saxon electorate. Through the 
 influence of the court of Vienna, and the terror of the 
 confederacy, which it had formed, he was put to the 
 ban of the empire. The circles were accordingly 
 commanded to furnish their contingents of men and 
 money. These, however, were slowly collected, and 
 probably the armj^ of the empire would scarcely have 
 been able to act, had it not been seconded by the 
 French under the Prince de Soubise, who made himself 
 master of Cleves, Meurs, and Gueldres, while Marshal 
 d'Etrees seized on the town of Embden, and the Prus- 
 sian territories in East Friesland. Prussia was now in 
 such a situation as seemed to threaten the total extinc- 
 tion of the monarchy. An army of 130,000 Russians 
 was ready to enter that kingdom, while the Swedes, 
 having also acceded to the confederacy, were ready 
 to invade Pomerania ; and the empress, Queen of 
 Hungary, had augmented her forces to 180,000 men.* 
 These formidable armies were to take the field at the 
 same time, and to act in concert. In the mean while, 
 Brown had broken the Austrian army into 
 
 * Woyd, vol. 1. 
 
 four
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 443 
 
 four divisions, in order to cover Bohemia. Making 
 every allowance for the superior abilities of her mo- 
 narch, and the acknowledged discipline and valour of 
 her troops, it scarcely seemed probable that Prussia 
 could withstand the shock of such tremendous arma- 
 ments. Frederick, however, resolving to penetrate 
 into Bohemia, modelled his army like that of the Aus- 
 trians, in four divisions. The formidable forces of the 
 enemy and the strong positions which they had taken, 
 did not prevent him from penetrating even to Prague. 
 A bloody battle was fought on the 8th of May, 1757, 
 in the vicinity of that city. The king of Prussia was 
 completely victorious, but with the loss of 3,000 men 
 killed, and 6,000 wounded. Among these were almost 
 400 officers, many of whom were of high rank. Gene- 
 ral Ziethe.n, one of the bravest of the Prussian com- 
 manders, here lost his life, while rallying his division, 
 which was beginning to give way. The loss of the 
 Austriaris, who fought with extraordinary bravery, 
 was considerably greater than that of the Prussians. 
 Marshal Brown was mortally wounded, arid died in a 
 short time after the action. In this famous battle of 
 Prague, which proved fatal to two of the greatest ge- 
 nerals of Europe, the valour and military skill, both of 
 the Austrians and the Prussians, were eminently dis- 
 play ed.f 
 
 After this defeat, the main body of the Austrian 
 army, about 50,000 in number, took shelter inPrngue> 
 while about 10,000, chiefly cavalry, joined Marshal 
 Daun ; who, having advanced from Moravia, had, on 
 hearing of the defeat of Marshal Brown, encamped at 
 Bolsmisch. The intrepid .Frederick now ventured on 
 a measure which astonished all Europe, arid which 
 
 * Llo\d ubi supra. 
 
 cannot,
 
 444 PRUSSIA. 
 
 cannot, indeed, be defended on principles of military- 
 science. He invested Prague, with an army but little 
 superior to that which was confined within its walls. 
 It seems, indeed, that the king of Prussia, in all his 
 manoeuvres, from his victory at Prague to his defeat 
 at Kolin, acted with as great a self-confidence as if he 
 supposed that nothing could resist his victorious anus.* 
 But the greatest commanders, as well as the greatest 
 politicians, are not exempt from mistakes. Marshal 
 Daun, having prudently remained inactive until he 
 had received strong reinforcements, began to advance; 
 and the Prussian monarch, while besieging Prague, 
 was in danger of being himself besieged in his camp 
 by that general. Being informed of Marshal Daun's 
 movements, he marched from before Prague, and 
 having formed a junction with the prince of Severn, 
 advanced to attack the Austrians at Kolin. The dis- 
 positions of Marschal Dau/i were the most masterly 
 that could possibly be planned. The grand attack 
 being made by Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick at the 
 head of the Prussian columns, supported by a powerful 
 train of artillery, was pushed with such irresistible 
 force against the right wing of the Austrians as to 
 throw them into confusion. They instantly, however, 
 recovered themselves, and maintained their position 
 with inflexible firmness. The Prussians, in their turn, 
 began to give way, but soon renewed the combat. 
 Isever did any army display greater bravery. During 
 the space of four hours and ti half, from two o'clock in 
 the afternoon till half past six, the Prussians returned 
 seven times to the charge. The last and most violent 
 
 * Major-Gen, Lloyd considers the siege of Prague as an imprudent 
 measure. He also censures the king of I*ruuia*s mod* of attack at th 
 kaUle of Kolin. Lloyd's Campaigns, vol. 1.
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 445 
 
 effort was made by the king in person at the head of 
 the cavalry. About seven o'clock victory declared for 
 the Austrians. The Prussians sinking under the supe- 
 rioty of numbers, and the disadvantage of the ground 
 in which their cavalry could not act with effect, were 
 obliged to relinquish the contest. They remained, 
 however, about two hours longer on the field, and re- 
 treated without being pursued. The slaughter on 
 both sides was great; about 20,000 men being left 
 dead on the field. The Prussian monarch, in conse- 
 quence of this memorable defeat, which happened on 
 the 18th of June, 1757, was obliged to raise the siege 
 of Prague, and to evacuate Bohemia. This misfor- 
 tune was soon after followed by others. A Russian 
 army of about 100,000 men, under Marschal Apraxin, 
 had entered Prussia; and being little acquainted with, 
 discipline, their light troops, consisting of Kosacks^ 
 Kahnucs, and Tartars, behaved like real barbarians. 
 The cruelties which they committed on the inhabi- 
 tants, were such as had long been unheard of in the 
 military history of Europe. The Russian command- 
 ers used every possible means to put a stop to these 
 enormities, but without success.* The country was 
 deserted by the husbandmen, and their army was in 
 danger of being deprived of the means of subsistence. 
 General Lehwald, with only 24,000 men, ventured to 
 attack this formidable horde. Superiority of numbers 
 obliged the Prussians to retire and leave the enemy 
 masters of the field ; but they retreated in excellent 
 order. Lehwald, though beaten, had the satisfaction 
 of having killed five times more of the Russians than 
 he had lost of his own men, and of seeing the Prus- 
 sian* more formidable after their defeat, than the 
 
 * Tugkc'* Hikt. Ku>U, vol. 3. p. $Q3 r 
 
 enemy
 
 446 PRUSSIA. 
 
 enemy was after his victory. The retreat of General 
 Apraxin, whom the chancellor Bestuchef recalled 
 during a dangerous sickness, with which the empress 
 Elizabeth was attacked, delivered Prussia for a short 
 time from this destructive enemy.* 
 
 While the Prussian dominions were ravaged on one 
 side hy the Russians, they were invaded on the other 
 side by the French. The convention of Closter Seven 
 left Marshal Richelieu, and the prince de Soubise, 
 at full liberty to direct their whole force against Prus- 
 sia. A Swedish army of 20,OOO men also entered Po- 
 merania, and laid the country under contribution. 
 One Austrian army had entered Silesia, and another 
 penetrating through Lwsatia, suddenly presented itself 
 before Berlin, and levied a contribution on that capital. 
 The king of Prussia, "now surrounded with enemies, 
 was obliged to direct his attention and his efforts to- 
 wards every quarter. After a train of masterly manoeu- 
 vres, he gained on the 5th of November, 1757, a com- 
 plete victory over the French and Imperialists at Ros- 
 bach. Here the Prussians fought like heroes : the 
 columns of the enemy, unable to withstand their irre- 
 sistible attack, were totally routed and driven off the 
 field with the loss of near 9,000 men, killed, wounded, 
 and prisoners. Among the last were eleven generals, 
 besides 300 officers of inferior rank. The loss of the 
 Prussians did not much exceed 300 men. This signal 
 victory, however, was counterbalanced by serious 
 lasses. A numerous army of Austrians and Hunga- 
 rians, under the generals Daun and Nadasti, having 
 entered Silesia, took the strong town of Schweidnitz, 
 and made the garrison consisting of near 6,000 men 
 prisoners of war. They afterwards stormed the in- 
 
 * Toole's Hist. Ilussia, vol. 2, p. 305. 
 
 trenchments
 
 CEXCRAL HISTORY. 447 
 
 trenchments of the Prussian army under the prince of 
 Bevern, who was made prisoner two days after, while 
 reconnoitering the position of the victorious enemy. 
 Breslau immediately after surrendered to the Aus- 
 trians.* 
 
 Amidst these reverses of fortune the king remained 
 still undaunted. Resolving to make a vigorous effort 
 in order to retrieve his affairs, and being joined by the 
 remains of the army lately commanded by the princa 
 of Bevern, he matched immediately against the Aus- 
 trians. Prince Charles of Lorraine and Marschal 
 Daun receiving intelligence of the king's approach, 
 and relying on their superior strength, advanced to- 
 wards Glogau in confidence of victory. The two ar- 
 mies met near Lissa, where a general engagement took 
 place ; and after an obstinate contest, in which each 
 party alternately had the advantage, the Austrians, at 
 last, were totally defeated. The king of Prussia in 
 this action displayed the most masterly strokes of ge- 
 neralship ; but the military skill of Marschal Daun 
 appeared less conspicuous here, than at the battle of 
 Kolin.f The Austrians left about 6,000 dead on the 
 field, with nearly the same number of wounded ; and 
 the approach of night seems to have been the only 
 circumstance that prevented the total destruction of 
 their army. The loss of the Prussians amounted to 
 about 5,000 killed and wounded. But the importance 
 of the victory at Lissa is best seen in its consequences. 
 Within a week after the battle, the Prussians took 
 20,000 prisoners, 3,000 waggons, and 200 pieces of 
 
 * Lloyd's Campaigns, vol. 1. 
 
 t Compare the account o the battle of Lia, Russet's Hist. Modern 
 Eur. vol :>, -.\iili Llovc!'$ reik'Clions on the battle ot'ivylin, Lloyd's Cam- 
 paigns ubi 'ujiiu. 
 
 camion,
 
 44$ PRUSSIA. 
 
 cennon, with % a great number of military trophies. 
 This battle \v;is fought on the 5thjof December, 1757 ; 
 and on the 19th Breslau, though defended by a garri- 
 son of several thousand men, surrendered to tbc arms 
 of his Prussian majesty. Prince Charles of Lorraine, 
 with the remains of his shattered forces, retired into 
 Bohemia. The retreat of the Russians having, at the 
 same time, left General Lehwald at liberty with near 
 SO,OOO men, to act against the Swedes, he obliged 
 them to abandon their conquests in Pomerania, and 
 drove them under the cannon of Stralsund. While 
 this tide of success attended the army of Prussia, for- 
 tune also declared in favour of her allies. The French 
 having violated almost every article of the convention 
 of Closter Seven, his Britannic majesty justly consi- 
 dering himself as no longer bound by that treaty, in- 
 vested Prince Ferdinand of Brunswick with the chief 
 command of the electoral forces. That consummate 
 general) after driving the French from post to post, at 
 last compelled -them to evacuate their conquests and 
 repass the Rhine. Prince Ferdinand followed them 
 across that river. A variety of manrauvrcs took place. 
 The due de Broglio, having defeated the Hessian, 
 army, gained the command of the Weser. Prince 
 Ferdinand, in his turn, was obliged to repass the Rhine, 
 and to put his army into winter quarters in the bishop- 
 rics of Munster, Paderborn, and Hildesheim.* The 
 operations of the Hanoverian general, however, so 
 completely occupied the French arms, that his Prus- 
 sian majesty having nothing to fear from that quarter, 
 began the campaign of J758 with the siege of Schweid- 
 nitz, which he soon compelled to surrender. He then 
 suddenly entered Moravia, and laid siege to Olmutz. 
 
 * Hiifc Mod. Eur. vol. 5, p. 271. 
 
 Marschal
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 
 
 MarschaJ Daun was too cautious to attempt the relief 
 of that place by a battle, but he effected his purpose 
 by intercepting a convoy of 400 waggons destined for 
 the use of the besieging army. The loss being irre- 
 parable, his Prussian majesty saw the necessity of re- 
 linquishing his enterprise. He gained, however, as 
 much honour in conducting his retreat, as Marschal 
 Daun did in rendering it necessary. Having concealed, 
 under an incessant fire, his intention of raising the 
 siege, he broke up his camp about midnight and pro- 
 ceeded into Bohemia without molestation. The Rus- 
 sians having again entered the Prussian dominions, 
 and invested Custrin, a fortified town within fifty 
 miles r of Berlin, he immediately marched to its relief. 
 The Russian generals, Fermor and Brown, receiving 
 intelligence of the king of Prussia's approach, imme- 
 diately raised the siege, and posted themselves between, 
 the villages of Zwicker and Zorndorf. The king, 
 though greatly inferior in numbers, relying on the va- 
 lour and superior discipline of his troops, resolved to 
 bring the enemy to an engagement. The event did 
 not disappoint his hopes. The dispositions of the 
 Russian generals were excellent ; but the attack of the 
 Prussians was made with such impetuosity, and conti- 
 nued with such vigour and skill, as to be absolutely 
 irresistible. Never, however, was an attack more ob- 
 stinately sustained. Whole regiments of Russians 
 were cut down ; but not a man quitted his ranks ; and 
 fresh regiments still pressing forward, the Prussian 
 infantry, which had supported so many violent shocks 
 with unmoveable firmness, yielded at last to the col- 
 lected impulse. All seemed lost, when the king, by a 
 rapid and masterly movement, brought the cavalry of 
 his right wing to support his centre. The Prussian 
 VOL. in. 2 G horse
 
 450 PRUSSIA. 
 
 horse, now pressing upon the Russian foot, drove them 
 back with great slaughter, and allowed their own bat- 
 talions leisure to recollect themselves and rally. Re- 
 turning to the charge, the Prussian infantry decided 
 the doubtful contest. The enemy being every where 
 thrown into confusion, it was no longer a battle, but a 
 mere carnage. But incredible as it may seem, the 
 Russians, though broken, distracted, and cut to pieces, 
 never offered to quit the field. They kept their ground 
 until seven in the evenins;, and even then made a new 
 
 O ' 
 
 struggle for victory. When darkness put a stop to the 
 effusion of blood, they left 10,000 men dead on the 
 field, and about 5,000 mortally wounded. The loss of 
 the Prussians amounted to about 1,500 men.* In 
 consequence of this terrible defeat, the Russian army 
 retreated to the frontiers of Poland; and the king 
 marched to the relief of his brother, Prince Henry, 
 who was surrounded with enemies. The Prussian mo- 
 narch and Marschal Daun vied with each other in 
 skilful inanosuvres, till at last, on the 15th of October, 
 1758, the Austrian general attacked and defeated the 
 Prussians at Kirlitz. The loss in men, however, was 
 nearly equal, being about 7.000<$ but the king, besides 
 leaving behind him the greatest part of his camp- 
 equipage, lost Prince Francis of Brunswick and Mar- 
 schal Kieth, two of his ablest generals. His Prus- 
 sian majesty, however, soon after offered battle to the 
 Austrians ; but not being able to bring them to a se- 
 cond engagement, he immediately marched into Sile- 
 
 * Hirt. Mod. Europt, vol. 5, p. 275. The historian of Russia says 
 *' both sides claimed the victory." He does not particularize the loss, 
 but says that it was undoubtedly the greatest on the side of the Russians ; 
 aud that their military chest, with the greatest part of their artillery, fell 
 into the Lands of the onemy. Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 314. 
 
 sia ;
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 451 
 
 siaj and having by a train of masterly movements 
 driven the Austrians from that country, without ha- 
 zarding a battle, he returned into Saxony, and forced 
 Marschal Daun to raise the siege of Dresden. The 
 sieges of Leipsic and Glogau were abandoned at the 
 same time. The Russians, also, who in their retreat 
 had invested Colberg in Prussian Pomerania, were con- 
 strained to relinquish their enterprise ; and the Swedes, 
 who had entered that country, were not more success- 
 ful in their operations. Prussia was triumphant over 
 all her enemies, and seemed to be a match for all na- 
 tions in arms. 
 
 The fortune of war, however, was preparing for the 
 great Frederick a dreadful reverse. The Russians un- 
 der General Count Soltikoff, having advanced into 
 Silesia and defeated General Wedel, the king resolved 
 to oppose them in person. Leaving Prince Henry to 
 watch the motions of the Austrians, he marched with, 
 about 10,000 of his best troops to join Wedel. Mar- 
 schal Daun, in the mean while, knowing that the 
 Russians always lay under great disadvantages on ac- 
 count of the inferiority of their cavalry, had detached 
 General Laudohn with. 12,000 Austrian horse, in order 
 to give stability to their army.* Laudohn and Sold-. 
 koff stationed themselves at Cunnersdorf opposite to 
 Frankfort. This combined army consisted of about 
 100,000 combatants. The king of Prussia could not 
 muster above half of that number; but his pressing 
 circumstances and his sanguine hopes induced him to 
 hazard an engagement. On the 12th of August, 1759, 
 the enemy's entrenchments were forced with great 
 slaughter. The Russians lost more than half of their 
 
 * Mr. Tooko says General Landohn brought ul*o SjOOO to the Russian 
 army. Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 318. 
 
 2 o 3 artillery ;
 
 452 PRUSSIA. 
 
 artillery ; but although defeated in every quarter, they 
 were not discouraged : they again formed under cover 
 of the Austrian cavalry, and posted themselves in an 
 advantageous situation, called the Jews' Burying- 
 ground. Prudence and past experience of the obsti- 
 nate valour of the Russians, ought to have taught the 
 king to rest satisfied with so great an advantage gain- 
 ed over an enemy so superior in numbers; but ani- 
 mated by the expectation of completing his victory 
 by the total destruction of the Russian army, and 
 supposing only one effort more to be necessary for 
 attaining this grand object, he unfortunately renewed 
 the attack. But his harrassed troops were not equal 
 to this tremendous attempt. The infantry attacked 
 the main body of the Russian army, but were re- 
 pulsed with a terrible slaughter. The king put him- 
 self at the head of his cavalry, but their vigour wa* 
 spent. After having been so long engaged in one of 
 the most desperate battles ever fought, and one of 
 the hottest days ever felt, both men and horses were 
 equally exhausted. The Austrian cavalry broke in 
 upon them with the impetuosity of a torrent, and the 
 fire of the Russian artillery resembled a volcano. 
 The Prussians were at last obliged to yield to the 
 irresistible shock. The king endeavouring to rally 
 them, seemed prodigal of his life. He had two horses 
 killed under him, and several bullets passed through 
 his cloaths. All his exertions, however, were ineffec- 
 tual. The battle was irretrievably lost, and the ap- 
 proach of night only preserved the Prussian army 
 from total destruction.* Ail their cannon was taken. 
 About 30,000 men were left on the field, and 16,000 
 of them were Prussians. 
 
 * Tooke Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 324. 
 
 It
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 453 
 
 It is impossible to describe the consternation of the 
 court and city of Berlin on receiving intelligence of 
 this disaster. When the king had obtained possession 
 of the village of Cunnersclorff, he wrote to the queen 
 in these terms, " We have driven the Russians from 
 their entrenchments. Expect within two hours to 
 hear of a glorious victory." On the receipt of this 
 billet, all was joy and exultation. But soon after 
 another was received by the queen, in the same la- 
 conic style, " Remove," says the king, " from Berlin 
 with the royal family. Let the archives be carried 
 to Potsdam. The town may rnake conditions with 
 the enemy."* Nothing but terror and dismay was 
 now to be seen at Berlin. The general consternation 
 was augmented by the indistinct rumours that follow- 
 ed, and from which nothing could be learned, except 
 that the army was totally routed, that no account 
 could be heard of the king, and that the Russians 
 were advancing against the capital. 
 
 His Prussian majesty, however, by his subsequent 
 conduct, wiped away all the disgrace incurred by his 
 temerity; and the dreadful disaster which he had suf- 
 fered, only served to display the vast resources of his 
 genius, as well as the unshaken fortitude of his mind. 
 By a judicious movement, he posted himself so ad- 
 vantageously that the Russians durst not approach. 
 Berlin ; and Soltikoff, instead of entering Branden- 
 burg, marched into Lusace, where he joined the grand 
 Austrian army under Marschal Daun. The king in 
 the mean while having refreshed and recruited his 
 
 * Hist. mod. Europe, vol. 5, p. 301. From a comparison ol the ac- 
 counts published \iy authority at Berlin and Vienna, Tookc st;it< > ihe 
 loss ol the Prussians at 20,000, and that of the Jluiiians at 1U,<KK). 
 Jlikt. Russia, vol. J, p. 3>'l, 3','5. 
 
 2 u 3 shuttered
 
 454 PRUSSIA. 
 
 shattered army, and supplied the loss of his artillery 
 from the arsenal of Berlin, again appeared formidable; 
 and while all Europe believed that the Austrians and 
 Russians had nothing left to do but to make a rapid 
 conquest of his dominions, his skilful measures obliged 
 both to act entirely on the defensive. A detachment 
 of the army under General Wunch, having joined 
 another under General Finck, recovered all Saxony 
 except Dresden. Prince Henry marching with in- 
 credible celerity into that electorate, joined those two 
 generals, and obliged Marschal Daun to separate 
 from Soltikoff in order to cover Dresden. The king 
 also getting between the Russians and the town of 
 Glogau, obliged them to relinquish a design which 
 they had formed for reducing that place, and to retire 
 into Poland.* 
 
 His Prussian majesty might now have terminated 
 trie campaign with advantage; but being desirous of 
 closing it with some decisive stroke, ,he formed the 
 grand design of not only cutting off from the Aus- 
 trians ail means of subsistence, but also of rendering 
 their retreat impracticable by seizing the passes into 
 Bohemia. He accordingly detached General Finck 
 with nineteen battalions and thirty-five squadrons to 
 occupy the defiles of Maxen and Ottendorf. This 
 service was successfully executed, and no doubt was 
 entertained that Marschal Daun would be obliged t6 
 hazard a battle or to surrender at discretion. The 
 case, however, proved exactly the reverse. That able 
 commander having sent detachments to seize on the 
 neighbouring eminences, so completely surrounded 
 the Prussians as to preclude all possibility of escape. 
 General Finck, with eight other general officers, and 
 
 * Hist. Mod. Europe, vol. 5, p. 303. 
 
 near
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 453 
 
 near 20,000 men, were, after a gallant defence obliged 
 to suTrender themselves prisoners of war.* To a 
 commander circumstanced like the Prussian monarch, 
 this was a most serious loss. 
 
 This unfortunale affair ended the campaign of 1759- 
 The king of Prussia began the next on a defensive 
 plan, with the most judicious arrangements that mili- 
 tary science could devise. But the enterprising spirit 
 and sagacious conduct of the Austrian General Lau- 
 dohn, totally disconcerted his measures. That skil- 
 ful and active commander, by artful feints and rapid 
 marches, deceived the Prussian general Fouquet, and 
 surrounded his small army. That gallant officer being 
 attacked in his entrenchments was mortally wounded* 
 and 4000 of his men being killed, the rest, about 
 7000 in number, surrendered themselves prisoners of 
 war. The reduction of Glatz by General Laudohn 
 was the immediate consequence of this decisive vic- 
 tory. The victorious Laudohn was now ready to lay 
 siege to Breslaw. The king of Prussia's defensive 
 system being now overturned, he quitted his fortified 
 camp on the frontiers of Saxony, and directed his 
 route towards Silesia. Marschal Daun advanced to- 
 wards the same quarter, and by forced marches out- 
 stripped his antagonist. In consequence of this move- 
 ment, the king displaying a bold stroke of generalship, 
 wheeled in the opposite direction and suddenly ap- 
 peared before Dresden. This place, however, being 
 well garrisoned, as well as strengthened by additional 
 fortifications, baffled all the assaults of the Prussians, 
 and held out till the approach of Marschal Daun 
 from Silesia obliged them to raise the siege. General 
 
 * Hist. Mod. Eur. on the authority of the Austrian and Prussian rela- 
 tions compared, vol. 5, p, 535. 
 
 2 a 4 Laudohn
 
 456 PRUSSIA. 
 
 Laudohn in the mean while commenced the siege of 
 Breslaw, but after annoying the town by a heavy 
 bombardment, was compelled by Prince Henry to 
 relinquish his enterprise. The Russian army under 
 Count Czernichef had now reached the frontiers of 
 Silesia; another body of Russians entered Pomerania, 
 and the Swedes with 20,000 men recommenced their 
 operations in that province. 
 
 The king was no sooner apprized of the approach 
 of the Russians, than he resolved to attack the Aus- 
 trians before the arrival of a new enemy. He was at 
 that time in danger of being surrounded in his camp 
 at Lignitz, by the three Austrian armies of Daun, 
 Laudohn, and Lasey, who had effected a junction, 
 and formed the design of attacking him with their 
 united forces. The Prussian monarch, who apparently 
 was not ignorant of their plan, quitted his camp in 
 the night, occupied the heights by which Laudohn 
 \vas to advance, and defeated that enterprising general, 
 who, after losing about 8,000 men, was obliged to re- 
 treat A while Daun could not possibly come to his 
 assistance. By this victory the Prussian monarch not 
 only rescued himself from imminent danger, but pre- 
 vented the junction of the Russian and Austrian 
 armies in Silesia. Having joined Prince Henry, he 
 matched in the next place against Marschal Daun 
 who had formed the blockade of Schweidtiitz, and 
 compelled him to abandon his enterprise. 
 
 While the king was making these grand efforts in 
 'Silesia, General Hulsen, iu Saxony, gallantly supported 
 the reputation of "the Prussian arms; but in another 
 quarter the state of affairs was very different. Count 
 Czernikoff Hie Russian commander, h:; . : ><i joined the 
 Austrian General Lusey, their united ibices made 
 
 themselves
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 45? 
 
 themselves masters of Berlin, where they levied a con- 
 tribution, destroyed the magazines, arsenals, and 
 founderies, and took up their quarters in the rojal 
 palaces, which thev pillaged of a great part of their 
 valuable furniture. But on hearing of the king's ap- 
 proach to the relief of his capital, they retired by 
 different routes. Through the good offices, however, 
 of General Tottleben, who had formerly been in the 
 Prussian service, and had for some time lived in Berlin, 
 the city suffered less than might have been expected.* 
 In the mean time, almost all Saxony was conquered 
 by the Imperial army. The French laid Hulberstadt 
 under contribution. One part of Pornerania was 
 ravaged by the Swedes, and another by the Russians, 
 who hud invested Colbcrg by land and by sea. The 
 king's situation now seemed desperate; all his motions 
 were watched by Daun, while Laudohn had laid siege 
 to the important fortress of Cosel in Silesia, and 
 threatened the whole province with subjugation. It 
 now became necessary that his Prussian majesty should 
 call up all the vigour of his genius, and attempt by 
 bold exertion to extricate himself from these compli- 
 cated difficulties. He resolved, therefore, to make an 
 extraordinary effort. Marschal Daun had an army 
 of 80,000 men encamped in the neighbourhood of 
 Torgau, in the strongest position that tactical science 
 could chuse. The Prussian monarch had only 50,000, 
 yet in his desperate situation he resolved to attack 
 that able and experienced general in his apparently 
 impregnable camp, and to strike a decisive blow be- 
 fore the close of the campaign. The battle of Torgau, 
 fought November '23, ITn'O, was, in regard both to 
 valour ami tactical skill, one of the best contested 
 
 * loose's Ilitt. Ilui.s.,1, vol. 2, p. 328. 
 
 actions
 
 4.58 PRUSSIA. 
 
 actions in the annals of war. The courage and con- 
 duct of the two commanders were equally conspicuous. 
 Marschal Daun received a dangerous wound in the 
 thigh, and the king a slight contusion by a musket 
 ball on the breast. About 10,000 were killed and 
 wounded on each side. The Prussians took near 
 8,000 prisoners, among whom were four generals, and 
 200 inferior officers.* The Austrians as well as the 
 Prussians claimed the victory, but the consequences 
 decided the question. The king recovered all Saxony 
 before the end of the campaign. He had added new 
 lustre to his arms, and the shock seemed to be com- 
 municated to every hostile quarter. General Laudohn 
 immediately raised the siege of Cosel, and evacuated 
 Silesia. The Russians abandoned the sieare of Col- 
 
 O 
 
 berg, and retired into Poland. The Swedes in Pome- 
 rania were defeated by the Prussians, and obliged to 
 take refuge under the cannon of Stralsuncl. 
 
 During the campaign of 1761, his Prussian ma- 
 jesty finding his resources exhausted, and his armies 
 consumed in unavailing efforts and indecisive vic- 
 tories, acted solely on the defensive. But this plan 
 did not exempt him from misfortunes. The Austrians 
 under General Laudohn took Schweidnitz by surprize, 
 and Colberg surrendered to the Russians. The king 
 found himself in a worse situation at the close of this 
 than of any former campaign. The Russians winter- 
 ed in Pomerania, and the Austrians in Silesia. By 
 this position they were ready to commence their oper- 
 ations earlier than formerly, and 4o act with greater 
 vigour and concert. Nothing seemed capable of avert- 
 ing the fate of the illustrious Frederick, who was now 
 
 * Hist. Mod. Eur. on the authority of the Austrian and Prussian gaaettet 
 compared, vol. 5, p. 343. 
 
 * considered
 
 CENEEAL HISTORY. 459 
 
 considered as a victim devoted to the vengeance of 
 his numerous and powerful enemies. But when all 
 human efforts appeared unavailable, Providence inter- 
 posed. The tremendous storm which seemed ready 
 to burst upon Prussia, was dissipated by one of those 
 sudden and unforeseen changes in human affairs. 
 
 O 
 
 which instantly decide the fate of nations, and baffle 
 all political conjecture. The death of Elizabeth em- 
 press of Russia, and the accession of Peter III. to 
 the throne,, produced an unexpected revolution, in the 
 affairs of the belligerent powers. The new emperor 
 immediately concluded a treaty of peace, and after- 
 wards of alliance with his Prussian majesty.* And 
 Sweden followed the example of Russia in concluding 
 a peace with the court of Berlin. The king of Prussia 
 now relieved from a great part of that load of power 
 by which he had long been oppressed, was enabled to 
 act with vigour against his remaining enemies. A 
 body of Russian irregulars being ordered toco-operate 
 with the Prussians, made an irruption into Bohemia, 
 and the Austrians in their turn experienced the rava- 
 ges of these ferocious allies, now become formidable 
 enemies/f' But the sudden revolution in Russia, by 
 which Peter II [. was deposed, and his consort Catha 
 rine II. was elevated to the throne, seemed to portend 
 a fatal reverse to the Prussian monarch. The event, 
 however, was more favorable than might have been 
 expeeted. That prudent princess, indeed, withdrew her 
 troops from his alliance, but she preserved inviolate 
 the treaty of peace concluded by her predecessor. 
 
 * Tookc Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 3*5, 346. 
 
 t Hist. mod. Eur. vol. 5, p. ,'581. Tooke say* tliat his Prussian ma- 
 jesty <lid not make use of the Russians at this time. Hist. Kus, vol. 2, 
 
 i>. :MC. 
 
 The
 
 460 PRUSSIA. 
 
 The two grand objects of his Prussian majesty, were 
 the recovery of Schweidnitz, and the expulsion of the 
 Austrians from Silesia. Both these designs were suc- 
 cessfully carried into effect. Schweidnitz, although 
 defended by a garrison of 9000 men, was after a siege 
 of two months obliged to surrender, in spite of the 
 efforts of Daun and Laudohn to obstruct the king's 
 operations. The Prussian armies now made irruptions 
 into Bohemia. One body advanced almost to Prague, 
 and destroyed a large magazine, while another laid a 
 great part of the town of Egra in ashes. Some parties 
 penetrated into Franconia and Suabia, ravaging the 
 country and levying heavy contributions. In these 
 predatory expeditions, the Prussians are said to have 
 levied contributions to the amount of 1,000,000 ster- 
 ling, and several princes of the empire were obliged to 
 sign a treaty of neutrality in order to preserve their 
 territories from future depredations. In the month of 
 February, 1763, a treaty of peace was concluded 
 between the king of Prussia and the empress queen of 
 Hungary, on the condition of mutual restitution of 
 conquests and oblivion of injuries. Thus terminated 
 this obstinate contest between Austria and Prussia. 
 After the repeated devastation of so many fertile and 
 flourishing provinces, the defacement of so many fine 
 cities by bombs and balls, and no tremendous a de- 
 struction of the human species, both parties were 
 placed in the same situation as at the commencement 
 of the war. What a burlesque on political science! 
 What a view to the moral philosopher! 
 
 From this period the illustrious Frederick no more 
 displayed his formidable banners, except in the short 
 dispute with Joseph II. concerning the Bavarian suc- 
 cession, which, notwithstanding the vast preparations 
 
 that
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 461 
 
 that were made on both sides, happily terminated 
 without any important consequences. Having ac- 
 quired the reputation of the greatest general of modern 
 times, he employed the remainder of his reign in cul- 
 tivating the arts of peace, with the same ardour that 
 he had formerly displayed in war. His powerful 
 patronage, as well as his refined taste, eminently con- 
 tributed to the advancement of arts, sciences, and 
 learning in Prussia. Potsdam owes to him almost its 
 creation, and Berlin its principal embellishments.* 
 Under his auspices agriculture was greatly improved. 
 He has at the same time been accused of loading the 
 trade of his dominions with unnecessary and cumber- 
 ous restrictions. His views of commerce, indeed, 
 appear to have been confined ; at least his ideas on the 
 subject were somewhat singular. His predilection 
 for the language, the literature, and manners of 
 France, and his contempt of those of Germany, have 
 also been censured. During his reign, every thing 
 xvas French at the court of Berlin, as much as at that 
 of Versailles. He composed all his works in that 
 language, in which he distinguished himself among 
 writers of the first class, if not for elegance, at least 
 for perspicuity; and if the negligence of his style be 
 sometimes perceptible, the depth of his thoughts will 
 always be admired. It is only to be lamented that his 
 philosophy was not more in unison with Christianity. 
 In his military enterprises he has sometimes been ac- 
 cused of temerity, but it must be confessed, that his 
 circumstances were frequently such as did not permit 
 him to consult times and situations, and that rashness 
 could scarcely dictate any thing that in his condition 
 was incompatible with prudence. His military talents 
 
 * C;irr' Snmnitr'i Tour, p. 123, 399, 400, <W1. 
 
 on
 
 on the whole have seldom been equalled, perhaps 
 never excelled, in ancient or modern times. Equally 
 distinguished for vajour and conduct, the exploits of 
 every contemporary commander were lost in the 
 splendor of his victories and his retreats. His con- 
 duct in regard to Poland, in conjunction with the 
 other partition powers, is mentioned in the historical 
 sketches of that country and of Russia. Polie\ r may 
 apologize for his conduct, justice pronounces its con- 
 demnation. The most striking features of his charac- 
 ter, ate. those of the warrior, the statesman, and the 
 scholar. He was the patron of all that is elegant in 
 letters, and the model of all that is great in arms. 
 He died in 178G, and left to his successor a consol- 
 dated power, a formidable army, able generals, and a 
 full treasury.* 
 
 Frederick the Great was succeeded by his nephew 
 'Frederick William II. This prince had already given 
 the most flattering hopes that his reign would be as 
 glorious, and his administration less rigorous than 
 that of his uncle. The Prussian monarchy was in the 
 height of its splendor, being one of the most power- 
 ful kingdoms in Europe, flourishing in arts, formid- 
 able in arms. The beginning of his reign realized all 
 the expectations that so favorable circumstances 
 naturally concurred to excite. Cabals of courtiers, 
 and novelty of circumstances, contributed to destroy 
 the flattering calm. The councils of Europe began 
 to fluctuate, and the tremendous revolution of France 
 gave rise to new plans of policy. Prussia and Austria 
 undertook to reduce that revolted nation, and re-estab- 
 lish the authority of its monarch. The enterprise ap- 
 peared easy to two such formidable powers. Scarcely 
 
 * Segr. Fred. William II, vol. 1, p. 11. 
 
 any
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 463 
 
 any one doubted of its success. The general opinion, 
 which prevailed throughout Germany was, that the 
 undisciplined troops of France could make little re- 
 sistance against the warlike battalions of Prussia or 
 Austria.* As the scene was wholly new and unprece- 
 dented, the issue of the enterprise baffled all political 
 and tactical calculation. These memorable events 
 being already mentioned, it suffices in this place to 
 remark, that the conduct of Prussia has been inexpli- 
 cable. The great promoter of the revolutionary war, 
 she was the first that made peace with the Gallic re- 
 public. Frederick William II, was succeeded in 
 1797 by his son Frederick William III. After con- 
 stantly refusing to join in the second coalition of the 
 great continental powers, and losing so favorable an 
 opportunity as presented itself previous to the battle 
 of Austerlitz, when she might have come forward 
 with almost a moral certainty of success, Prussia at 
 last undertook single handed to cope with that formid- 
 able power, which had recently shaken to its very 
 foundations the Austrian throne, and shattered to 
 pieces the formidable army of Russia. The issue of 
 the contest was not less extraordinary than the time 
 was ill chosen. It could scarcely have been supposed 
 that the magnificent edifice of Prussian greatness, 
 which Frederick II. had erected^ could have been 
 crumbled to pieces in a few days. Some strange in- 
 fatuation seems to have fallen upon Prussia, or some 
 lurking treachery must have obstructed her political 
 views, -and impeded her military operations. The 
 Prussian army was one of the finest that Europe had 
 ever seen in the field, and was scarcely less than 
 00,000 in number. The resistance which it made, 
 
 * Reisbcck' Travels, vwl, 9, p. 28. See Historical sketch of Fraticet 
 
 however 1
 
 464 PRUSSIA. 
 
 however, was only of short duration. On the 10th 
 October, 1805, Prince Louis Ferdinand of Prussia 
 Jost his life in the first skirmish that took place with 
 the French.* But his death was shortly after re- 
 venged. Prince Hohenloe op the 13th gained u very 
 considerable advantage over the enemy. On the 14th 
 the decisive battle took place, which put a period to 
 the grea|uess of Prussia. The king and the duke of 
 Brunswick commanded in this action. The army con- 
 sisted ot' about 180,000 of {he finest troops in the 
 world; that of the enemy commanded by the French 
 emperor was somewhat superior in number. The 
 Prussians were totally defeated, the number of killed 
 and wounded amounted to more than '20,000, and ac- 
 cording; to the most authenticated accounts near 
 40,000 were made prisoners. The duke of Brunswick 
 was mortally wounded, and died some days after the 
 action. The French advanced to, Berlin, and took 
 possession not only of Brandenbourg and the greatest 
 part of Silesia, but also of Hamburg, Lubeck, Meck- 
 lenburg, and several other German states. Most of 
 the Prussian towns surrendered without resistance ; 
 and the different divisions of the army flying from the 
 scene of defeat and disaster, being every where pur- 
 sued and intercepted, fell into the hands of the enemy. 
 According to the French bulletins J 43,000 prisoners 
 were taken within a few weeks after the entrance of 
 their army into the Prussian territories.*!- 
 
 The loss of a battle is nothing uncommon, but the 
 overthrow of a great and warlike nation by one single 
 defeat, is u phenomenon in modern history. If ex- 
 tent of territory and number of inhabitants be taken 
 
 * Gazette account of the rencounter, 10th October. 
 t liulletius, from Oct. i4 to Nov. 1, 1806. 
 
 as
 
 GENERAL HISTORY. 465 
 
 as the criterion of national strength, Prussia was far 
 more powerful in the year 1806, than when she suc- 
 cessfully resisted half a century ago the united forces 
 of Austria and Russia, supported by France and 
 Sweden. What a field of remark and reflection for 
 the politician and the philosopher. What a theme 
 for the future historian when partiality and prejudice 
 shall have subsided, and more authentic documents 
 shall have dispelled the chaos of contradictory in- 
 formation. ' 
 
 The battle of Jena, the most decisive of all those 
 that are recorded in modern history, annihilated the 
 greatness and glory of Prussia, and crumbled to pieces 
 that magnificent military fabric, which Frederick the 
 Great had erected. After that fatal day, she scarcely 
 mad* any further resistance; her cities, her towns, 
 her magazines, and her scattered battalions, fell one 
 after another into the hands of the enemy. And this 
 mighty power, which not half a century ago was one 
 of the most formidable in Europe, has been obliged 
 to make peace with France on the hard conditions of 
 resigning her dominions in Westphalia and Poland, 
 together with the city of Dantzick, and of shutting 
 her ports against the trade of Great Britain. 
 
 The commercial history of Prussia is much less 
 striking than her military annals. The origin of her 
 trade is as ancient as that of perhaps any other nation 
 of the north, as appears from her early connections 
 with Novogorod and the Hanse Towns of Germany ; 
 but its progress has been gradual, and distinguished 
 by few interesting features. The merchants of Hull 
 traded to Prussia so early as the year 1372.* But it 
 was in the year 1386 that the first commercial treaty 
 * Fedcra, vol. 6, p. 718. 
 
 VOL. ui, 2 H appears
 
 466 PRUSSIA. 
 
 appears to have been concluded between England and 
 the knights of the Teutonic order, then sovereigns 
 of Prussia.* In later times the trade of that king- 
 dom had considerably increased, and the acquisition 
 of the great commercial city of Dantzick had rendered 
 it respectable. But Prussia has now lost that cele- 
 brated port, and indeed her commerce may at present 
 be considered as annihilated. 
 
 '** ; . , f 
 
 Federa, rol. 7, p. 575. 
 
 
 DENMARK,
 
 467 
 
 DENMARK, NORWAY, &c. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of the Country 'Mountains- 
 Rivers Canals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil 
 Climate Vegetable Productions Zoology Xatural Curiosities An- 
 tiquities aud Artificial Curiosities. 
 
 JLHE Danish dominions, consisting of .Denmark 
 Proper, Norway, and Iceland, countries separated by 
 wide intervening distances, and in physical and moral 
 circumstances very dissimilar, will be best described 
 by following those natural divisions which no political 
 events can annihilate. 
 
 Situation.'] Denmark Proper, consisting of those 
 ancient seats of the Danish nation, the isles of Zee- 
 land, Funen, Laland, and Falster, with others of in- 
 ferior extent, together with the Chersouesus Cimbrica, 
 which contains Holstein, Sleswick, and Jutland, is 
 situated between 54 and 58 north latitude, and be- 
 tween 8 and 11 east longitude. But of countries so 
 detached, and lying in so irregular a. form, it is im- 
 possible to calculate the area, with any appearance of 
 an approximation to accuracy. 
 
 J-'IH-C of the (. oun fry.']- The islands of Zeeland and 
 
 Funen arc fertile and pleasant, consisting of fields 
 
 separated by mud wall?, and interspersed with cottages 
 
 *>f brick or white washed, and finely diversified with 
 
 2 u '2 vale*
 
 46S DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 vales and gently swelling hills, interspersed with 
 woods of beech and oak. The isle of Funen in par- 
 ticular is well cultivated ; Sleswick, Holstein, and 
 Jutland are also level countries; the latter contains 
 several extensive forests and moors; but there is 
 nothing like a mountain either in the peninsula or 
 the isles that compose the ancient kingdom of Den- 
 mark ; nor any river either of historical fame or com- 
 mercial importance, although the rivulets as well as 
 the creeks are numerous. Among the latter, the 
 Lymfiord may be considered as a remarkable geogra- 
 phical feature, being a creek or inlet of the sea in 
 the province of Jutland, penetrating almost quite 
 through the peninsula, from the Cattegate to within 
 less than three miles of the German Ocean. In the 
 interior of the country it forms an extensive lake, 
 sending forth a multitude of different branches, which 
 running in every direction, compose so singular a 
 figure that nothing but the view of a good map can 
 convey any idea of its topography. It abounds with 
 fish and contains many islands ; and Busching de* 
 scribes it as navigable.* 
 
 Canals.'] Denmark presents few canals. Its situa- 
 tion, indeed, in a great measure precludes the neces- 
 sity of inland navigation. The principal communica- 
 tion of this kind is the canal of Kiel, in the province 
 of Holstein, uniting the Baltic with the river Eydar, 
 which flows into the German sea. This canal, which 
 must be considered as a very important work, extends 
 something more than twenty English miles, and ad- 
 mits vessels of about 120 tons.f 
 
 Lakes."] There are several lakes in the peninsula 
 and the isles, but except that formed by the Lym- 
 
 * Busching, vol. 1, p. 4128. t Coxe's Travels, vol. 5, p. 301. 
 
 fiord
 
 MINERALOGY SOIL CLIMATE, &C. 46\) 
 
 fiord already mentioned, none of them are consider- 
 able. 
 
 Mineralogy. 1 Denmark Proper presents scarcely 
 any thing to the observation of the mineralogist, and 
 is equally deficient in mineral waters. 
 
 Soil.'] The country being level, the soil is generally 
 fertile; and the unproductive tracts, which are chiefly 
 in the northern parts of Jutland, being not moun- 
 tainous but marshy, are capable of great improvement. 
 The agriculture of Denmark is of late greatly im- 
 proved, a circumstance chiefly owing to the emanci- 
 pation of the peasantry. 
 
 Climate.'] The climate of Denmark is cold and 
 humid. The winters are often very severe; and the 
 transitions from heat to cold, and vice versa, are^oftcn 
 sudden and violent. In l6'58, the great Belt, which is 
 at least twenty English miles in breadth, was so com- 
 pletely frozen over, that Charles X. king of Sweden, 
 matched his troops across it from Zealand to Funen. 
 
 Vegetable Productions.'] The vegetable productions 
 of Denmark are not materially different from those of 
 the northern parts of England and Germany. They 
 consist chiefly of pasturage and different kinds of 
 grain ; and as agriculture is constantly improving, 
 abundance must consequently increase. 
 
 Zoology.'] The zoology of Denmark Proper has 
 nothing peculiar. The horses, especially those of the 
 Holstein breed, are large and line. The king has 
 above '2,000, among which is a breed remarkable for 
 being of a milk white colour.* His majesty allows 
 all the farmers to have their mares covered gratuitous- 
 ly, by his best stallions, which contributes greatly to 
 improve the breed of horses in this country. The 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 100. 
 
 2 ii 3 horned
 
 470 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 horned cattle, which are also of a good size, are 
 numerous.* 
 
 Natural Curiosities.'] Denmark Proper scarcely 
 presents any thing that can be called a natural 
 curiosity. 
 
 Artificial Curiosities.'] The vestiges of antiquity are 
 likewise few in number, and of little importance, all 
 the, ancient monuments being those called runic. 
 Circles of upright slones are common in all the 
 Danish territories. In Iceland, in particular, their 
 origin is clearly ascertained, from their denomination 
 of Dombring, or circles of judgment. A variety of 
 monuments also are found, of those kinds, which anti- 
 quarians have long considered as Druidic ; but which 
 appear to be of a different and much later origin. 
 
 NORWAY. 
 
 Situation, Extent, #c.] Norwa}"-, situated between 
 55 north latitude, and the Arctic Ocean, presents a 
 vast, although not well ascertained, extent of territory, 
 bounded by the Ocean on every side, except on the 
 east towards Sweden, from which it is separated by a 
 long range of mountains, running almost the whole, 
 length of the country. 
 
 Face of the Country.'] The face of the country is 
 extremely diversified and romantic, being almost 
 entirely mountainous, especially the inland or eastern 
 parts, which are a truly Alpine region. The grand 
 chain which divides Norway from Sweden, is, in 
 passing through the different provinces, distinguished 
 by different names, as Joglefeld, Buglefeld, Hardan- 
 
 ** Swinton's Trav. p. 2g. 
 
 gerfeld.
 
 RIVERS. 471 
 
 gerfeld, Dofrafeld, Sec. The most elevated part of the 
 chain is about the parallel of Drontheim, in 63 26' 
 north latitude. That continuation of it which passes 
 along the east and south of Danish Lapland, assumes 
 the appellation of the mountains of Kolen, is of an 
 inferior height. Areskutan, a solitary mountain of 
 Yoempland, at some distance from the grand chain, is 
 said to be 6l62 English feet above the nearest rivers, 
 and Swuckustoct, 4()o8 feel above the. lake of Fainand, 
 which is supposed to be 2000 or 3000 feet above the 
 level of the the sea.* But the height of the Nor- 
 wegian mountains seems to be very imperfectly 
 estimated ; and the confused and contradictory ac- 
 counts given by Busching, Bergman, Ascanius, Pen- 
 nant, and Pontoppidon, arid in part collected by Pin* 
 kerton, throw very little light on the subject.-}' From 
 comparing the different statements, however, it ap- 
 pears that the Scandinavian chain is inferior in height, 
 not only to the Alps of Switzerland, but also to the 
 Pyrenees and the Carpathian mountains. Many lofty 
 elevations also branch out of the westward from the 
 grand chain, and stretch in various forms towards the 
 coast. 
 
 Jitters."] The rivers, most of which rise from the 
 Alpine chain, have only a short course. The princi- 
 pal river of Norway is the Clemen, which issues from 
 the lake of Oresund, and runs nearly south about 300 
 English miles. Before it receives the Worm, from the 
 lake Miobs, it is as broad as the Thames at Putney . 
 But numerous cataracts and shoals render it uu- 
 navigable, although about 50,000 trees are annually 
 floated down it to Fredericstadt. The want of navi- 
 
 Pink. Gcog. vol. 1, p. 5)3. t H.icl. 
 
 J Cu\i;'s Tiiiv. vol. b, [>. 6'~. j Ibid, vol. />, p. ol. 
 
 2 li 4 "able
 
 472 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 gable rivers In this country, however, Is, in a great 
 measure, supplied by the numerous creeks with which 
 the coast is indented. 
 
 Lakes.] There are no canals in Norway but a great 
 number of lakes, some of which are of a considerable 
 extent, and highly picturesque. That of Tyri in par- 
 ticular, although not one of the most extensive, is one 
 of the most beautiful, being diversified with a multi- 
 tude of bays and creeks. Its length and breadth are 
 each about fifteen miles ; and the environs, consisting 
 of corn fields, fertile meadows, and hanging forests, 
 backed with lofty mountains, towering amphitheatri- 
 cally one above another, compose a romantic and 
 delightful scenery.* The lake of Mioss extends near 
 sixty English miles in length, but is very narrow 
 except towards the middle, where it displays an ex- 
 pansion of from twelve to eighteen miles, and contains, 
 an island about ten miles in circuit, fertile in corn 
 and pasture, and ornamented with wood.f That of 
 Foemund, thirty-five miles in length by about eight at 
 jts greatest breadth, is surrounded with mountains of 
 a considerable height. 
 
 Mineralogy.'] The mineralogy of Norway is a 
 copious subject. Some gold ore has been found, 
 but not to any considerable amount, while in silver, 
 Norway displays a superiority over Sweden ; the mines 
 of Kongsberg, forty miles south-west of Christiana, 
 having long been esteemed the richest in Europe. 
 Mr. Coxe mentions a mass of native silver in the royal 
 cabinet of Denmark, weighing 409 marks, and worth 
 6QOl. sterling. These mines were discovered by some 
 peasants in 1623. They are worked by thirty-six 
 shafts, and used to employ 4000 men. At that time 
 
 * Cow's Trav. vol. 5, p. 53. f Ibid, vol. 5, p. 59 GO. 
 
 their
 
 MINERAL WATERS. 473 
 
 Their annual net produce was about 70,0007. sterling, 
 but now it is supposed that these famous mines barely 
 defray the expence of working ; and more than half 
 of the hands have removed to the cobalt mines at 
 Fossum.* Other silver mines have also been dis- 
 covered at Yarlsberg, about thirty miJes to the north- 
 cast of Kongsberg ; but they have hitherto proved of 
 inconsiderable account. The mines of cobalt at 
 Fossum, about twenty miles to the north of Kongs- 
 berg, are a recent discovery. This mineral produc- 
 tion yields smalt, or powder blue; and the mine is 
 supposed to produce a net annual revenue to the 
 crown of 15.000/. sterling. In the region to the east- 
 ward of Drontheim, are the copper mines of Haras, 
 Storward, Qucikne, and Selboe, some of- which, 
 especially those of Raras, are very productive, and 
 yield to the crown a considerable revenue. But of all 
 the Norwegian mines, those of iron, situated near 
 Arindal, in the province of Christiaasand, and near 
 Skeen, between Arindal and Kongsberg, are -esteemed 
 the most profitable. Norway also produces rock 
 chrystals of a large size, jade and magnets, and the 
 cairngorm stones of Scotland, with abundance of 
 beautiful marbles of various kinds, as also the lapis 
 ollaris, with which the cathedral of Drontheim and 
 several other edifices are built.f Allum works are seen 
 in the vicinity of Christiana. 
 
 Mineral Waters.] Although Norway is so abundant 
 in mines, it appears to be deficient in mineral waters, 
 or at least these have hitherto escaped research as 
 there arc none of any considerable celebrity. 
 
 * For an ample description of those mines, vide Coxe's Trav. vol. 5, 
 p. 45, 46, 47, &c. Journal dcsMii.es, No. 16. 
 
 t Pontoppid. Norway, vol. 1, p. 166, vol. 2 p. 27C. 
 
 Soil
 
 474 DENMARK, NORWAY, SCC. 
 
 So//.] It is unnecessary to say that a country so 
 extensive and so mountainous as Norway mustjpresent 
 a great variety of soil. Rocky sterility is, however, 
 the predominant feature, although there are numerous 
 vallies extremely rich and fertile. In the southern 
 parts, especially, several districts unite the most pleas- 
 ing fertility with the most variegated aspect ; and 
 numerous cottages, romantically placed on rocky 
 eminences, interspersed amidstjluxuriant forests, dis- 
 play the seats of peaceful industry.* 
 
 Climate.'] Norway, extending along the western 
 side of the Scandinavian Alps, is exposed to the 
 vapours of the Atlantic, which render the cold less 
 severe than might be expected from so northerly a 
 situation. Bot from this circumstance, the western 
 storms and heavy rains prevail nearly in the same 
 manner as on the western coasts of Scotland, and 
 consequently have the same effect in impeding the 
 progress of agriculture. 
 
 Vegetable Productions.'] The vegetable productions 
 of Norway are the same as those of Sweden. The 
 Norwegian Alps are generally clothed with pines and 
 firs more than half the way to the tops, and the 
 greatest part of the country may be considered as an 
 immense muss of mountains and forests. Here as iu 
 Sweden, northern Russia, and other countries under 
 the same parallels, vegetation is so rapid that in some 
 places the corn is sowed and reaped in less than two 
 months., yet the portion of arable land is so small, on 
 account of the rockiuess of the soil, and the climate 
 so unfavourable, by reason of the heavy autumnal 
 rains, that the quantity of grain produced is far from 
 feeing adequate to the consumption ; and hence 
 
 * (Joxe's Travels, vol. 5. 
 
 t aiis.C5j
 
 ZOOLOGY. 47$ 
 
 arises the custom of mixing the bark of the larch tree 
 with the bread, in conformity to the practice of the 
 Swedish peasantry. Even the mountainous parts, 
 however, abound in pasturage and cattle, which here, 
 as in several other countries of a similar nature, are 
 driven to the hills in summer. An agricultural society 
 has been established, by the judicious exertions of 
 which the country is so much improved, that the 
 landed property has, within half a century, risen al- 
 most fifty per cent, in its value.* 
 
 Zoology.'] The zoology, as well as the botany, is 
 likewise similar to that of Sweden, except the lem- 
 ming, or Norwegian mouse, a singular animal of a 
 reddish colour, and about five inches in length, which 
 seems peculiar to Norway and Danish Lapland. Im- 
 mense numbers of these sometimes appear, and spread 
 desolation like the locust. They proceed from the 
 mountains of Kolen by a direct course towards the 
 sea, into which at last they submerge themselves, after 
 having devoured in their route every thing that is 
 edible. It is said, that if provisions tail them in the 
 way, they devour one another. Danish as well as 
 Swedish and Russian Lapland, has its peculiar animal 
 the rein deer, and as far as has hitherto been dis- 
 covered, all the Laplandic regions display the same 
 /oology, as well as the same botany. Scarcely any 
 country equals, but probably none excels Norway in 
 its ornithology, whether numbers or variety of species 
 be considered. In the number of sea fowls, in parti- 
 cular, it greatly surpasses Sweden. Along the vast 
 extent of the Norwegian coast, and the numerous 
 rocky isles, with which it is skirted, their numbers 
 eft en darken the air, and the sound of their wings 
 
 * Cjxc'h Tniv. vol. ,'j, p. If!. 
 
 resemble
 
 476 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 resemble the roaring of a storm. The flesh of some 
 of them is greatly esteemed, and the eggs are an 
 excellent food. Eagles of the largest size are com- 
 mon throughout Scandinavia, but more numerous ia 
 Norway than in Sweden. Fish abounds on the coast ; 
 but the existence of the sea-serpent, so confidently 
 asserted by Egede, is now considered by naturalists 
 as extremely problematical ; and the kraken, men- 
 tioned by Pontoppidon, Leems, and other credulous 
 writers, as well as the mermen and mermaids, and 
 other strange monsters of the Norwegian seas, are 
 consigned to the region of fable, and classed among 
 the imaginary beings produced by ignorance and cre- 
 dulity. 
 
 Natural Curiosities.'] Norway presents many sin- 
 gular features of nature. The most remarkable is the 
 Maelstrom, or Muskoestrom, a tremendous whirlpool, 
 formed by the local position of the island of Muskoe 
 and the adjacent coast. During about a quarter of 
 an hour, at the turn of the ebb and the flood, it is 
 calm ; but while the tide is rising and jailing, its noisa 
 is heard at the distance of several leagues, and it 
 forms a dreadful vortex, into which ships, if they 
 come within its reach, are inevitably drawn, and 
 instantaneously shivered into fragments. The whale, 
 in spite of his struggles, is often drawn into this 
 vortex, and, when it is violently agitated, vessels are 
 sometimes attracted from an incredible distance. But 
 the Muskoestrom has been so often and so amply 
 described that the subject is now become trite ; and 
 on the south of the Ferroe-isles there is another 
 whirlpool of a similar nature. A great number of 
 picturesque views in Norway might be considered as 
 natural curiosities, by a traveller unaccustomed to 
 * inch
 
 NATURAL CURIOSITIES. 4?7 
 
 such romantic scenery. There are many stupendous 
 caverns : and mountains have sometimes been split, 
 or engulphed by subterraneous waters, of which a 
 dreadful instance has lately occurred in Switzerland. 
 Busching relates, that, in 1703, a farm in the province 
 of Christiana was swallowed up with all its buildings, 
 and that a chasm full of ruins and sand now occupies 
 its place. 
 
 In regard to antiquities, or artificial curiosities, no- 
 thing of the kind is seen in Norway, except the judi- 
 cial circles so often mentioned. The ancient buildings 
 having been all of wood in Norway, as well as in 
 Denmark, are perished without leaving any remains. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 47S 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Principal Cities and Towns Edifices. Islands. 
 
 COPENHAGEN, the capital of Denmark, is de- 
 lightfully situated on the eastern coast of the isle of 
 Zealand, about twenty-five English miles to the south 
 of the noted passage into the Baltic, called the Sound. 
 It is between four and five English miles in circuit, 
 regularly fortified, and contains about 4000 houses, 
 and 82,000 inhabitants,* exclusive of the sailors' 
 quarters and four regiments of soldiers. The streets 
 are divided by canals, which facilitate the conve}'- 
 ance of goods ; but the foot paths are narrow and in- 
 convenient. Copenhagen is the best built city in the 
 north of Europe. Petersburg displays a more ample 
 extent, and more magnificent edifices : but Copen- 
 hagen is more uniform ; the houses being mostly of 
 brick, stuccoed in imitation of stone. Some of them, 
 however, are of free stone, which is brought from 
 Germany,and constructed in the Italian style of archi- 
 tecture.^ Four superb streets, inhabited by the no- 
 bility, lead to an octangular area, called La Place 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 43. Pinkerton makes the popu- 
 lation 90,000. Geog. vol. 1, p. 505. Copenhagen is in a very low situa- 
 tion, seeming at a distance to he built in the water. Swinton's Travels, 
 p. 95. 
 
 t Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 42, 43. Coxe's Travels, vol 5, 
 p. 126, 127. 
 
 Frederick,
 
 COPENHAGEN. 479 
 
 Frederick, in which are the palaces of the royal family. 
 In the centre of the octagon, is the equestriau statue 
 of Frederick V. in bronze. It was erected in 1769, 
 by the Danish East India Company, and cost 80,000/. 
 sterling.* The theatre of Copenhagen is small but 
 handsome, and elegantly decorated : but the receipts 
 are not large, the officers, both naval and military, 
 having free admission. Here is also an academy of 
 painting. The top of the Church of Christian Haven, 
 one of the quarters of this capital, commands a superb 
 view. The whole city of Copenhagen with its en- 
 virons, the Sound full of ships, and the shores of 
 Sweden, lie extended as in a map. None of the other 
 churches attract much attention. The Lutherans, 
 indeed, pay little regard to the embellishment of their 
 temples.-}- The royal palace of Fredericksberg, on 
 the outside of the city, was a magnificent pile before 
 it was almost destroyed by fire in 1794. It stands on 
 a beatitiful eminence, and commands a grand pros- 
 pect of the city, the sea, and the adjacent country. 
 This superb edifice was erected by Christian VI. at 
 the enormous expence of 6,000,000 rix dollars, which 
 t 4s. 9^. amount to 1 ,4<20,000/. sterling, a sum which 
 he paid out of his private purse.'j: The knights' saloon 
 was 118 feet by 58. The library, which contained 
 180,000 volumes, was greatly damaged by the fire. 
 In this palace are the picture gallery, and the museum, 
 neither of which were consumed. Here are some 
 good pictures, a cup which belonged to the famous 
 Margaret of Valdemir, and a celestial globe, made 
 by Tycho Brah-e. This truly magnificent palace, how- 
 ever, has by some been considered as too enormous u 
 
 * Carr's Trarcls, p. 54. t Ibid, p 5o. t Ibid, p. 3?, -50. 
 
 fabric
 
 480 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 fabric for the magnitude of the capital and the king- 
 dom.* 
 
 The harbour of Copenhagen is spacious and com- 
 modious, having to the south the isle of Anak. The 
 magistrates are appointed by the king ; but the bur- 
 gesses are allowed to have deputies for the protection 
 of their rights. 
 
 Copenhagen is a place of no great antiquity, being- 
 founded A. D. JlG<J, in the reign of Waldemir I. It 
 consisted of scarcely any thing more than a castle for 
 the protection of shipping against the sea pirates, who 
 were then very numerous. From this circumstance 
 it received the name of Kiopmans-Hafcn, from which 
 is derived its present appellation. Great numbers of 
 people soon resorted thither; and from a few fisher- 
 men's huts it became a large trading town. It was 
 twice taken, plundered, and almost destroyed, by the 
 Lubeckers, in 1242 and 1248, and twice by the 
 Hanseatic fleets, in 136 1 and Kl6y, and was not made 
 the capital of Denmark before 1443, till which time 
 it had been .the property of the bishop of Roschild, 
 who then tranferred it to the king.f Roschild, an 
 inland town in the same isle of Zealand, had till that 
 time been the metropolis.^ 
 
 Altona^\ Altona on the Elbe, within a mile or two 
 of Hamburg, may be considered as next to Copen- 
 hagen, and in population and importance the second 
 in the whole Danish dominions. Bushing computes 
 the number of inhabitants at 23,000, and Pinkerton 
 adopts the same opinion.^ But the population of so 
 
 * Carr's Travels, p. 54, 41. 
 
 t And. Hist. Com. vol. 1, p. 163, 214, 34'), S54, *55. 
 
 \ Busching, vol. 1, p. 182. Coxe's Travels, vol. 5, 26?, &c, 
 
 $ Busching, vol. <2, p. 68, 
 
 commercial
 
 SERGEN CHRISTIANA, 4H 1 
 
 t-ommereitil a town, and so favoured by the Danish 
 government, must have considerably increased since 
 the time when Busching wrote. Altona was originally 
 a village in the parish of Otlenscn : in l6iO it became 
 subject to Denmark, and in lG()4 was constituted a 
 city. In 1713 it was almost reduced to aslies by the 
 Swedes; but from its situation and commercial privi- 
 leges it has since risen to its present importance. 
 
 The whole Danish empire presents only three other 
 cities that merit a place in geographical description, 
 not one of which, however, would be thought worthy 
 of notice in the more southern parts of Europe 4 
 These are Bergen, Christiana, and Drontheim, all in. 
 Norway. 
 
 fiergen."] Bergen is situated in a valley, on a small 
 semicircular bay of the sea. On the land side it is 
 environed with mountains, and defended on that of the 
 sea by fortifications,. Its trade is considerable, and its 
 exports consist chiefly of fish, hides, and timber. The 
 population is, by Busching and Pinkerton, given at 
 19,000.* This city being, in former times wholly, and 
 at present chiefly constructed of wood, has dreadfully 
 suffered by repeated conflagrations. Since the year 
 1248, it has been no less than six times almost totally 
 destroyed, the last time being in 1771. But now 
 many of the houses, and all the churches are of stone. 
 Bergen was founded A.D. 1070, and from the middle 
 of the thirteenth to that of the sixteenth century, if. 
 was one of the comptoirs of the Hanseatic mer- 
 chants.^ 
 
 Chrhtiana.] Christiana contains about 10,000 in- 
 habitants, and is unquestionably the most beautiful 
 
 * Busching, vol. 1, p. 369, Pinkerton ubi supra, 
 t And. Hist. Com. p. 104. 
 VOL. III. 2 I
 
 482 DENMARK, NORWAY, SCC. 
 
 city of Norway. It is situated in the province of 
 Christiansand, the 'southernmost of that kingdom, in 
 a fertile and most delightful country. Mr. Coxe de- 
 scribes the view from the hills above Christiana as the 
 most beautiful and picturesque that can be con- 
 ceived.* This city being situated almost in the centre 
 of the iron and copper mines, the export of metals is 
 considerable ; but tar and deals are its staple com- 
 modities : of the latter England takes off the greatest 
 quantity. Christiana is of a recent origin, being 
 founded in 1624, by Christian IV. 
 
 Dronfheim.'] Drontheim,- the most northern town 
 "of any note in the world, except Tornea and Arch- 
 angel, being situated in 63 20' north latitude, was 
 the residence of the ancient kings of Norway. Its 
 present population is computed at about 8000, and 
 its trade is inconsiderable, although it exports some 
 timber, fish, and tallow, as also some copper from the 
 mines of Medal and Roras/f- Drontheim, anciently 
 called Nidaros, from the river Nid, on which it is 
 situated, was founded about A.D. 997, and had, after 
 the establishment of Christianity in Norway, an 
 archiepiscopal see, which was suppressed at the refor- 
 mation. Of the ancient cathedral, built of lapis ollaris, 
 the choir alone remains. 
 
 Edifices.'] The Danish dominions display but few 
 splendid edifices besides the palaces already men- 
 tioned. The two royal palaces of Fredericksberg, 
 about twenty English miles from Copenhagen and 
 Jagersberg, or the hermitage, near Elsineur, can only 
 claim a very brief description. That of Fredericks- 
 berg, where the king often resides, was built by Chris- 
 
 * Coxe's Trav. vol. 5, cli. 4. p. 33. 
 
 t And. Hist. Com. Append, vol. 3, p. 390. 
 
 tian
 
 ISLANDS. 483 
 
 * 
 
 tian IV. and according to the taste of that age par- 
 takes of the Grecian and Gothic architecture: within 
 it is richly ornamented. It stands on an eminence. 
 The gardens,, sloping from the terrace, although not 
 extensive, are laid out in a good taste, and open to the 
 public.* Jagersberg is a pleasing summer retreat. 
 The castle of Cronberg, at E'lsineur, commands the 
 strait of the Sound, which is four English miles across 
 to Helsiogors, in Sweden.-]- Here all vessels passing 
 the Sound pay the toll, which is fixed by precise regu- 
 lations. This eastle mounts 365 pieces of cannon, 
 and has subterraneous apartments for a regiment of 
 soldiers.j It was formerly esteemed impregnable, 
 and supposed to be capable of preventing the entrance 
 of any hostile fleet into the Baltic ; but the the British 
 Admirals Nelson and Parker passed it in safety with- 
 out deigning to return a shot. The most remarkable 
 sacred edifice is the cathedral of llonschild, where the 
 Danish sovereigns were formerly interred, and where 
 their monuments are still to be seen. 
 
 Islands.'] The islands which constitute the princi- 
 pal seat of the Danish monarchy have been considered 
 in the general description. The smaller isles are nu- 
 merous. Oft' the western coast of Jutland are several 
 which are chiefly remarkable for the disasters they 
 have suffered, from the assaults of the ocean. The 
 ii>le of Nordstrand was, on the 1 1th of October, I6?4, 
 about ten at night, almost totally swallowed up by 
 that tremendous element. The sea rushing in with 
 irresistible fury, ensirely submerged the lower parts of 
 the island, and swept away () churches, 30 mills, 1,332 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. , r >il. 
 
 t Ibid, p. 102. Swiuton is mistaken iu stating the width of the Sound 
 at only two miles. Travels p. i?l. 
 
 J C;in'' Travels round Ihc Baltic ubi supra, 
 
 2 ; 2 houses,
 
 484 DENMARK, NORWAY, &. 
 
 houses, 6,400 persons, and about 50,000 cattle. The 
 isle of Helgeland has also been exposed to violent in- 
 undations, by which its extent has been considerably 
 diminished.* Almost the whole coast of Norway is 
 skirted with a continued scries of small and unimpor- 
 tant isles, in general mountainous like the opposite 
 shores, with precipitous racks, and a deep sea dashing 
 against their bases. These rocky islands form nume- 
 rous and romantic groupes, separated by a multitude 
 of narrow creeks, overshaded by vast heights, and 
 most of them uninhabited, except by innumerable 
 flocks of sea- fowl. Even these that are peopled and 
 cultivated are of too little Importance to merit a place 
 in general description. That of Wardhus may be men- 
 tioned as containing a fort and a Danish garrison in 
 the Arctic Ocean. 
 
 The large and celebrated isle of Iceland is worthy of 
 greater attention. Its length from east to west is 
 about 260 miles by about 200 in breadth from north 
 to south ; but its inhabitants are supposed not to ex- 
 ceed 50,000. The face of the country is mountainous, 
 and the soil in general barren. The interior is very 
 imperfectly known ; but according to the best infor- 
 mation, the principal chain of mountains runs from 
 the south-east to the north-west, with various branches 
 diverging towards the north-east ; and the most ele- 
 vated peaks are covered with perpetual snow. Among 
 these Snaefel, or the snowy mountain, is the highest. 
 It overhangs the sea in the south- west part of the 
 island, and its elevation is, according to Pennant, sup- 
 posed to be about 2,286 yards, or something more than 
 an English mile and a quarter.f Several of the Ice- 
 landic mountains are volcanoes, among which that of 
 
 * Busching. vol. l,p. 293, &c. 't Artt. Zool, p. 63- 
 
 Hekla
 
 ISLANDS. 485 
 
 Hekla is the most famed ; but those of Krabla and 
 Kattlegia were more known by their eruptions during 
 the last century. Mount Hekla is situated in the 
 southern part of the island, about twenty British miles 
 from the coast, and rises to the height of about 5,000 
 feet, or very near an English mile above the level of 
 the sea. The summit is always covered with snow, 
 except in those parts where it is melted by the subter- 
 raneous heat.* The craters are numerous, although 
 the eruptions are not frequent, none having happened 
 from 1693 to 1766, when it emitted flames accompa- 
 nied with a torrent of lava. The rivers are, from the 
 limited extent of the country, confined to a short 
 course, mostly rising from the central ridge, and run- 
 ning to the northern coast. The boiling springs of 
 Iceland are a remarkable phenomenon : among these, 
 that of Geyser, which rising from an aperture of nine- 
 teen feet in diameter, springs up at intervals to the height 
 of from fifty to ninety feet, is the most remarkable. 
 The climate of Iceland is stormy ; but the cold, being 
 mitigated by the vapours of the sea, is less intense 
 than might be expected from its situation, the north- 
 ern extremity of the island reaching to the arctic cir- 
 cle. The vegetable productions of a climate and soil 
 like that of Iceland, can neither be numerous nor 
 abundant ; although in the fertile spots the vegetation 
 is rapid, as in other high northern latitudes. Wood 
 does not thrive, and very few trees of any kind are to 
 be seen in the island, though the quantities found in 
 many places underground, and sometimes at a consi- 
 derable depth, afford an indication that it was once 
 much more abundant. As this case is similar to what 
 is seen in the Hebrides, the Orkneys, the isles of Shet- 
 
 * Van Troil apud Pinkcrton, vol. 1, p. 519. 
 
 a i 3 land,
 
 486 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 land, and the bogs of Ireland, the reader may be re- 
 ferred to the remarks already made on the subject- 
 Corn cannot be cultivated to advantage in Iceland, as 
 the crops are unproductive and ripen with difficulty. 
 There are some tolerable pastures ; but the cattle are 
 of a diminutive size, and the horses, in particular, re- 
 markably small. The surrounding seas afford abun- 
 dance of fish, especially of cod, which contributes in 
 no small degree to the support of the inhabitants, and 
 constitutes an article of their trade. 
 
 Some have pretended that Iceland was originally 
 peopled from Scotland or Ireland, and that the first 
 Norwegian settlers found Christian inhabitants, whose 
 languge and manners indicated a Scottish or Irish de- 
 scent. These accounts, however, appear to be fabu- 
 lous : at the best they are extremely suspicious, being 
 founded on no creditable authority. All that we know 
 from authentic documents is, that about A.D. 8?4, a 
 colony of Norwegians, discontented with the proceed- 
 ings of their king, Harald Harfager, retired into Ice- 
 land, wheie they formed an aristocratic republic. In 
 1070 Christianity is said to have been introduced into 
 the island.* The Icelanders, whose country afforded 
 few incitements to avarice or ambition, continued 
 during the space of almost two centuries, under their 
 aristocratical government, independent of any foreign 
 powers ; and the kings of Norway, by whose subjects 
 it had be,en peopled, never thought of asserting their 
 sovereignty over that colony till the year 1261, when 
 Haqum reduced it under his subjection. From that 
 time it became an appendage to Norway, and with it 
 was annexed to Den to ark. 
 
 * Jonah's Comment of Iceland, and Adam of Bremen's Hist. Ecclcs. 
 apud And. Hist. Comni. vol. l,p. ai 116. 
 
 A country
 
 ISLANDS. 487 
 
 A country so sequestered from the rest of the world 
 could afford little matter for political annals. But it must 
 be considered as a singular circumstance in the history 
 of literature, that, from the eleventh to the fourteenth 
 century, learning flourished in Iceland more than in 
 any other country of northern Europe. This literary 
 phcenomenon seems to have originated from the re- 
 mote and sequestered situation of that island, at a 
 distance from the incessant revolutions and political 
 convulsions with which other countries were agitated.* 
 Poetry seems to have flourished at an early period 
 among the Icelanders. The runic characters were first 
 used in their writings. On the reception of Chris- 
 tianity, the Latin characters were immediately intro- 
 duced. A college or school was founded at Scalholt, 
 and soon after four others for the instruction of youlh 
 in the Latin language, theology, and some branches 
 of philosophy. Among other valuable works, Iceland 
 has produced the Edda, and from that source is de- 
 rived all our knowledge of the Gothic mythology. 
 From the Icelandic chronicles, the Swedes, the Danes, 
 and the Norwegians, draw their chief intelligence re- 
 lative to their ancient history. The Landamma, which 
 records the names and the property of the original 
 settlers, with the circumstances attending the distribu- 
 tion of that barbarian colony, is an unique and valua- 
 ble work. Even at present the Icelanders are far from 
 being immersed in ignorance, as the rarity of their in- 
 tercourse with the rest of the world might lead us to 
 imagine. A late intelligent traveller informs us that 
 lie found more knowledge among the lower classes in 
 Iceland, than is to be met with in most other coun- 
 tries ; and that almost every peasant is well acquainted 
 
 * Swinton, p. 51. 
 
 2 i 4 with
 
 488 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 with the principles of religion and the history of his 
 country; a circumstance not to he generally observed 
 in more opulent and polished nations. 
 
 It 'is an unquestionable i'act, that Iceland was four 
 or five centuries ago in a much more flourishing state 
 than at present. This change in its condition is to be 
 ascribed to a variety of circumstances, with many of 
 which the present age is not particularly acquainted. 
 ^The principal causes, however, seem to have been the 
 natural poverty and rigorous climate of the country, 
 which, since its subjection to Denmark, has caused it 
 to be neglected. Indeed it is not surprising that such 
 remote corners as Icolm, Kill, and Iceland, which, by 
 serving as places of refuge from political troubles, be- 
 came the flourishing seats of learning and piety, should 
 now be neglected and almost forsaken, when countries 
 more favoured by nature, being no longer agitated by 
 the barbaric convulsions p.f the Gothic ages, enjoy 
 tranquillity and attend to improvement. Iceland, in 
 consequence of its physical circumstances, has more 
 than once been exposed to all the horrors of famine. 
 These calamities have often been caused by the im- 
 mense quantities of ice drifting on its shores from 
 Greenland, which sometimes remaining unthawed du- 
 ring many months, or even the whole summer, not 
 only prevents all supplies from abroad, by rendering 
 the coast of difficult and dangerous access, but puts an 
 entire stop to the fishing, and at the same time gene-* 
 rates a cold so excessive as to destroy all vegetation 
 and prove fatal to animal life.* The numerous bears 
 Which arrive with the ice, are also extremely destruc 
 
 * Jn H$6, the drift ice on t'iC northern coast prevented any sujip y 
 - from being; received, and caused a famine, f which mai^y perished. Cx- 
 toenhagen Gazette apud And. Hist. Comm. vol. }, p. 327. 
 
 tive
 
 ISLANDS. 489 
 
 live to cattle. This island has also, at various times, suf- 
 fered greatly by epidemical diseases. In the beginning 
 of the fifteenth century, it was almost depopulated 
 by a kind of pestilence, called the black-death ; and 
 the small-pox has since made terrible ravages. From 
 these circumstances it is no wonder that the country 
 is thinly peopled, and its commerce of no great im- 
 portance. The persons of the inhabitants are of a 
 middle size, and well made, but not very strong. Their 
 liviug is poor, consisting of milk, fish, vegetables, &c. 
 with some meat, but very little bread. Their manners 
 are simple and inoffensive : they are strongly attached 
 to their poor country, and never think of emigration 
 or travelling.
 
 490 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Historical View General Progress of Society of Arts and Sciences- 
 Letters and Commerce. 
 
 1 HE history of Denmark, like that of the other north- 
 ern countries, was, till a late period, involved in ob- 
 scurity ; and that ambitious boast of an ancient origin, 
 which has warped the judgment of all primitive wri- 
 ters, has bewildered the researches of modern antiqua- 
 rians. The celebrated Puffendorf, himself, has been 
 so misled by fabulous legends, as to assert that the 
 Danish monarchy was founded long before the Chris- 
 tian agra, and to adopt the monstrous fiction, that, at 
 the precise time of the nativity of Christ, Frothon III. 
 reigned over Denmark, Sweden, Norway, England and 
 Ireland.* The Cimbrian Chersonese, comprising Sles- 
 wick, Holstein, and Jutland, was known to the Ro- 
 mans; and the most early information concerning 
 the islands in the Baltic, which constitute the chief 
 seat of the Danish monarchy, is derived from Tacitus, 
 who describes them as inhabited by the Suiones; who, 
 according to his account, had fleets consisting of ves- 
 sels of a singular construction. He also adds, that 
 they lived under a monarchical government.f The 
 original population of Denmark cannot, perhaps, be 
 ascertained, but it seems to have been the Cimbri, or 
 
 * Fuffend. Hist, des Principaux Etats de 1'Europe, traduction Fran- 
 f oise, vol. 2, ch. 9, p. 1 14. 
 t Tacit, de moribus Germanorum, cap 4i. 
 
 Celts,
 
 HISTOIUCAL VIEW. 
 
 Celts, the ancestors of 'the modern Welch. On the 
 progress of the Goths from the east, the Cimbri were 
 expelled, and obliged to go in quest of new settlements. 
 During the first six or seven centuries of the Chris- 
 tian acra, the Danes and their history seem to have 
 been totally forgotten. No antiquarian research can 
 unveil its obscurity; and even until about the year 
 f)20, or even somewhat later, it can only be collected 
 from the scattered fragments of the Franc ic histo- 
 
 o 
 rians. 
 
 The depredations and conquests of the Danes and 
 Norwegians in the southern countries of Europe, con- 
 stitute indeed the most important, although not the 
 most pleasing part of their history. The modern mo- 
 narchy has never been an object of terror to tbe south- 
 ern powers, nor had any preponderating influence in 
 the political scale. But their piratical expeditions 
 Jong agitated the maritime countries of Europe, and 
 their more permanent conquests produced great revo- 
 lutions. They made complete conquests of England 
 and Ireland, with the Hebrides, the Orkneys, and the 
 isles of Shetland, as well as of Normandy in France : 
 in Italy they obtained a permanent establishment, and 
 founded a kingdom in Sicily. Their daring enter- 
 prises, their horrible ravages, and their romantic suc- 
 cesses, have been commemorated by the historians of 
 those countries, and delineated in a masterly manner 
 by the classical pen of Gibbon. It will here be readily 
 understood, that the Danes and Norwegians, united 
 with the Saxons, were expelled from the north of Ger- 
 many by the victorious arms of Charlemagne; and a 
 mass of adventurers from the maritime provinces of 
 Sweden, although, as already observed, collectively 
 known by the different appellations of Danes in Eng- 
 * land,
 
 4*)<l DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 land, Easterlings in Ireland, Normans in France, and 
 Varagians in the East, are included in one general re- 
 presentation.* If we consider that the Varagians, 
 who subdued the Slavonian states of Novogorod and 
 Kiof, founded the Russian empire, extended their con- 
 quests from the G'ulph of Finland to the Euxine, and 
 carried devastation to the gates of Constantinople, 
 issued from the same barbaric source as those bands, 
 who, about the same period, were rendering them- 
 selves so terrible to the countries bordering on the 
 ocean and the Mediterranean, we cannot contemplate 
 without astonishment, the prodigious revolutions 
 which those Scandinavian adventurers effected in Eu- 
 rope. 
 
 The Danes first appear in the Francic histories about 
 the year 5 17, when having sailed up the Meuse and 
 ravaged the country between that river and the Rhine, 
 they were, in their retreat, beaten and expelled from 
 Antwerp by Theodoric, bastard son of Clovis, king of 
 the Franks.-}- But in treating of the affairs of the 
 reign of Charlemagne, it has already been shewn, that 
 their piratical expeditions were neither frequent nor 
 formidable till his conquest of Saxony .$ Immediately 
 after that epoch they became terrible to all Europe. 
 Their vessels, though carrying sometimes 100 men, 
 were small and of a slight construction. With these 
 they were able to a'scend the rivers and ravage the 
 interior parts of the country, of which we find nume- 
 rous instances in the histories of France and England- 
 Their first expeditions were perhaps excited by the 
 
 * Vide Historical View of Russia in this work. Tooke's Hist. Russia, 
 vol. 1. . 
 
 t Mascon's Hist. Germans, lib. 21- 
 
 t See what has been said on that subject in the Historical View of 
 France. 
 
 poverty
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 poverty of their country, inadequate to the support of 
 an increasing population ; but having declared them- 
 selves the allies of the Saxons, and being strengthened 
 as well as stimulated by those fugitives, they began to 
 appear with formidable armaments. They soon proved 
 so successful, that their system of piracy began to be 
 considered not only as advantageous, but also as ho- 
 norable ; so that the princes and nobles of Denmark 
 and Norway vied with one another in those piratical 
 enterprises, from which they began at last to aspire to 
 permanent conquests. During the long space of 20O 
 years, from the commencement of the ninth to that of 
 the eleventh century, the histories of Europe are filled 
 with the accounts of their transactions. And when 
 we consider the rapid succession of their armaments, 
 and the formidable bands of those adventurers in dif- 
 ferent parts of Europe, it naturally excites our asto- 
 nishment, that Scandinavia and the Danish islands in 
 the Baltic, with perhaps a part of the peninsula of 
 Jutland, of which the whole collective population at 
 this day, with all the advantages of an improved agri- 
 culture and commerce, scarcely amounts to 6,000,000, 
 could furnish such numerous armies.* The French his- 
 torian, Mererai, says, that those countries were at that 
 time extremely populous ; but this he asserts on a bare 
 supposition. He also affirms that the inhabitants, in- 
 cited by the hope of plunder, enlisted in such num- 
 bers in those expeditions, and, that in the end so ma- 
 ny of them were either destroyed or settled in other 
 countries, that Scandinavia remains unpeopled to this 
 day. And he compares the state of those countries 
 with that of Spain, " drained," as he says, " of its peo- 
 
 Somewhat, perhaps, above 2,500,000 for the Danitli, and about 
 3,000,000 for the Swedish dominion*. 
 
 pie
 
 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 pie, by the emigrations to America." But the Sandi- 
 navian territories have certainly had sufficient time to 
 recruit their population, since the period in which they 
 poured out their praedatory swarms. Mezerai, how- 
 ever, makes another remark, extremely consistent 
 with probability, that " all the dissolute French, and 
 
 l / * 
 
 many of a like description belonging to other coun- 
 tries, joined them." This was a probable, and indeed 
 common circumstance in the irregular wars of the 
 middle ages. The people being oppressed under the 
 feudal system, and trained to deeds of rapine and 
 blood in the frequent baronial wars, every country 
 contained numbers of dissolute and desperate men, 
 ready to join any party, and to engage in any enter- 
 prise that afforded a prospect of plunder. Of this, 
 instances are found in the wars between King Stephen 
 and the Empress Matilda for the English crown, as 
 well as those of Edward III. against Philip of Valois, 
 when a considerable part of the armies were composed 
 of men of that description from different countries. 
 Such were the campagnons of France ; and there is 
 Jittle doubt that numbers of profligates and despera- 
 does of various nations contributed to augment the 
 Danish armies. Historians, as already observed, in- 
 form us, that in the reign of King Alfred, bands of 
 English freebooters used to ravage the country under 
 the disguise of Danish soldiers.* 
 
 \j 
 
 It would be equally tedious and useless to enter into 
 a narrative of those barbarian wars. The principal 
 events are noticed in speaking of the countries in 
 which they took place. But one circumstance which 
 rendered the Danish wars peculiarly embarrassing, 
 
 * Vide Historical View of England ia this work. Cancel's Political 
 SUITCV. 
 
 was.
 
 - HISTORICAL VIEW. 495 
 
 was, that no lasting peace could, on any terms, be 
 concluded with those invaders. All the historians who 
 relate these transactions, remark the faithlessness of 
 the Danes, and their violation of the most solemn, 
 treaties. The same observations have been made on 
 the Saxons who invaded Britain ; and such appears to 
 have been the case with most of the barbarians who 
 overturned the Roman empire. In order to account 
 for this circumstance, it is necessary to remark, that 
 it was not perhaps so much to be ascribed to the per- 
 fidiousness of those nations, as to the nature of their 
 expeditions. These, at least for a long time, were 
 nol national concerns, but the enterprises of private 
 adventurers, undertaken at their own expence and 
 risque, and for their own emolument. When, there- 
 fore, a treaty was concluded with one of their leaders, 
 it was not regarded as binding by the next invaders, 
 and as they followed one another in constant succes- 
 sion, no permanent peace could be established. 
 
 Christianity began to be propagated in Denmark 
 about the commencement of the ninth century, by 
 missionaries from Hamburg,* but it was not fully 
 established till the reign of Canute the Great, king of 
 England, Denmark, and Norway, when it was followed 
 by its general consequences, the cessation of piracy 
 and rapine, and the diffusion of industry, commerce, 
 and civilization. The Danes then began to carry on 
 their wars on the same principles as other Christian 
 nations, and we hear no more of their preedatory in- 
 roads and their sanguinary massacres.'}* Canute the 
 Great was succeeded by his soii Harold, who reigned 
 only t\vo years. Canute IV, brother of the last men- 
 
 And. Iljst. Coin. vol. 1, p. 73. 
 
 * Rajuii, vA. 1, reign* of Ethelred and Can'iT, 
 
 tioned
 
 496 DENMAttK, NORWAY, ScC. 
 
 tioned king, then ascended the throne. This prince 
 greatly augmented the power and authority of the 
 clergy in Denmark, and assigned to them the tythes 
 throughout his dominions, a measure which, in some 
 parts of the country, excited great discontent. An in* 
 surrection having on this occasion taken place in Jut- 
 land, the king was there massacred in 1087, and the 
 clergy placed him in the number of saints j* indeed 
 they were bound in gratitude to honour him with a 
 place in the calendar, as he died a martyr to their 
 cause.f Eric II, who reigned from 3095 to J 103, 
 captured the rich and powerful city of Julien in 
 Pomefania, and died in the isle of Cyprus, in his pil- 
 grimage to Jerusalem. Waldemir I, after a series of 
 civil wars with two competitors for the crown, began 
 his reign 1 157, was successful in his wars against the 
 Wends or Slavonic inhabitants of Pomerania. In 
 this reign, Absalom, bishorj of Ronschild, laid the 
 foundation of Copenhagen 4 Waldemir died in 1182. 
 Waldemir II. was, in the beginning of his reign, ex- 
 ceedingly prosperous and powerful. He conquered 
 the greatest part of Livonia and Esthonia. The 
 Danish empire at that period extending over Esthonia, 
 Livonia, Courland, Prussia, Pomerania, 'Mecklen- 
 burg, Holstein, &c. comprised almost all the eastern 
 and southern shores of the Baltic. But Waldemir, 
 by his misconduct, lost a great part of his domiaion-s. 
 The Conte de Schuvrin, on taking a journey to the 
 Holy Land, committed his estate and his wife to the 
 king's care during his absence. But Waldemir having 
 seduced the countess, this nobleman on his return 
 seized the king's person by stratagem, detained him 
 
 * Puffend. Hist, de princip Etats, vol. 2, c. 9. 
 t PuiTend. ubi supra. J Ibid. ibid. 
 
 4 three
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 41)7 
 
 three years in prison, and at last obliged him to pay 
 a large sum for his ransom. During the king's con- 
 finement, Pomerania, Mecklenburg, Lubec and Dant- 
 zick, revolted. Adolphus Count de Schauvemburg 
 seized on Holstein,and the Knights of the Cross took 
 possession of Esthonia and Livonia.* Waldemir, 
 however, having towards the end of his reign re- 
 covered Esthonia and the town of Revel, died A.D. 
 1227- From this period to the accession ofWalde- 
 inir III, the Danish history displays only a series of 
 troubles, and scenes of confusion. Intestine commo- 
 tions, revolts, massacres, and assassinations, consti- 
 tute its distinguishing features. Eric V, son of Wai- 
 demir, was assassinated by Abel his brother in I'2oO. 
 Christopher 1. was taken off by poison in 1286, and 
 Eric his successor was in the same year massacred by 
 some of the nobles. During these troubles, the king- 
 dom was split into so many divisions, that the regal 
 authority was almost annihilated. The nobles and 
 prelates had acquired a domineering ascendancy, while 
 the sovereign was left almost without either power or 
 territory. Denmark then exhibited a picture similar 
 to that of France at the end of the Carlovingian dy- 
 nasty, and such as the histories of seveial other coun- 
 tries present to our view at different periods. 
 
 The anarchy which prevailed in the kingdom, at 
 last induced the Danes, after an interregnum of seven, 
 years, to elect for their king WuJdemir, the son of 
 Christopher II. their last monarch. This prince had 
 been educated at the court, of the emperor Louis of 
 Bavaria, and ascended the throne of Denmark in 
 1341. He retrieved in a great measure the affairs of 
 the kingdom, and restored internal tranquillity. He 
 
 * Puffend, ubi upr. 
 VOL. 1U. ii K al*0
 
 4<)S DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 also took and plundered the grout mercantile town of 
 Wisbuy in the isk of Gothland, from whence he 
 carried oft" a great booty,* a circumstance which in- 
 volved him in a war with the Hanse Towns.f These 
 having entered into an alliance with the king of Nor- 
 wav, the duke of Mechlenburff, and the earl of Hoi- 
 
 / 9 ^J* 
 
 stein, their united fleets took and destroyed Copen- 
 hagen, which, however, was at that time a place of 
 only trifling importance. J The marriage of Mar- 
 garet, daughter of this prince, Waldemir lit, with 
 Haquin VI. king of Norway, produced the famous 
 union of the three northern cro\v,ns, regulated by the 
 treaty of Calmar, of which the circumstances and 
 consequences are related in treating of Sweden. That 
 kingdom soon found reasons for renouncing the union 
 of Calmar, but Denmark and Norway constitute to 
 this day only one monarchy. 
 
 In taking a retrospect of the Danes as a civilized 
 people, although after the establishment of Christi- 
 anity in Denmark by Canute the Great, they no 
 more molested the southern parts of Europe, we per- 
 ceive that they were in general masters of the naviga- 
 tion and trade of the Baltic, and indeed none but 
 the Hanse Towns could contest with them that pre- 
 eminence. In this respect, indeed, the situation of 
 the Danish .islands is extremely advantageous. Mas- 
 ters of the passages into the Baltic, the kings of 
 Denmark, as early as about the middle of the four- 
 teenth century, began to impose a toll on all shipping 
 entering the Sound. Since that time they have had 
 frequent disputes with foreign nations relative to the 
 subject, as the toll has often been arbitrarily increased. 
 
 * Pufft-nd. vol. 2, cli. 9. f Meursius Hist. Danica, lib. 4. 
 
 J IVIeursius ubi supra.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 499 
 
 But these exactions at last obliged England, France, 
 and Holland to unite in 1650, for fixing and mutually 
 guaranteeing those tolls, which for the future were 
 never to be augmented in respect of these three na- 
 tions. It has already been seen, that till the reign of 
 Waldemir II. tl\e Danes were extremely powerful, 
 possessing almost all the shores of the Baltic, and had 
 acquired considerable wealth. The principal source 
 of the riches of Denmark at that period, appears to 
 have becu the herring fishery on the coast of Schonen, 
 opposite to Elsineur, and the southernmost province 
 of Sweden, although then belonging to Denmark.* 
 Arnold, the contimiator of the Chronicon Slavicum 
 of Helmoldus, in speaking of Denmark in the first 
 part of the reign of Waladmir II, about the com- 
 mencement of the thirteenth century, informs us that 
 the people of that kingdom abounded in riches " the 
 wealthy being clothed not only in various sorts of 
 scarlet, but also in purple and fine linen, occasioned 
 by the herring fishery, which is annually undertaken 
 on the coast of Schonen, whither traders of all nations 
 resorting, bring with them gold, silver, and other 
 precious commodities for purchasing herrings of the 
 Danes. "f And Mr. Anderson on this passage ob- 
 serves, that if this was the case, they must have had 
 some method of curing them with salt for their pre- 
 servation, although probably inferior to that discover- 
 ed by the Netherlanders in the succeeding century. 
 At present, however, no more is heard of this famous 
 fishery on the Schonen coast, the great shoal of 
 herrings having, through causes unknown to natural- 
 ists, long since changed its course. 
 
 * And. Hist. Com. vol. 1, j>. 527, vol. '2, p. 207, $08, 248, 249, 446. 
 t Arnolds a^iud Ami. llisl. Com. vol. 1, [>. 190. 
 
 2 K a The
 
 .500 DENMARK, NORWAJT, &.C. 
 
 The wars between Denmark and Sweden, originat- 
 ing chiefly from the treaty of Calinar, and the con- 
 sequent claims of the former to the sovereignty of th 
 latter kingdom, are noticed in the historical sketch 
 
 O 
 
 of Sweden, where the most interesting scenes took 
 place. The horrible massacre of the Swedish nobility 
 by Christian II. is there related, and it only remains 
 to observe, that this monarch having by his miscon- 
 duct and cruelty rendered himself odious to his 
 Danish subjects, was expelled from the throne. 
 Frederick duke of Holstein, was elected king of Den- 
 mark in 1523, and dying in 153.;, was succeeded by 
 his son Chrislian III, who meeting with great oppo- 
 sition from the clergy, introduced the Lutheran reli- 
 gion into Denmark and Norway. Christian III. died 
 in J558, and was succeeded by his son Frederick II, 
 who carried on a war of nine years against Sweden, 
 in which both sides having greatly suffered, a peace 
 was concluded at Stettin.* Frederick dying in 1588, 
 Christian IV. his son and successor involved himself 
 in the troubles of Germany, in which he was unsuc- 
 cessful, as well as in his wars with Sweden. But the 
 reign of Frederick III. his son, who ascended the 
 throne of Denmark in 1649, was particularly dis- 
 tinguished by ;t bloody and unsuccessful contest with 
 Sweden. In this war Charles Gustavus, or Charles X. 
 king of Sweden, taking advantage of the severe 
 winter of H)57, marched his army over the ice from 
 Jutland to the island of Funeri, and from thence over 
 the Great Belt, which is about twenty miles broad, 
 into Zealand. He then laid siege to Copenhagen, 
 but Frederick defended his capital with great magna- 
 nimity, till a treaty was concluded at Ronschild. 
 
 * Puffewd. vul. 2, ch. 9. 
 
 The
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 501 
 
 The conditions, however, being extremely disadvan- 
 tageous to Denmark, the Swedes were no sooner de- 
 parted, than the king began to take, measures for 
 eluding its execution. But the Swedish monarch, 
 with admirable celerity, disconcerted his plans, and 
 immediately returning into Zealand, reduced the castle 
 of Cronenberg, and again besieged Copenhagen by 
 land, while his fleet blockaded it by sea.* The king 
 of Denmark- shewed in these difficult circumstances 
 an unshaken firmness, and the citizens made an ob- 
 stinate defence, till a Dutch fleet arriving in the 
 Baltic engaged and defeated that of Sweden, which 
 was consequently obliged to relinquish the blockade. 
 The scale was now turned in favour of the Danes, and 
 Frederick, who on every occasion displaved great 
 abilities,gained many signal advantages over the enemy. 
 The king of Sweden was obliged to raise the siege 
 of Copenhagen, and soon found himself in a difficult 
 situation. At this juncture an English fleet appeared 
 in the Baltic, which enabled him to recommence for 
 the third time the siege of the Danish capital. But 
 through the mediation of England and France, a 
 peace was concluded in iGdl), by which the island of 
 Born holm was restored to the Danes; but the pro- 
 vinces of Halland, Bleking, and Schonen, with the 
 island of Rugen, were ceded to Sweden.*}- The Danes 
 had, during the space of three centuries, been in 
 possession of Schonen, and consequently so long had 
 been masters of both sides of the Sound. 
 
 This peace was followed by a revolution of an ex- 
 traordinary nature, an elective and limited monarchy, 
 rendered hereditary and absolute, not by the force or 
 intrigues of the monarch, but by the voluntsiry act of 
 
 * J'uflend. ubi supra. Ibid. vol. 1, cli . 
 
 2 K 3 the
 
 502 DENMARK, NORWAY, JCC. 
 
 the people.* The Danish monarchy, like those of 
 Sweden and Poland, had hitherto been constituted 
 on the Gothic principles. The crown was elective, 
 and the legislative power, as well as the righi of elect- 
 ing the sovereign, resided in the states, which origin- 
 ally consisted of two orders, the nobility and the 
 deputies of the people. The establishment of Chris- 
 tianity occasioned the introduction of a third order, 
 that of the clergy. These orders had their respective 
 rights and privileges, while the crown had also its pre- 
 rogatives and fixed revenues rising from the demesne 
 lands. But afterwards, when standing armies took 
 place of the feudal levies, it was necessary to have 
 recourse to various modes of taxation, in order to 
 defray the public expenditure. The representatives 
 of the people, in the barbarous period of the middle 
 ages, being greatly inferior in credit, talents, and in- 
 fluence to the two superior orders, were unable to 
 counteract the efforts of the nobility and clergy, who 
 divested the crown of its prerogatives, and tyrannized 
 over the people. Such was the original form of govern- 
 ment, among all the Gothic nations, after their estab- 
 lishment on the ruins of the Roman empire, and such 
 was its progress in each, till a certain period, when 
 commerce diffused wealth, and civilization produced 
 political refinement, which established civil equity. 
 At the period of which we are speaking, a series ofi 
 unsuccessful wars had so greatly impoverished Den- 
 mark, that the nation was unable to raise money for 
 paying the arrears of the army. The nobility had 
 always been exempt from taxation, but the commons 
 wished, in the present exigenci^ of the state, to 
 abolish that exemption; and the Lutheran clergy, 
 
 * Puffcnd. ubi supra. 
 
 who
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 who had been divested of the powe? and influence 
 which their Cathojic predecessors had possessed, join- 
 ed with the commons. In a meeting of the stales, it 
 was proposed that the nobles should bear their share 
 of the public burden. Upon this Otto Craig, a noble- 
 man, insultingly desired the commons to recollect 
 that they were only slaves to the lords. JNianson, the 
 speaker of the commons, immediately replied, ex- 
 claiming against the word slaves, and the assembly 
 broke up in a ferment. The commons and the clergy 
 having chosen the bishop of Copenhagen for their 
 speaker, waited on the king with a formal offer of 
 rendering his authority absolute, and hi* crown here- 
 ditary. The monarch received the proposal with rap- 
 ture, and promised the people all the benefits of royal 
 protection. Prompt and decisive measures were taken 
 for carrying the plan into execution. The gates of 
 Copenhagen were immediately shut, and the nobles 
 thus surprised and inclosed, had no other alternative 
 than unconditional submission. Three separate acts 
 were then drawn up and signed by each of the three 
 orders, in which, renouncing all constitutional rights, 
 privileges, and claims, they vested the king with ab- 
 solute authority, and declaring the throne hereditary, 
 gave him the full power of regulating the succession.* 
 This important and singular revolution took place 
 in the commencement of the year Ujfil, the act of 
 renunciation on the part of the nobiliiy, which is kept 
 as a precious relic in the archives of the kingdom, 
 bearing date the 10th of January. But the people 
 obtained from it very little benefit, except that of 
 seeing the nobility reduced to the same state of abject 
 submission as themselves. Frederick III, however, 
 
 * Putfciul. vol. >. cli. 9. 
 
 2 K 4 having
 
 504 DENMABK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 bavin? gained without bloodshed this decisive victory 
 over the Danish aristocracy, may, with propriety, be 
 *aid to have made a singular and complete conquest 
 of his own kingdom, of which, as far as human regu- 
 lations can be effective, he secured the throne to his 
 posterity. This prince was in 1670, succeeded by his 
 son Christian V, who recommencing hostilities against 
 8weden, invaded the province of Schonen, where he 
 was for some time successful, but was totally defeated 
 at the bloody battle of Lunden by Charles XL* Chris- 
 tian, however, still continuing the war, was again 
 entirely defeated at Laudscroon, and after having 
 exhausted his resources in military operations, although 
 Denmark had gained considerable advantages by sea, 
 he was at length obliged to obtain peace by the re- 
 storation of all the conquests he had made in Schonen, 
 after which he became a subsidiary of Louis XIV, 
 and died in 1CQO, after a restless and unprosperous 
 reign. He was succeeded by Frederick IV, whose 
 wars carried on, in conjunction with Saxony and 
 Russia, against Charles XII. king of Sweden, are con- 
 cisely related in the historical sketch of that country. 
 A general peace being concluded between those 
 powers, soon after the death of Charles at Fredericks- 
 hall in Norway, Denmark, after a series of bloody and 
 destructive wars with Sweden, began to enjoy the 
 sweets of a settled tranquillity, which has not since 
 been materially interrupted. In the year 1728, how- 
 ever, this kingdom experienced a dreadful domestic 
 misfortune, in die almost total destruction of its 
 capital by an accidental conflagration. This misfor- 
 tune, however, like many others of a similar nature, 
 has redounded to the benefit of postetity, in render- 
 
 * Puffrud. ubi jiij>ra. 
 
 ing
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 505 
 
 ing the new city more elegant and commodious, and 
 hence it proceeds that Copenhagen is one of the most 
 handsome and uniform cities in the north of Europe.* 
 Frederick III. dying in 1730, his successors, 
 Christian VI. and Frederick V, by adhering to a 
 pacific system, promoted the happiness of their sub- 
 jects ; and the same plan has been in general con- 
 tinued daring the present reign. Christian VII, the 
 present king of Denmark, espoused the Princess 
 Carolina Matilda, youngest sister of his Britannic 
 majesty. From the most authenticated accounts it 
 appears, that soon after their union a plot had been 
 formed for the ruin of this amiable princess. The 
 dowager queen, by a long train of dissimulation and 
 deep laid intrigue, endeavoured to sow the seeds of 
 dissention between the royal pair. In the first place, 
 by an appearance of friendship, she gained the con- 
 fidence of the young queen, and then by an aggra- 
 vated detail of the faults and failings of the king, ex- 
 cited her to reproach him gently with his misconduct, 
 Her next step was, to persuade the king not to listea 
 to the counsels of his royal consort, representing it 
 as an unpardonable presumption in a queen of Den- 
 mark to assume the authority of directing the king. 
 Count Brandt, a Danish nobleman, and the celebrated 
 Struensee, who being originally a physician of Altona, 
 had by his talents and address risen to the post of 
 principal minister of Denmark, were then his majesty's 
 chief favorites, and both of them professed a great 
 deference for the queen. These circumstances opened 
 a new scene of intrigue at the Danish court. Stru- 
 ensee and Brandt were attempting a variety of re- 
 forms in the administration of public affairs, and ex- 
 
 * Carr' Trav. rounci the Baltic, p. 42, &c. Coxts's Trav. p. 5. 
 
 y pcricnced
 
 506 DEN MA UK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 perieuced the common lot of reformers in being ex- 
 posed to the virulence of faction, and the murmurs of 
 popular discontent. All the discarded placemen and 
 disappointed courtiers, assiduously paid their court to 
 the dowager queen. A variety of false and injurious 
 reports were now propagated against the governing 
 party. Struensee's ministerial and military reforms 
 ""were represented as attempts to destroy the whole 
 system of the government. The plans of this minister 
 were certainly rational, and calculated for the public 
 good, had they been more cautiously conducted, and 
 introduced with less precipitation. His principal 
 fault as a statesman was temerity. He wished to 
 operate immediately a change that ought to have 
 been gradual. 
 
 The dowager queen and her partizans, having oftenv 
 deliberated o the measures proper to be taken ia 
 order to accomplish their designs, it was at length> 
 resolved to surprise the king m the night, and oblige 
 him to sign an order for committing the queen, Brandt, 
 and Struensee to prison. After this, accusations of 
 high treason were to be brought forward against them, 
 ad among other charges, that of having formed 
 dsign of poisoning or dethroning the king; and if 
 that could not be supported, witnesses were to be pro- 
 cured in order to prove a criminal intercourse between- 
 the queen and Struensee. On the morning of the 17tb 
 of January, J772, this desperate scheme was carried 
 into execution. A ball had been given at court the 
 preceding evening, at which both the king and queen 
 had been present. About four in the morning the 
 queen dowager, accompanied by Prince Frederick, 
 \vho had also been at the ball, General Lichstedt, and 
 count Rantzan, went to the king's bed-chamber, and 
 f abrupt]/
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 507 
 
 abruptly awaked him. They had previously consider- 
 ed the surprise and alarm which so unexpected an 
 intrusion must necessarily excite, as favorable to their 
 design, and hastily informed him that the queen, with 
 Struensee and his brother, having formed a conspiracy 
 to dethrone him, were at that moment, preparing an 
 act of renunciation, which they would compel him. 
 to sign, and that the only means he had left for pre- 
 serving his crown and his life, was instantly, to sign 
 the orders which they had brought for arresting the 
 parties. According to the generally received accounts, 
 the king was not without some difficulty prevailed oa 
 to sign the orders; but at last, overcome by their in- 
 stances, and alarmed by their representations of his 
 danger, he complied, with hesitation and reluctance. 
 Count llantzau, with three officers, instaatly pro- 
 ceeded to the queen's apartments and arrested her in 
 pursuance to his orders. iMrtiensee and Brandt were 
 almost at the same moment seized in their beds. The 
 brother of Struensee, with most of the members of 
 administration, and others of their friends, to the 
 number of eighteen persons, were all arrested before 
 morning. The queen, with the infant princess, was 
 confined in the castle of Cronenburg. The prince 
 royal, then only in the fifth year of his age, was com- 
 mitted to the care of a lady of quality, who was ap- 
 pointed to be his governess. Struenzec and Brandt 
 were imprisoned in the citadel and loaded with, irons. 
 Their imprisonment was rigorous, and after having 
 undergone long and repealed examinations, both re- 
 ceived sentence of death. On the 28th of April, these 
 two once powerful courtier-, expiated on the scaffold 
 by amputation of the right hand and decapitation, 
 their real or supposed crimes. Struetisee at first abso- 
 lutely
 
 608 DENMARK, NOfiWAY, &.C. 
 
 lately denied all criminal intercourse with the queen ; 
 and if he afterwards confessed, the confession of a 
 man under apprehension of torture, ought to be consi- 
 dered as extorted, and not of sufficient validity to 
 determine impartial judgment. The \vhole of this 
 mysterious affair is involved in impenetrable obscurity, 
 and can be developed only by him, who sees in its 
 true colours every human transaction. Charity and 
 justice fordid us to fix a stigma on the memory of this 
 tmfortunale princess, without proofs more certain 
 than any we possess ; nor ought we to give implicit 
 credit to all that might be published, to the disadvan- 
 tage of a helpless female, exposed to all the intrigues 
 of a eourt, and all the malevolence of a faction, in a 
 foreign country and without a friend. 
 
 In May the same year, an English squadron con- 
 Ycyed the unhappy queen to Germany, and his 
 Britannic Majesty appointed Zell, in Hanover, for 
 her residence, where she survived her misfortunes 
 only three years. She died of a fever in May 1775, 
 in the twenty-fourth year of her age. 
 
 After this unfortunate affair, the powers of govern- 
 ment appeared to be lodged entirely in the hands of 
 the dowager-queen and her son, who in his majesty's- 
 name transacted all public affairs. All the persons 
 concerned in the revolution were promoted; and a 
 total change took place iu every department of the 
 administration; but in April, 17S4, another change 
 took place in the court of Copenhagen. The queen- 
 dowager's friends were removed, and a new council 
 was formed under the, auspices of the prince-royal, 
 son of the unfortunate Queen Matilda, who had then 
 attained his seventeenth vear, and who is now invested 
 K*iih the actual administration. The Danish govern- 
 ment
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 309 
 
 ment had constantly avoided taking any part in the 
 troubles of Europe, till the misunderstanding which 
 took place in 1800 between Great Britain and Russia. 
 At that time Denmark was unfortunately drawn into 
 the vortex of French and Russian politics, which then 
 strangely coincided. On this memorable and lament- 
 able occasion, the British fleet, under Admirals Nelson 
 and Parker, having forced a passage through the 
 Sound, destroyed a great part of the Danish fleet, on 
 the 2d of April, 18O1, and bombarded Copenhagen.* 
 The Danes being, by the premature death of die 
 emperor, Paul I. deprived of any assistance from 
 Russia, and apparently, through the same cause, 
 abandoned to their fate by the Swedes, \vere left to 
 support alone the tremendous attack of the British 
 fleet. On that memorable day, however, they dis- 
 played the most dauntless intrepidity. The citizens of 
 Copenhagen flew to their posts, where they behaved in 
 a manner that would have done honour to regular 
 soldiers. Nobles, mechanics, and shopmen went off 
 to the block-ships, aud all ranks of people vied with 
 each other "in bravery. The combat was of short 
 duration, but sanguinary almost beyond example. 
 The English could have totally destroyed the city 
 and its arsenal, if such had been their intention ; but 
 the Danes being fully convinced of the impossibility 
 of resisting the naval force of- Great Britain, a cessa- 
 tion of arms took place, and matters were happily ad- 
 justed. Previous to that period, the present prince 
 royal of Denmark had conducted the aft'airs of that 
 kingdom in a manner that does the greatest honour 
 to his abilities, and had signalised his administration 
 
 * Ttw Danci in thi engagement Iwit eigbfi'ca ihips wf which seven 
 were iii' the Jiue. 
 
 bv
 
 5PO DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 by measures that had contributed greatly to the wel- 
 fare of his country. The emancipation of the pea- 
 santry, the abolition of the slave trade in the Danish 
 colbnies, the liberal encouragement of letters, sciences, 
 and arts, the prudent measures taken for the promo- 
 tion of industry, as well as for the diffusion of know- 
 ledge, all concur to do honour to his character. The 
 grand misfortune and oversight of the Danish govern- 
 ment is that of being drawn into the vortex of French 
 politics. During the short war in which Denmark 
 was engaged with Great Britain, she lost her West 
 
 o O ' 
 
 India islands, and her settlement of Tranquebar, on 
 the coast of Coromadel On the conclusion of peace, 
 however, these were restored. Denmark soon re- 
 trieved her misfortune; and again saw her commerce 
 flourish. During the first years of the present contest 
 between Great Britain .and France, she preserved that 
 neutrality whkh she found so beneficial. Bui in 
 1807, she suffered herself to be a second time in- 
 fluenced by the politics, and implicated in the intrigues 
 of France. By this conduct, she has imprudently in- 
 volved herself in a war with Great Britain, of whose 
 arms she had so lately experienced the terrible effects. 
 Having refused the judicious and equitable proposals 
 of his Britannic Majesty, Denmark has seen her 
 capital bombarded, and been obliged to surrender her 
 navy and all her military and naval stores to Great 
 Britain. These and the subsequent transactions being 
 already related in the historical view of England, the 
 reader must be referred to that part of the work in 
 order to avoid repetition. 
 
 NORWAY.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 NORWAY. 
 
 The ancient history of Norway is very imperfectly 
 known, although the annals of most countries of 
 Europe commemorate the praeclatory expeditions of 
 its hardy inhabitants ; while those of France and Italy, 
 as well as of Ireland and the Scottish isles, record their 
 more permanent conquests. The Normans who settled 
 in France, and some of whose leaders afterwards esta- 
 blished themselves in Italy and Sicily, as well as the 
 Easterlings of Ireland, were adventurers from Norway. 
 The original population of this country were proba- 
 bly Finnish, but the Fins were subdued by the Goths, 
 who made a conquest of all Scandinavia. Till the 
 ninth or tenth century, Norway, like other barbarous 
 countries, was divided into a number of -petty princi- 
 palities, or kingdoms. The seat of the principal 
 monarchy was originally in the south-east part, around 
 the place where now stands the city of Christiana; 
 and it was gradually extended till about the year Q10> 
 when Harold Harfager became king of all Norway. 
 
 About A.D. 874, Iceland, as already mentioned, 
 was peopled from Norway, and in 982 the Icelanders 
 discovered Greenland, which was long supposed to be 
 an island, but is now well known to be a part of the 
 continent of America. Columbus has the merit and 
 the glory of that important discovery of America, 
 which has operated so great changes in the political, 
 commercial, and social system of Europe ; but setting 
 aside the fictions of the Welch antiquaries, it appears 
 to be an indisputable fact, that the Norwegian Ice- 
 landers had visited this continent five centuries before 
 that celebrate^ navigator, and that they were the 
 
 first
 
 5l'Z DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 first Europeans, who discovered its shores. Chris- 
 tianity Was established in Norway in the reign of 
 Olaus I. about 990* Olaus II. or St. Olaus, reigned 
 from 1014 to 1030. Harold III. his son and successor, 
 by some historians erroneously called Harfager, being 
 instigated by Toston, aspired to the. English crown, 
 and was slain in battle, against Harold, king of Eng- 
 land, at Stamford-bridge, in Yorkshire, in 10GG. 
 ^Magnus V. in 1260 surrendered the Hebudes to Scot- 
 land. In 1067, Norway was united to Denmark, at 
 which period its history sinks into that of the latter 
 country.* 
 
 The history of the Danish monarchy, in latter 
 times, is in general less interesting than that of several 
 other European nations. From the famous union of 
 Calmar till the beginning of the last century, it pre- 
 sents little more than a disgusting series of wars with 
 Sweden, by.which both nations were exhausted and im- 
 poverished. These rancourous hostilities, however, serve 
 to shew that although Sweden was generally an over- 
 match for Denmark by land, the latter, having a more 
 extensive commerce, maintained for the most part her 
 naval superiority over the former kingdom. Den- 
 mark, however, although from an early period pos- 
 sessing a considerable trade, with a situation favour- 
 able to its improvement, does not display many striking 
 circumstances in her commercial history. In the last 
 century, indeed, having wisely abandoned that war- 
 like system, which her resources were ill calculated to 
 support, she had adopted a plan of conduct much 
 better suited to her local situation and political cir- 
 cumstances, and instead of involving herself in ruinous 
 
 * The cause of that upiwn is related in tUe Historical View of Sweden 
 and Denmark. 
 
 Contests,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 513 
 
 / 
 
 contests, had chiefly confined her attention to internal 
 regulations. Denmark was lately a commercial rather 
 than a military kingdom : her trade was daily im- 
 proving and the country is in general in a prosperous 
 state.* To this the emancipation of the peasantry 
 has not a little contributed.*)* The grand misfortune 
 of the government of Denmark is that of suffering 
 itself to be drawn into the vortex of French politics^ 
 a conduct to which she owes all her misfortunes. 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 61. Marshal, vol. 2, p. 289- 
 t Carr ubi supra. 
 
 vot, in, 2 L CH4P.'
 
 . ,514 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Present State, Political and Moral Religion Government Laws 
 Army Navy Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population 
 Political Importance 'and Relations Language Literature Polite 
 Arts Education Manners and Customs National Character. 
 
 Religion.] 1 HE religion of the Danish monarchy 
 js Lutheranism. The hierarchy consists of twelve 
 bishops, six in Denmark, four in Norway, and two in 
 Iceland ; but it differs from that of Sweden in having 
 no archiepiscopal see. Many of the parochial livings 
 are poor : in Jutland some of them scarcely exceed 
 '20/. per annum, but the poverty of the inferior clergy 
 is, in some measure, compensated by the respect in 
 which they are held by the people.* 
 
 Government.'] It has already been observed, that by 
 the revolution of i66l, the government was rendered 
 absolute, and the crown hereditary. The despotism 
 of the Danish government, however, is in general 
 tempered with lenity, and exercised with moderation, 
 the royal edicts passing through several councils be- 
 fore their promulgation as laws. 
 
 Lazes.'] The people of Denmark possess a great 
 advantage in the simplicity and precision of their laws, 
 which arc chiefly comprised in the code of Chris- 
 tian V. consisting of only one moderately sized 
 volume. By this brevity and clearness of their 
 
 * Tlckbrck'i Tr::vi-K vol. 3, p. 101. 
 
 legislative
 
 ARMY NAVY REVENUE COMMERCE. 51 5 
 
 legislative code, the Danes are freed from those tedious 
 and expensive litigations, and that endless train of 
 chicanery, so common in many of the southern 
 countries of Europe. No parent can disinherit a 
 child without a decree of the king in council. The 
 criminal laws are lenient to a fault; but the game laws 
 are severe, shooting being absolutely prohibited.* 
 
 Army^\ The army is computed at 70,000 men^ 
 of which Denmark furnishes 40,000; and Norway the 
 rest. 
 
 A 7 cttj/.] The Danish navy formerly consisted of 
 about thirty ships of the line, manned with 11,OOO 
 seamen, and 5000 marines. But it is now annihi- 
 lated. 
 
 Revenue.'] The annual revenue was computed at 
 about i,500,000/. sterling, being at least equal, and 
 when the difference of their public debt is considered, 
 superior lo that of Sweden. The toll on ships passing 
 the Sound amounted, on an average,, to the annual sum 
 of 1 22,550/. The national debt was about 2,600,000/. 
 
 Commerce.'] It has already been observed, that the 
 Danish commerce was lately in an improving statc.-f 
 The greatest part of the exports consist of native 
 produce, of which corn is a considerable article. Hoi- 
 stein affords a supply of horses and cattle to Holland, 
 Timber, iron and copper, with some silver, and a consi- 
 derable quantity of hides, particularly those of the. 
 goat, are the principal exports of Norway : those of 
 Iceland consist chiefly of dried fish, salmon, falcons, 
 eider-down, and brimstone. The acquisition of Altona, 
 and the opening of the Holsteiri canal, which unites 
 the Baltic with the German Ocean, have greatly con- 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 62, 63, 78. 
 
 < C'.irr and M.jblul ubi supra. 
 
 2 L 2 Uibuted
 
 516 DENMAttK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 tributed to increase the trade of Denmark. The 
 colonies of Tranquebar, on the coast of Coromandel 
 in India, and Christanburg,'on the coast of Guinea, 
 with a part of Greenland, and the isles of St. Thomas, 
 St. Jan, and St. Croix, afford some supplies to the 
 Danish trade. 
 
 Manufactures.] The manufactures of Denmark are 
 neither numerous nor important. The royal manu- 
 factures of Copenhagen employ about 400 looms in 
 the fabrication of woollen cloths of various qualities. 
 The improvements made by Count Roncellen are 
 more worthy of commemoration than the destructive 
 exploits of conquerors. 1'hat nobleman has founded 
 a village of 300 houses in North Jutland, and esta- 
 blished manufactures of wool, iron, and leather.* He 
 has also cut a eanal of two miles in length, and con- 
 structed a wharf and docks for building his own vessels, 
 and exporting his own commodities. His agricultural 
 improvements also are conducted on a grand scale. 
 How great things might be performed for the en- 
 couragement of industry, and the general benefit of 
 the human species, if such examples were sufficiently 
 imitated. 
 
 Population. .] The population of the Danish do- 
 minions is computed at '2,500,000. Mr. Anderson 
 informs us, on the authority of the foreign newspapers, 
 that a census having been made in 1759, ihe number 
 of inhabitants was found to be 2,444,000, and that 
 those of Iceland, estimated at 50,000, did not appear 
 to be included. t If this were the case, and the infor- 
 mation correct, the whole number amounted at that 
 time to very near tt,500/X)0; and as Denmark, during 
 the forty-eight years which have elapsed since that 
 
 Marshal, p. 2. j Hist. Com. vol. 3, p. 309. 
 
 period,
 
 POLITICAL IMPORTANCE AND RELATION S, &,C. 517 
 
 period, has not experienced tli calamities of either 
 war, pestilence, or famine, nor been drained of its peo- 
 ple by emigration, as its agriculture 'and commerce 
 are improved, it is reasonable to suppose that its 
 population must be considerably increased. Norway, 
 however, is not supposed to contain above 700,000 
 souls, being about six to a square mile ; and it can 
 scarcely be supposed to have been more populous 
 800 or yOO years ago, when it poured forth its adven- 
 turous bands. 
 
 Political Importance and Relatiojis.~\ The popula- 
 tion, the revenues, and all the other resources of Den- 
 mark, plainly indicate that her political importance 
 cannot be of any great weight in the balance of 
 modern Europe. Her friendship or her enmity can 
 only be of consequence from commercial circum- 
 stances, chiefly from her local position at the entrance 
 of the Baltic, and her command ,of the Sound. An 
 alliance with that kingdom would on this account be 
 equally advantageous to England, France, or Russia. 
 Denmark, however, being within the vortex of Russian 
 politics, must in consequence of the natural connec- 
 tions between Russia and Great Britain, independently 
 of all other circumstances, feel it conducive to her 
 interest to adhere to these two dominant powers. But 
 of late she has unfortunately lost sight of her real 
 advantages. 
 
 Language.'] The Danish, Norwegian, and leelandic 
 languages, as well as the German, low Dutch, and 
 Swedish, arc dialects of the Gothic. But the Icelandic 
 is considered as the purest and most ancient. The 
 language of the Laplanders is totally distinct from all 
 these, and appears to be radically Furnish, with a lew 
 words borrowed from the Gothic. 
 
 2 L J J
 
 5J8 DENMARK, NORWAY, SCC. 
 
 Literature.] Among all the northern nations, litera- 
 ture followed the introduction of Christianity : that of 
 Denmark cannot, therefore, boast of a higher antiquity 
 than the reign of Canute the Glreat, in the eleventh 
 century. This circumstance easily accounts for the 
 confusion and uncertainty of Danish and Norwegian 
 history, till so late a period. The next century pro- 
 duced a literary pheenomenon, in the celebrated Saxo 
 Grammaticus, who, in an illiterate age, and a country 
 scarcely emerged from barbarism, compiled a history 
 of Denmark, which although abounding with fables, 
 displays a classical elegance of style, to which Europe 
 at that period could bring forward nothing superior or 
 equal. 
 
 Sueno being more concise, has a greater appearance 
 of veracity ; but his materials were necessarily drawn 
 from the same source, uncertain chronicles, tradi- 
 tionary tales, and the songs of their bards. Such, 
 indeed, composed the original basis of all primitive 
 history. Norway can boast of only a few native writers, 
 and even these did not appear till a recent period. 
 The more ancient Icelandic literature, so famed in 
 history, but now extinct, has already been noticed. 
 After the general re\ival of letters, Denmark long 
 continued to maintain that literary ascendancy over 
 Sweden, which she had acquired at an early period ; 
 and the i:anu: of Tycho Brahe is celebrated in the 
 annals of astronomy, although his fanciful system is 
 long since exploded. During the last century, how-r 
 ever, Sweden has obtained the pre-eminence. 1 The 
 Danish literati have almost exclusively confined them- 
 selves to the obscure paths of antiquarian research ^ 
 Older is distinguished as a botanist, and Niebuhr as 
 an intelligent traveller; but it would be difficult, to 
 
 discover
 
 EDUCATION MANNERS, 8CC. 519 
 
 discover the name of an eminent philosopher, poet, or 
 historian, in the literary annals of Denmark. Tn the 
 polite arts the Danes are extremely deficient ; and 
 indeed may, in that respect, be placed on the same 
 footing as the Portugueze. 
 
 Education, universities, <?fc.] The Danish universities 
 are two ; those of Copenhagen and Kiel. There are 
 also many Latin schools maintained at the public ex- 
 pence : Denmark Proper possesses nineteen, Holstein 
 sixteen, Sleswick eleven ; but in the wide extent of 
 Norway there are only four, without any university, 
 and only two in Iceland. There arc also superior aca- 
 demies at Odensee, Soroe, and Atlenas. The great 
 business of popular education, although not conducted 
 on a complete scale, by reason of the low salaries of 
 teachers, is much better regulated than in England 
 and the southern countries of Europe. Each parish is 
 provided with two or three schools, where children 
 are taught reading and writing, with the first princi- 
 ples of arithmetic. The masters of these seminaries 
 have salaries of about !/. per annum., with some other 
 small advantages.* Salaries so very trifling must, in 
 a great measure, defeat the end of these institutions, 
 as they cannot suffice for the maintenance of the 
 teachers, since, according to a late traveller, every 
 thing in Denmark is almost as dear as in England.f 
 The Royal Academy of Sciences was founded in 1 74'2 ; 
 and the Royal Society of Icelandic Literature in 174(3. 
 At Drontheim, in Norway, there is also a respectable 
 institution, styled the Royal Society of Sciences. 
 
 Manners and customs.'] The manners of the supe- 
 rior orders in Denmark, difler little from those of 
 
 * Coxe'sTrav. vol. 4, p. 57. vol. 5, p. 187". 
 t Carr'sTrav. round the Baltic, j>. 81. 
 
 2 L 4 the
 
 DENMARK, NORWAY, &C. 
 
 the same classes in other parts of Europe. Through 
 the patriotism and good sense of the prince-royal 
 and the nobility, the peasantry were, some years 
 ago, emancipated; and the landholders have ex- 
 perienced the good effects of that measure in the im- 
 provement and advanced value of their estates. The 
 nobility, indeed, have been as much benefited in the 
 augmentation of their rents, as the peasants in the en- 
 joyment of liberty ; and both have derived great ad- 
 vantage from the abolition of the old system of vil- 
 lainage. When Mr. Coxe visited Denmark, this 
 arrangement had not taken place ; and that traveller 
 draws a disagreeable picture of the state of the Danish 
 peasantry.* But he describes the spirited, free, and 
 open manners of the Norwegian peasantry, as well as 
 their abundance of the comforts of life, in such ele- 
 vated strains, as might almost tempt a reader to sus- 
 pect the accuracy of his observations. Among all the 
 abundance of their comforts, however, their ordinary 
 bread is of oatmeal formed into flat cakes, and spare- 
 times mixed with the pulverised inner bark of trees, 
 as in Sweden, a sort of bread which no English la 
 bourer would eat.f The Norwegians, however, are 
 the strongest and most robust of all the people of the 
 North, and are remarkable for health and longevity ,J 
 circumstances which demonstrate both the salubrity of 
 the climate, and the wholesomeuess of their food : 
 and it is needless to say, that in all ages they have been 
 distinguished for their courage. 
 
 The Laplanders are described in treating of Sweden 
 and Russia. Indeed this singular race of men are 
 marked with the same distinguishing characteristics 
 throughout the whole extent of country which they 
 
 * Coxe's Trav. vol. 5. t Ibid. p. 12. J Swinton'sTjav. p. 60. 
 
 9 inhabit
 
 NATIONAL CHARACTER. 521 
 
 inhabit. The conversion of the Danish Laplanders to 
 Christianity, appears to have been first attempted by 
 Berdal, bishop of Drontheim, about the year 1()()0, but 
 with little success. A royal mission, however, being 
 founded in 1714, Lapland is now Christianized. Tbeir 
 Christianity, however, is little more than nominal ; 
 many of their pagan superstitions yet remaining. A 
 people so immersed in ignorance cannot be enlightened 
 in a short space of time. Indeed, a very intelligent 
 traveller gives us no exalted idea of the state of reli- 
 gious knowledge among the Danes, even in the penin- 
 sula, which is part of Denmark Propsr. He says, that 
 they are nothing superior to the Portugueze ; and that 
 their priests, although Protestants, are as proud, into- 
 lerant, bigoted, and ignorant, as those of Spain.* 
 
 National character.'] In regard to national charac- 
 ter, it sufRces to remark, that although the Danes and 
 Norwegians are naturally courageous, they no longer 
 possess that enterprising spirit which distinguished 
 their ancestors. 
 
 * Rcisbeck's Trav. vol. 3, p. 100, 101. 
 
 SWl-DKN.
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of the Country Mountains 
 Rivers Canals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil Cli- 
 mate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities AntT 
 quities and artificial Curiosities. 
 
 O WEDEN, extending from the promontory of Scone, 
 in about 56, to the northern extremity of Swedish 
 Lapland, on the shores or' the Frozen Ocean, and from 
 the Norwegian mountains to the frontiers of Russia, 
 ahout 1,100 British miles in length, and 600 in breadth, 
 although in some parts considerably narrower, com- 
 prises a very considerable area ; to which its popula- 
 tion, however, is extremely inadequate. Its content 
 has been computed at 208,900 square miles, with a 
 population of only fourteen inhabitants to each. 
 
 Face of t/te country, ~\ The face of the country would 
 afford matter for volumes of detailed description. Stu- 
 pendous rocks, extensive lakes, transparent rivers, 
 .winding streams and rushing cataracts, verdant vales, 
 gloomy forests, and cultivated fields, constitute a 
 scenery diversified and picturesque, beyond all that 
 imagination is able to conceive. 
 
 JMoitntahts.'] Sweden is, in general, a mountainous 
 country. The most elevated chain is that which di- 
 vides Sweden from Norway, and from which various 
 
 branches
 
 RIVERS LAKES. ,5. ! > 
 
 ^branches rim in a south-east direction. The moun- 
 tain of Swucku, to which Bergman assigns 9,072 feet 
 of elevation, is considered as the highest of this chain. 
 
 Rivers.] This country is intersected with various 
 rivers; but most of them having only a short course, 
 and impeded with cataracts, are of little importance to 
 navigation. The most considerable is the Dnhl, com- 
 posed of two conjunct streams, the eastern and west- 
 ern, but both bearing the same appellation. These 
 rise in the Norwegian Alps; and after a course of 
 about 260 miles, fall into the Bothnic Gulph. Not 
 far from the mouth of this river, where the breadth is 
 equal to that of the Thames at London, is a cataract 
 which has a fall of between thirty and forty feet, and, 
 together with the sublime surrounding scenery, pro- 
 duces a grand effect.* Many of the rivers assume the 
 form of creeks, and are only the outlets of the various 
 lakes. Such is the Gotha, which runs from the vast 
 lake of Wener into the Baltic, and is impeded by 
 many rocks and cataracts. In Swedish Lapland are 
 several considerable streams, which rise in the Nor- 
 wegian mountains. The chief qf the Lapland ic rivers 
 is the Tornea, which issues from a lake of the same 
 name; and, after a course of about 300 English miles, 
 falls into the northern extremity of the Bothnic Gulph_ 
 This river derives some celebrity from the voyage of 
 the French mathematicians, who took on its level sur- 
 face of ice, the base line of their series of triangles, for 
 measuring the length of a degree of the meridian in 
 that latitude within the arctic circle. 
 
 JWtTs.] Few countries equal Sweden in the num- 
 ber and extent of its lakes, of which scarcely any of its 
 provinces are destitute. The lake of Wener is the 
 
 * Wraxal'ii Tour, [). J.'W. Coxe's Trav, vol. 5 v. '.'9. 
 
 largest
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 largest, being 100 English miles in length, and 50 or 
 f>G in breadth. It abounds with fish, contains many 
 romantic isles, and is almost surrounded with forests 
 and rocks of granite. This extensive lake receives 
 twenty-four rivers: the Gotha is its only outlet into 
 the Baltic. The lake of Weter is equal in length, but 
 inferior in breadth, which in few places exceeds twenty 
 miles. This lake contains two remarkable islands, and 
 being surrounded with mountains, is subject to storms 
 in the calmest weather.* It receives about forty 
 small rivers, and has no other outlet than the Motala. 
 The. Meier, at the conflux of which with the Baltic, 
 the city of Stockholm is situated, is about sixty Bri- 
 tish miles in length, and eighteen in breadth, and 
 interspersed with picturesque isles. The northern 
 parts of Sweden present many other lakes, some of 
 'which are of considerable extent. Finland abounds 
 with lakes, which give rise to numerous rivers, hut of 
 only a short course. The chief Laplandic lake is that 
 of Enara, seventy miles in length, and thirty at its 
 greatest breadth. There are also the Hevnusha Staur, 
 the Tornea, and a number of others, in this remote 
 northern province. Besides these may also be named 
 the lake of Saima, situated on the eastern frontier of 
 Finland, being partly in the Swedish and parly in the 
 Russian dominions. This irregular piece of water, 
 with its various creeks and branches, extends about 
 1 60 British miles in length, but never above 15 in 
 breadth. It flows into the Ladoga lake in Russia by 
 the river or outlet of Woxen, which forms a vast cata- 
 ract near if mouth.-f- 
 
 CoMrt/s.] Sweden has not yet much to boast of its 
 inland navigation; but, of late, a considerale degree 
 * Cox.:'s Trav. vul. 4, p. 374. t Buschin^'s Geog. vol. 1 p. 674. 
 
 of
 
 MINERALOGY, $25 
 
 of attention has been paid to that important subject. 
 The chief effort has been to cut a canal from Stock- 
 holm to Gothenburg. This inland communication, 
 called the Canal of Frolhattan, is conducted along the 
 river Gotha; and stupendous excavations have been 
 made through granite rocks, in order to avoid the ca- 
 taracts ; one of which, of above sixty feet, is called the 
 Infernal Fall ; allthough, through the ignorance of the 
 engineers, the plans have repeatedly failed. 
 
 Mineralogy.'] " Sweden," says an eminent geogra- 
 phical writer, " is, perhaps, the parent country of mo- 
 dern mineralogy." Her celebrated writers, Wallerius 
 Bergman and Cronstedt, have laid the first solid founda- 
 tions of that science. Among the Swedish mines must 
 be mentioned those of gold at Adelfors, in the province 
 of Smoland; but these seem to be nearly exhausted. 
 The silver mine of Salbcrg, about thirty English miles 
 west of (jpsal, maintains some reputation. The dis- 
 trict in which it is situated is somewhat flat, contrary 
 to the general situation of mines. The Swedish gold 
 is sometimes found native, and sometimes combined 
 with sulphur: the silver is generally obtained from the 
 gallena, or lead ore. Silver has also been found in 
 Swedish Lapland. But, on the whole, the Swedish 
 gold and silver mines, are productive of little profit. 
 The mines of copper and iron are those for which 
 Sweden is chiefly celebrated : of the former, the most 
 famous are those of Dalecarlia, and of the latter, that 
 of Danamora.* The Lrcat copper mine near the town 
 
 \j i 1 
 
 of Falun, is supposed to have been worked near 1,000 
 years. The mouth of this mine presents a vast chasm, 
 near three-quarters of a mile in circumference, ol' 
 
 * For an ample description of the mines of Darlecarlia and Dauanwra, 
 "Jd Cost's Travels, TO! 5, p. $> 10J. 
 
 which
 
 526 SWEDEN. 
 
 which the perpendicular depth is about 1,020 feet. 
 The copper is found in large musses; and about 1,200 
 miners are employed in these extensive works. The 
 iron mines of Danamora, celebrated for the superiority 
 of the metal, were discovered in the year. 1488, and 
 employ about oOO persons. The whole number of 
 miners in Sweden are computed at C!o,GOO. Copper 
 is also wrought in the province of Jemplland ; and vast 
 quantities of iron are found in various parts of Swe- 
 den. The mountain of Gellivar forms a mass of rich 
 iron ore, from 300 to 400 fathom in thickness, and ex- 
 tending in an irregular vein, the space of more than a 
 mile. Sweden is not deficient in lead ; but copper and 
 iron are her principal mineral productions. This 
 country also abounds with beautiful granite, and pro- 
 duces some marble and porphyry, the latter chiefly in 
 the mountain of Swucku : chrystals are also found in 
 a rock in the province of Jemptland. 
 
 Mineral waters.] There are several mineral waters 
 in Sweden ; the most famed are those of Mcdewi, in 
 Eastern Gothland. 
 
 Soil.] The soil of Sweden, like that of all other ex- 
 tensive countries, is various; but although there are 
 many fertile spots of considerable extent, it must be 
 acknowledged, that sterility generally predominates. 
 
 Climate.] This kingdom, extending from about the 
 56th deg. of latitude to some distance within the arc- 
 tic circle, presents a considerable variety of climate. 
 In the north, winter is long and extremely serere; but 
 the summer, though short, is rendered hot, by the 
 length of the days, and the reflections of the sun- 
 beams from the numerous mountains. At Tornea, 
 about the summer solstice, the sun is for some weeks 
 almost constantly visible, descending at midnight for 
 
 the
 
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 527 
 
 the space of only a few minutes below the horizon, 
 abov v e which he remains as little in winter.* Even 
 in the middle regions, the winter is long and dreary. 
 At this season the Gulph of Bothnia becomes a vast 
 field of ice ; and travellers pass over it from Finland.t 
 The southern provinces lie under the same parallels as 
 Scotland ; but the climate is different, as Sweden feels 
 but little of the effects of the western winds from the 
 Atlantic, which deluge the Scottish highlands and isle> 
 \vith almost perpetual rains. 
 
 Vegetable, productions.'] The vegetable productions 
 of Sweden, although not abundant, are sufficiently va- 
 rious. The fertile parts, especially the vallies, are 
 remarked for the sudden and luxuriant vegetation, 
 which they display as soon as the summer commences; 
 for here, as in most other high northern climates, the 
 transition from cold to heat, and the contrary, is so 
 rapid as to strike out spring and autumn from the list 
 of seasons ; and the fields, which before bore the as- 
 pect of dreary sterility, are, in a few days, covered 
 with verdure. Even Finland presents many rich pas- 
 tures, and some fields of rye, oats, and barley ; and 
 notwithstanding the barrenness of the soil and the 
 rigour of the climate, a late eminent writer assures us, 
 that the agriculture of Sweden is so skilfully con- 
 ducted, as greatly to excel that of Denmark and 
 Germ^ny.^: In treating of the vegetable productions 
 of Sweden, of which, indeed, the description might 
 serve for the whole Scandinavian peninsula, we cannot 
 
 * For an account of the Lapland summer, with its innumerable incon- 
 vcttiencics arising from the heat, and the insect 1 ; which it produces, sec the 
 relation of the Voyage of the French Mathematicians, by Maupcrtius. 
 
 t Sec Mr. Coxc's curious account of his journey over the ice. Trar. 
 vol. 4, cb. 1. 
 
 : Marsh-,!!' 1 ; vok 3, p. 9",. 
 
 omit
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 omit the immense forests of pines and firs that cover 
 its rocky mountains, and constitute a considerable 
 part of its wealth. These afford an inexhaustible sup- 
 ply of masts for shipping, and of plank for various 
 uses; while the tar, turpentine, and pitch, extracted 
 from the trees, are almost of equal value with the tim- 
 ber. Of the other kinds of timber trees there is no- 
 great abundance ; and the species are far from being 
 numerous. The ash, the oak, and the elm, although 
 not scarce in the southern provinces, are incapable of 
 withstanding the rigours of an arctic winter. In Lap- 
 land all traces of timber disappear ; the mountains are 
 naked, and even the plains are mostly covered with 
 moss, vhich affords pasture for the numerous rein- 
 deer.* Bountiful Nature, however, has stored these 
 barren regions with a variety of berries, which being 
 preserved under the snow, furnish an agreeable change 
 of food to the inhabitants. 
 
 Zoology.] The zoology of Sweden also comprises, 
 in a great measure, that of the whole of Scandinavia. 
 The horses are small, but hardy and spirited, and by 
 being accustomed to lie without litter, are preserved 
 from many diseases to which those of other countries 
 are subject. The horned cattle and sheep have nothing 
 particularly remarkable. Among the wild animals, 
 the bear, the wolf, the linx, the beaver, the flying 
 squirrel, and many others might be enumerated. The 
 rein-deer is common throughout the whole extent of 
 the Laplandic regions, and adapted by an all-wise 
 Providence to the cold and dreary climate of the 
 north, as the camel is to the scorched deserts of the 
 
 * Tooke'sView Russ. Erap. yol. 1, p. 96, where it is to be observed, 
 that what is said of Russian is equally true of Swedish and Danish Lap- 
 land. 
 
 south
 
 NATURAL CURIOSITIES, &,C. 52Q 
 
 soutli. This animal resembles the sta te ', but is consi- 
 derably stronger ; and the antlers, which decorate the 
 brows of the female as well as of the male, are larger, 
 and also more branched. Among the Laplanders, the 
 rein-deer supply the place of the cow and the horse, 
 neither of which coufd thrive in those barren and 
 dreary regions, where winter almost perpetually reigns > 
 and vegetation is nearly extinct. Those inhabitants 
 of the frozen north yoke the rein-deer to their sledges, 
 in which they travel, sometimes to a great distance, 
 over their immense morasses and mountains buried ia 
 snow : they nourish themselves with their milk and 
 their flesh, and find them essential not only to their 
 convenience, but also to their very existence. Swe- 
 den affords an infinite variety of game, among which 
 is the cock of the forest, a bird known in Scotland, 
 and equal in size to a common turkey. The dreary 
 regions of Lapland are also stocked with inconceiva- 
 ble numbers of land and water fowl of various deno- 
 minations. 
 
 Natural curiosities.'] Sweden and Swedish Lapland 
 abound with natural curiosities, consisting of moun- 
 tains, caverns, lakes, and cataracts. But it would be 
 in vain to attempt a description of the sublime and 
 singular scenes, which countries so extensive and va- 
 riegated present. Many of them, indeed, in tjie 
 northern regions, remain unexplored, few travellers 
 having the resolution to penetrate into those wild re- 
 cesses. 
 
 Art ijicial curiosities and antiquities.'] Among the mo- 
 numents of Swedish antiquity, may be reckoned the 
 juridical circles, already described in speaking of Great 
 Britain and some other countries. After these are the 
 monuments inscribed with runic characters; but none 
 
 VOL. in, 2 M of
 
 530 SWEDEN. 
 
 of these can be ascribed to an earlier period than the 
 eleventh century. The remains of Scandinavian anti- 
 quity cannot, indeed, be numerous, as the ancient 
 temples, &c. were built of wood, and consequently 
 have long since perished. Near Upsal is the Moras- 
 ten, or Stone, on which the old Swedish monarch* 
 were crowned ; and which, like the fatidical stone of 
 Scone, used for the same purpose in Scotland, was 
 regarded with a superstitious veneration.
 
 531 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Principal Cities and Towns Edifices. Islands. 
 
 STOCKHOLM, the capital of Sweden, is not distin- 
 guished by its magnitude, being, in that respect, little 
 superior to Bristol. But its singular situation, on a 
 portion of two promontories and seven small islands, 
 at the junction of the lake Meier with a creek of the 
 Baltic, gives it a romantic and striking appearance.* 
 Most of the buildings being either of stone or stuc- 
 coed brick of a white or yellowish colour,f and rising 
 amphitheatrically one behind another ; with the sur- 
 rounding scenery of scattered rock, thin forests of fir, 
 the lake, and the windings of the creek, form a varie- 
 gated and singular assemblage of contrasted objects; 
 and altogether compose the most picturesque and 
 enchanting prospect.^ The royal palace, a large qua- 
 drangular building, uniting elegance with grandeur, 
 rises in the centre of the city, which it commands in 
 all directions, and from the different quarters of which 
 the four facades are visible. The opera-house is an 
 elegant structure, the work of the late king, Gusta- 
 vus III. Here are performed Swedish plays, many of 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 118. 
 
 t 1 the suburbs several of the house* arc of wood painted red. I'iuk. 
 Oeog. vol. 1, p. 535 
 
 } Coxe's Travels, voh 4, p. 33. Marshal, vol. 330. Can's Travels 
 round the Gallic, p. 11^. 
 
 <i M <i which
 
 *2 SWEDEN. 
 
 which were composed by that accomplished monarch.* 
 How lit L- did he think, when he erected this edifice, 
 that her* lu> should tall by the hand of an assassin. 
 This structure, with the opposite palace of the Prin- 
 cess Sophia Albertina, forms a beautiful square, called 
 La Place du Nord, adorned in the centre with the 
 colossal equestrian statue of Gustavus Adolphus. This 
 statue, cast from the designs of the famous French 
 artist, Archeveque, and finished after his death by Ser- 
 gell, was erected in 1790- The pedestal is ornamented 
 with medallons of the most famous generals of Gusta- 
 vus Tortenson, Bannier, La Gardie, Horn, and Saxe, 
 Weimar, and with a figure of History painting to a 
 bust of the Chancellor Oxenstiern.'f ' Stockholm has 
 lately received, or soon will receive an additional or- 
 nament of a similar nature in the colossal pedestrian 
 statue of Gustavus III. in the old Spanish costume. 
 It wanted only the perfection of its polishing in 1804, 
 when Mr. Carr visited Sweden.^ This statue of bronze, 
 designed by the famous Sergell, being erected by the 
 citizens, at an expence of 40,000/. sterling, to the me- 
 mory of their late sovereign, will be a noble monu- 
 ment of public gratitude, as well as a magnificent 
 work of art. Among the objects of curiosity in this 
 capital, the arsenal merits the attention of the traveller. 
 An immense collection of standards and arms., the 
 spoils of different enemies, and a long line of the effi- 
 gies of the kings of Sweden, in the armour which they 
 actually wore, and all arranged in chronological order, 
 bring to his mind the recollection of past times and of 
 former events. He will also be particularly struck 
 with a sight of the clothes which the famous Charles XII. 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 132. t Ibid. p. 138. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 120, 1'Jl. 
 
 \rore
 
 STOCKHOLM. 533 
 
 wore when he was killed at Frederick stadt, and which 
 are here religiously- preserved. These consist of a 
 long shabhy blue frock, of common cloth, with large 
 flaps and brass buttons, a little greasy low cocked hat, 
 a pair of stiff military boots, and a pair of handsome 
 gloves.* This great monarch was remarkably plain in 
 his dress, and commonly wore a leather waistcoat and 
 leather breeches, often very dirty and greasy. Such 
 was the ordinary dress of ihat celebrated monarch, 
 the rival of Peter the Great, and the Ajax of Sweden. 
 The Swedish capital owes its greatest embellish- 
 ments to Gustavus III. He was the same to Stock- 
 holm, that Louis XIV. was to Paris, Frederick the 
 Great to Berlin, and Catharine II. to Petersburg. 
 Almost all its principal ornaments rose from his 
 patronage, and many of them from his designs. Be- 
 sides the superb statue of Gustavus AdolpUus, and 
 the elegant opera house, both of them works of this 
 reign, Gustavus III. completed the embellishments of 
 the royal palace, some of the apartments of which are 
 adorned with the tapestry of theGobeiines from Paris. 
 He was assiduous in collecting the finest specimens 
 of art, and purchased at Rome o(X) valuable statues 
 and paintings.f The royal library contains only about 
 400 M.S. and 20,000 printed volumes. In this city 
 is an academy of sciences, and another of sculpture 
 and painting. Notwithstanding the recent improve- 
 ments of Stockholm, the streets remain very ill paved, 
 a circumstance that militates equally against conve- 
 nience and elegance.^ Mount Moses, a rock in the 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 145. Coxc's Travels, vol. 4, 
 . 3, p. 79. 
 
 t Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 126, 127. 
 $ Ibid. p. 120. 
 
 1 M 3 southern
 
 534 SWEDEN. 
 
 southern suburb, commands a beautiful view of the 
 whole city.* The merchants' houses, which are in 
 the same quarter, and run parallel to the spacious 
 quay, are lofty, and built in an elegant style of Italian 
 architecture. But the harbour is of somewhat diffi- 
 cult access, its entrance lying through a narrow 
 strait, interspersed with rocks, without the advan- 
 tage of tides, and during four months in the year 
 blocked up with ice. The manufactures of Stock- 
 holm, consisting chiefly of glass, china, woollen, linen, 
 silks, &c. are far from being considerable. Its popu- 
 lation is, by the latest accounts, estimated at 80,000; 
 and the number of births and burials in 1760, amount- 
 ing, according to the bills of mortality, to 21'20 and 
 3378 respectively, the number of inhabitants does not 
 appear to have increased. Stockholm has no great 
 claim to antiquity, being founded by Earl Birger, 
 regent of the kingdom, about the year I2(i0. It was 
 at first built on only one of the seven isles, which it 
 now occupies, as a place of security against the 
 Russian pirates of those times. More than 200 years 
 elapsed before it began to grow considerable, and the 
 royal residence was not transferred hither from Upsal 
 till the seventeenth century. 
 
 Upsal.'] Of the other Swedish cities, Upsal, the ancient 
 capital, is next to Stockholm in dignity, though not 
 in population, which, exclusive of the students, is 
 supposed not to exceed iJOOO persons. Upsal is situ- 
 ated in an extensive plain, and the river Sala, which 
 communicates with the lake Melor, passes through 
 the town.f This city has an university of considera- 
 ble fame. The colleges and some of the houses are 
 
 * Coxe's Tr ivels, vol. 4, p. 34. 
 
 t And. Hiit. Cora. vol. 3, p. 320. Coxe's Travels, vol. 4, p. 175. 
 
 handsome,
 
 GOTHENBURG. 535 
 
 handsome, being stuccoed and stained of a light yellow 
 colour; but the greater number are built of wood, 
 painted red, with high grass growing on the tops, a 
 thing very common in Sweden, and behind them tire 
 gardens and orchards. The cathedral is a vast pile 
 of brick, in the Gothic style, with two square towers. 
 The interior is handsome, and adorned with a most 
 magnificent organ. Here lie interred the famous 
 Gustavus Vasa, Christian IV. king of Denmark, the 
 celebrated chancellor Oxenstiern, and the immortal 
 Linnaeus, who was a native of this place. At Up sal 
 is a botanical garden and a good library, in which is 
 the famous M. S. of a Gothic translation of the four 
 gospels, on vellum, richly illuminated with gold and 
 silver letters. This M. S., the only monument of the, 
 ancient Gothic language any where to be found, is 
 supposed to be the work of the fourth century. It 
 was carried from Prague in JG48 by Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, when his arms were triumphant in Bohemia and 
 Germany. Here are also shewn some Icelandic MSS. 
 said to be above 800 years old. According to Mr. Carr, 
 here are also some Lnplandic tracts, but they were 
 probably written in that language* by Swedes. No 
 historical documents authorize the supposition that 
 literature ever penetrated into the dreary region of 
 Lapland. 
 
 Gothenburg.] Gothenburg is in magnitude the 
 second city in Sweden, its population being com- 
 puted at JO,000. It lias a considerable trade, and 
 the herring fishery contributes in ao small degree to 
 its weahh.f 
 
 ta/'/e&c/'OJta.] Carlescroria is supposed to contain 
 about 11,000 inhabitants. 
 
 Carr' Travels round the Baltic, p !:>, 170, 171. 
 t Ci'je's TraTels, vol. 4, p. 322, &c. 
 
 M 4 Abo.
 
 536 SWEDEN. 
 
 Abo.~\ The population of Abo, in Swedish Finland, 
 is computed at about 8,700, and that of Nordkoppifig 
 is nearly equal. 
 
 Nordkopping.'j Nordkopping is situated in a country 
 abounding in romantic scenery, and from the hills 
 above the town, the view is extremely picturesque and 
 delightful.* The rest of the towns in Sweden k are 
 inconsiderable. 
 
 Edifices.} The most remarkable edifices have al- 
 ready been mentioned. Sweden indeed cannot boast 
 of many that are distinguished either by their magni- 
 tude or their grandeur. The roads are far superior to 
 those of Denmark and Norway. 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 114. Coxe's Travels, vol.4, 
 P. 378. 
 
 CHAP.
 
 CHAP. Ill 
 
 Historical View General Progress of Society Arts, Sciences, and 
 Commerce. 
 
 SWEDISH history, except in a few brilliant periods, 
 is less interesting than that of several other nations. 
 It was chiefly in the reigns of Gustavus Adolphus, 
 and of Charles XII, that Sweden had any consider- 
 able influence on the general affairs of Europe. 
 
 No historical documents exist to inform us whether 
 the Celts or the Fins were the possessors of Sweden 
 before the Goths, emerging from their primitive seats 
 on the north of Persia, established themselves in the 
 country, and spread themselves over the whole Scan- 
 dinavian peninsula. That barbarous and warlike na- 
 tion, which once made so conspicuous a figure in the 
 history of Europe, proceeding from central Asia along 
 the northern shores of the Euxine, appears to havo 
 separated into two grand divisions, one advancing 
 westward on the north side of the Danube into Ger- 
 many, and another in a north-westerly direction into 
 Scandinavia. History, however, affords no certain 
 information relative to the sera of those migrations. 
 The western colony was in time intermixed with the 
 various tribes of successive adventurers; but the 
 northern division, settled in the Scandinavian penin- 
 sula, to which no foreign conquest afterwards ex- 
 tended, remained pure and unmixed. The popula- 
 * tion
 
 38 SWEDEN. 
 
 lion of the southern parts of Sweden is, therefore, 
 entirely Gothic, while that of the northern provinces 
 is mixed with the remains of the Fins, who them- 
 selves are blended with the Laplanders, a branch per- 
 haps of the original Finnish stock, but reduced by 
 the severity of the climate and its concomitant cir- 
 cumstances, to a diminutive stature, like all the other 
 inhabitants of the arctic regions.* The Greeks were 
 probably ignorant of the existence of Scandinavia; 
 and the knowledge which the be * informed Romans, 
 Tacitus, Pliny, and Ptolemy, had of that region, ex- 
 tended no farther than to some parts of its southern 
 coasts, opposite to Denmark and Germany, and 
 amounted on the whole to little more than vague con- 
 jecture. 
 
 Until the middle of the fourteenth century, the 
 Swedish history, besides being uninteresting, is void 
 of consistency, [t appears that it was conquered by 
 Denmark about the middle of the eighth century. 
 Sweden in its turn subjugated that kingdom about the 
 year ( JOO; but we know little of these conquests ; and 
 indeed^the contentions among obscure barbarians in 
 those remote times, scarcely merit any particular 
 enquiry. About the year 1000, Christianity was in- 
 troduced into Sweden under king Olaff ill, but half 
 a century elapsed before it was completely established 
 by Ingi, surnamed the Pious. The year J J87, or 13fc>8, 
 opens a more luminous view, exhibits greater events, 
 and introduces a period more brilliant in the Scandi- 
 navian history. Margaret, daughter of Valdemar king 
 of Denmark, and widow of lluguin king of Norway, 
 
 * Mr. Tooke seem* to t'avour this- opinion, in confuting the reasoning 
 f Voltaire, who supposes the Laplanders to be it distinct race of men, 
 produced by nature* m thut region. View HUM. Knip. vol. 1, p. 333. 
 
 already
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW, 
 
 already reigning orer the first cf these kingdoms as 
 sovereign, and over the latter as regent, during the 
 minority of her sen Olaus, 1 dexterously taking advan- 
 tage of the discontent of the Swedes, oppressed by their 
 king, Albert of Mecklenburg, procured from them 
 a solemn tender of their crown. She then marched 
 into Sweden and expelled the reigning monarch. The 
 death of her son Olaus, which followed soon after, 
 put her in possession of the crown of Norway by elec- 
 tion, and united in her person the sovereignty of the 
 three Scandinavian kingdoms. This princess, styled 
 in history the Semiramis of the ^orth, joined to a 
 towering ambition and extensive views, a sagacity 
 and penetration which rendered her capable of form- 
 ing the greatest plans, and of conducting the most 
 complicated affairs. She saw the three northern 
 crowns, which were then rather elective than here- 
 ditary, placed on her head, and immediately formed 
 the grand design of rendering their union perpetual. 
 She convened the states of the three kingdoms, and 
 in that assembly the famous union of Calmar, so 
 called from the place of meeting, was concluded, in 
 which it was established as a fundamental law, that 
 Sweden, Denmark, and JSorway, should for ever be 
 governed by one sovereign, who should be chosen 
 successively from each of the three kingdoms, and 
 then have his election confirmed by the two others, 
 that each nation should retain its own laws, customs, 
 and privileges, and that the natives of one kingdoin, 
 should not be advanced to offices of honour or emolu- 
 ment in another.* But this union, apparently so Weil 
 
 tf 
 
 calculated for the tranquillity, security, and aggran- 
 disement of the Scandinavian empire, was productive 
 
 * Meursius Hist. Danica, lib. 5. 
 
 Of
 
 540 SWEDEN* 
 
 of quite different effects. The vigorous administra- 
 tion of Margaret restrained, although not without 
 some difficulty-, the national animosity and jealousy 
 which subsisted between the Swedes and the Danes, 
 and which under Eric, her successor, produced a dis- 
 solution of -the union, and gave rise to a series of 
 Woody and barbarous wars. The Swedes renouncing 
 all connection with Denmark, elected Charles Camit- 
 son, the grand marshal, for their king. A series of 
 wars and revolutions ensued, in consequence of which 
 Sweden was sometimes independent, and sometimes 
 united with, or rather in subjection to Denmark ; 
 the Swedes were finally subdued by the arms of Chris- 
 tian If, and reduced to the condition of a conquered 
 people. These unhappy disputes produced some of 
 the most tragical scenes that disgrace the history of 
 mankind. The Swedes, at their last revolt against 
 Christian I, had chosen Steen Sture as regent and 
 administrator of the kingdom. His son succeeded 
 him in the regency ; but his authority, although ac- 
 knowledged by the nation in general, was opposed by 
 the archbishop of Upsal, primate of Sweden, whom 
 Christian II. had brought over to his interest. This 
 prelate, being for his contumacy degraded by the diet 
 and deprived of his benefices, instigated Pope Leo X. 
 to issue a bull of excommunication against the regent 
 and all his adherents, the execution of which was 
 committed to the Danish monarch. Christian II, the 
 Nero of the North, uniting this specious pretext to 
 his former claims, invaded Sweden ; but being defeat- 
 ed in battle, he had recourse to stratagems of the 
 darkest policy. Entering into an insidious negotiation 
 with the Swedes, he offered to go in person to Stock- 
 holm, in order to confer with the regent, provided 
 
 that
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 541 
 
 that six persons whom he should name, were delivered 
 as hostages for his safety. This proposal being ac- 
 cepted, Gustavus Vasa, a descendant of the ancient 
 kings of Sweden, with five others of the principal 
 nobility, was sent on board the Danish fleet. The 
 perfidious Christian immediately carried them prisoners 
 to Denmark, and returning the year following with a 
 more powerful armament, invaded Gothland, and 
 wasted the country with fire and sword. The regent 
 of Sweden being killed in an ambuscade, and the 
 senate divided on the choice of a successor, the 
 Danish king taking advantage of their dissentions, 
 advanced to Stockholm, which surrendered at his ap- 
 proach. Gustavus Trolle, the primate, now resumed 
 his archiepiscopal functions, and placed the crown of 
 Sweden on tiie head of the Danish monarch. 
 
 This coronation was followed by one of the most 
 horrid transactions recorded in history. Christian 
 had promised a general amnesty, and repairing to the 
 cathedral, swore on the altar of the Supreme Being, 
 that he would govern Sweden, not with the severity 
 of a conqueror, but with the benevolence of a father. 
 After this ceremony, he invited the senators and 
 grandees to a sumptuous entertainment that lasted 
 three days, but concluded in the most tragical manner. 
 The king and the piimate had formed the horrid design 
 of extirpating the Swedish nobility; and in order to 
 afford some pretext for their intended massacre, the 
 archbishop, on the last day of the feast, reminded the 
 king that the amnesty accorded to crimes against the 
 state, did not include those committed against the 
 church, and demanded justice in the name of t he- 
 pope. The hall was immediately filled with soldiers, 
 who secured the guests. The primate proceeded 
 
 against
 
 512 SWEDEN, 
 
 against them as heretics. A scaffold was erected be- 
 fore the gate of the palace, and ninety-four persons of 
 the first distinction, among whom was Eric, the father 
 of Gustavus Vusa, were executed for no other crime 
 than that of defending their country. The year \5<20, 
 constitutes the sera of this nefarious transaction, which 
 was soon after followed by the deliverance of Sweden 
 from Danish oppression. Gustavus Vasa, whom Pro- 
 vidence had ordained to be the restorer of Swedish 
 independence, escaped from his prison in Denmark, 
 and in the habit of a peasant, concealed himself 
 among the mountains of Dalecarlia. Deserted by his 
 guide and sole companion, who carried off his little 
 treasure, he found himself destitute of all the neces- 
 saries of life, and ready to perish with hunger. In 
 this forlorn condition, he entered among the miners, 
 and wrought under ground for bread. He soon be- 
 came distinguished among the Daleearlians, not only 
 for his graceful mien, but also by his strength and 
 agility, qualities peculiarly tending to attract the 
 notice of that rude and robust people. Having already 
 acquired a considerable ascendancy over those rough 
 companions of his labours, he discovered himself to 
 them at their annual feast, and exhorted them to assist 
 him in asserting the independence of Sweden. They 
 listened to him with surprise and emotion, but to in- 
 duce them to take up arms and march under his ban- 
 ners, it was necessary that superstition should point 
 out some favorable omen, in order to animate them 
 with hopes of success. Gustavus had resided among 
 them long enough to be acquainted with their ideas, 
 and probably seized the moment when he perceived 
 the wind veer to the north for the beginning of his 
 address. The superstitions of the vulgar have often 
 
 been
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 543 
 
 been artfully converted to useful purposes by men of 
 more enlarged ideas and extensive views, and have 
 frequently promoted or impeded the greatest designs- 
 Some of his rude auditors observing that the wind 
 had blown from that quarter from the moment that he 
 began his speech, the circumstance was considered 
 as a signal of the approbation of Heaven, and they 
 requested to be immediately led against the tyrants of 
 their couutry. Gustavus took the advantage of this 
 favorable disposition, and without leaving their ardour 
 to cool, entered on the bold and arduous enterprize of 
 conquering, with a few undisciplined miners, a king- 
 dom every where filled with Danish soldiers. No- 
 thing, however, could withstand the precipitate valour 
 of the Dalecarlians. Gustavus saw himself every 
 where victorious, and his successes soon gained him 
 numbers of adherents in every part of the kingdom. 
 His forces daily encreased; the Danish garrisons every 
 where surrendered, or their fortresses were carried by 
 assault. Every thing yielded to his courage, his con- 
 duct, and good fortune; and within two years after 
 he took the field, and about three from the subjugation 
 of the kingdom by Christian If, Gustavus Vasa as- 
 cended the throne of Sweden. 
 
 From the ensanguined annals of war and the 
 horrors of tyranny, from the projects of courts and 
 the 'actions of the great, it is requisite to turn our eyes 
 to the progress of society, and the condition of the 
 great mass of the people. Fewer authentic docu- 
 ments relative to these subjects exist in Sweden, than 
 in several other countries; but the few .scattered hints 
 that are extant, sullice to exhibit tlio outlines of a 
 picture of society extremely disgusting. During the 
 period \\hich elapsed, fr.m the earliest ;kceouni to 
 
 the
 
 544 SWEDEN. 
 
 the reign of Gustavus Vasa, the government, of Sweden 
 does not seem to have ever been firmly established, 
 regularly defined, or uniformly administered. The 
 feudal system reigned with all oppressive abuses ; and 
 in no country perhaps had the nobles acquired a 
 greater plenitude of power. In the north, from time 
 immemorial, the sacerdotal order, whether Pagan or 
 Christian, had been held in great veneration ; and 
 since the introduction of Christianity into Sweden, 
 the dignified clergy had acquired a vast proportion of 
 wealth, and a preponderating influence in public 
 affairs. As commerce was unknown, or at least neg- 
 lected, almost the whole wealth of the kingdom con- 
 sisted in land, which was consequently in the hands 
 of the prelates and nobles. These two classes pos- 
 sessing all the properly and power of the state, com- 
 posed a great council called the senate, which decided 
 on all public affairs. This aristocracy, equally hostile 
 to the authority of the king and the interests of the 
 people, was the bane of the national prosperity. The 
 people were slaves, the king a mere nominal sovereign ; 
 and the crown being elective, Sweden was in those 
 ages, what Poland still continued to be, till its internal 
 dissentions invited foreigners to sieze on its territories* 
 and annihilate its national existence. The same fate 
 had nearly happened Jo Sweden. The people perished 
 in the contentions between their barons, while their 
 internal disunion exposed them to the inroads and 
 oppression of the Danes; and hud Sweden been sur- 
 rounded by such powerful neighbours, she must long 
 ago have experienced the destiny of Poland. 
 
 Such was for ages the deplorable state of Sweden. 
 Gustavus Vasa first gave consistency to the govern- 
 ment, and rendered the nation respectable. His cir- 
 cumstances
 
 ttlSTOfclCAL VIEW. 54$ 
 
 turn stances, indeed, were peculiarly favorable. None 
 of his predecessors had made their way to the throne 
 through such difficulties, but none of them had as>- 
 tended it with so many and so great advantages. He 
 was at the head of a victorious army, attached to his 
 person, and struck with admiration at his valour: and 
 he mounted the throne by the universal consent of the 
 nation. The ancient nobility were mostly destroyed. 
 The massacre of the most powerful of that order by 
 Christian II, although in the highest degree nefarious 
 and horrible, proved of great service to Gustavus, in 
 freeing him from those independent and haughty op- 
 ponents, who had so long been the bane of all regular 
 government in Sweden. The clergy were still power*- 
 ful by their numbers, their wealth, and their influence, 
 and dangerous by their attachment to Denmark, of 
 which the Swedes had repeatedly experienced the 
 consequences. But the opinions of Luther, which 
 had now made (heir way into the north, and acquired 
 great credit in Sweden, afforded him an opportunity 
 of annihilating the exorbitant power of that order, by 
 changing the religious system of the kingdom. The 
 establishment of Lutherunism in Sweden, however, 
 was entirely a political measure ; for he immediately 
 commenced persecutor, and the vigorous laws enacted 
 in 1544 against the Catholics, shew that Gustavus 
 and the senate of Sweden had no better ideas of reli- 
 gious liberty, than Philip II. and the Spanish inqui- 
 sitors. In that age, indeed, the irrational spirit of 
 intolerance, actuated all sects and parties: instead of 
 conciliating one another by the mutual exercise of 
 Christian charity, they studied to >viden every breach 
 by reciprocal injuries. The reign of Gustavus, how- 
 ever, was on the whole highly beneficial to Sweden: 
 VOL. in. 2 tf which.
 
 546 SWEDEN. 
 
 which, instead of a Gothic aristocracy, the most tur- 
 bulent and the most wretched of all political systems, 
 became at that time a regular monarchy; and in arts 
 and arms, in letters and commerce, began to make 
 some figure among the nations of Europe. 
 
 Gustavus dying in 1,559, after a prosperous reign 
 of about thirty-six years, was succeeded by his son 
 Eric, whose jealousy of his brothers excited them to 
 revolt. A civil war thus ensuing, the senate espoused 
 the cause of the princes. Eric was deposed in 1506, 
 and John, his brother, was placed on the throne. 
 His reign was chiefly distinguished by wars with 
 Russia, by the election of his on Sigismund to the 
 throne of Poland in 1587, and by his repeated, but 
 ineffectual attempts to re-establish the Roman Catholic 
 religion in Sweden.* John dying in 1592, in the 
 twenty-sixth year of his reign, Charles, his brother, 
 was chosen administrator of Sweden, and afterwards 
 elected king in 1599. His reign was greatly disturbed 
 by the practices of Sigismund, king of Poland, his 
 newhew, whose influence was predominant in Russia/}- 
 and who had many adherents even in Sweden. The 
 Danes encouraged by these circumstances, once more 
 invaded the kingdom, on which occasion the great 
 Gustavus Adolphus, then only a minor, first appeared 
 on the military theatre, on which he afterwards made 
 so conspicuous a figure. . 
 
 Charles dying in 1611, Gustavus Adolphus, his 
 son, ascended the throne, and although only in his 
 eighteenth year, was declared of age by the states. 
 No sooner had he seated himself on the throne than 
 he signalized himself by expelling the Danish iu- 
 
 * Loccrn. Hisf. SKCC. Jib 7. 
 t See Historical ch. Russia in ibis work. - 
 
 vaders.,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. "517 
 
 Vaders, whose progress he had checked, even before 
 the death of his father. In a war against Russia he 
 conquered the greatest part of Finland. He also 
 recovered Livonia, and during the war which, he 
 carried on against Poland, he ravaged Lithuania and 
 Prussia.* Livonia, the conquered part of Finland, 
 and some towns in the government of Novogorod, 
 were confirmed by treaty to Sweden, which was 
 aggrandized at the expence of Russia, during the 
 troubles that agitated and enfeebled the empire.f 
 An advantageous truce of six years, concluded with 
 Poland in 1629, now assured the tranquillity and 
 safety of his own dominions, and left him at leisure to 
 display his abilities on the more conspicuous theatre 
 of Germany. 
 
 The house of Austria now taking; measures that 
 threatened the extirpation of the Protestant religion, 
 the Protestant princes, in order to. avert the impend- 
 ing storm, had recourse to the king of Sweden, with 
 whom they secretly formed an alliance.^ Gustavus 
 had also particular reasons for making war on the 
 Emperor Ferdinand, who had assisted his enemy the 
 king of Poland, and whose plan of aggrandisement 
 tending to make him absolute master of Germany, 
 miojit have rendered him formidable to Sweden : reli- 
 
 O 
 
 gious zeal and the love of military fame might also be 
 considered as additional motives. Inspired with an 
 enthusiastic desire of glory, Gustavus, however, was 
 always attentive to the rules of prudence, and assured 
 himself of the support of England and France before 
 he ventured on a war with the Emperor. England, 
 however, although secretly favourable to his designs, 
 
 * Puffendorf, Jib. 2. t Vide Historical Chapter of Russ'm. 
 
 J Poffendcrf. lib. 1. 
 
 <2 N T Q maintained
 
 0-18- SWEDEN. 
 
 maintained an ostensible neutrality; but numbers of 
 English and Scotch volunteers, by royal permission 
 from Charles I. crowded to the Swedish standard, and 
 the flower of Gustavus's army, with many of his best 
 officers, consisted of those military adventurers.* But 
 his most constant and effectual support was that which 
 he received from France, in an annual subsidy of 
 1,200,000 livres, in virtue of the treaty already men- 
 tioned, which did so much honour to the genius of 
 Richelieu. 
 
 Gustavus having entered into Germany, in 1631, 
 was joined by several princes of the confession of 
 Augsburg, and inarched towards Liepsic, where 
 Count Tilly, the imperial general, was encamped. 
 Tilly advanced to meet his antagonist, and a decisive 
 engagement took place. The imperial army and that 
 of the Swedish monarch were about equal in number. 
 But the Protestant auxiliaries from Saxony, being raw 
 and undisciplined soldiers, took to flight at the first 
 onset. Notwithstanding, however, this disadvantage, 
 the prowess of the Swedes, directed by the abilities of 
 their king, gained a complete victory-t Such was 
 the consternation into which the imperialists were 
 thrown, by this defeat, that if the king of Sweden had 
 marched directly for Vienna it is generally supposed 
 that he might have made himself master of that 
 capital. But Gustavus, through motives which it is 
 now somewhat difficult to discover, or at least to ap- 
 prove, took a different route, and instead of carrying 
 the war into the heart of the emperor's hereditary 
 dominions, advanced towards the Rhine, and had the 
 
 * Burnnt Mem. Hamilton, vol. 1. 
 
 t Harte's IJl'e of' Gustavus, apiul Jlussd's Mod. IIis(. Eur. vol.3, 
 p. HO.' 
 
 satisfaction
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 54<J 
 
 satisfaction of erecting, on the banks of lhat river, a 
 column, in order to perpetuate the progress of his 
 arms. The battle of Liepsic, however,, was followed 
 .by the most important consequences. The king of 
 Sweden made himself master of the whole country, 
 from the Elbe to the Rhine, comprising a space of 
 near 100 leagues full of fortified towns. But this was 
 not the only advantage derived from his victory. The 
 members of the Evangelical Union, encouraged by his 
 success, unanimously joined his standard, and the 
 measures of the Catholic league were entirely discon- 
 certed. The 1st of April the next year, 1632, was 
 rendered memorable by the death of that celebrated 
 general, Count Tilly, who was killed in disputing with 
 the Swedes the passage of the Lech. The passage of 
 that river, with its various circumstances, is 'consi- 
 dered, in military history, as a master-piece of general- 
 ship, and by it Gustavus acquired an immortal reputa- 
 tion. But on marching into Bavaria, and entering 
 the capital, which opened its gates without resistance, 
 he displayed the liberality of his mind in a manner 
 more honourable to his memory than all his con- 
 quests.* Being urged to retaliate on Munich the 
 cruelties which the imperialists perpetrated at Magde- 
 burg, when that place was taken by assault. '' No," 
 replied Gustavus, " let us not imitate the barbarity of 
 the Goths, our ancestors, who have rendered their 
 memory detestable, by abusing the rights of conquest, 
 in doing violence to humanity, and destroying the 
 precious monuments of art."*j- 
 
 The next important action of the Swedish monarch 
 was his attempt to force the entrenchments of the im- 
 
 * Russet'* Hist. Mwd. Eur. vol. 3, p. 111. 
 
 f Hurtc'b Life of Gu-tuv. apud llussel's Mod. Eur. vol. 3, p. 1 1'.'. 
 
 '2 N 3 periv.i
 
 553 SWEDEN. 
 
 exhortations \ver answered by shouts of applause from 
 the army ; and every soldier manifested his determi- 
 nation to conquer or die. Having disposed his army 
 in order of battle, he placed himself at the head of the 
 right wing, and drew his sword about nine in the 
 morning, being attended by the duke of Saxe Lawen-r 
 bourg, Crailsham, grand master of his household, and 
 a body of English and Scotch gentlemen volunteers. 
 The action soon became general, and both sides fought 
 with unparalleled intrepidity. About eleven o'clock, 
 the king of Sweden fell, fighting sword in hand at the 
 head of the Smaland cavalry. He had first received a 
 woun.d in the arm, to which he paid little attention, 
 till at last he seemed near fainting from loss of blood. 
 At this moment an imperial cavalier, advancing close 
 up, transpierced his body with a pistol shot. The 
 cavalier, however, had but little enjoyment of his 
 triumph, being at the same instant shot dead by the 
 master of the horse. A furious attack being imme- 
 diately made by Piccolomeni's cuirassiers, rendered 
 it impossible to convey the king from the field. He 
 was for some time held up in his saddle, but his horse 
 being shot in the shoulder, made a violent plunge 
 and fell with his rider to the ground. The imperial 
 cuirassiers rushing forward killed or dispersed all his 
 attendants. Seeing him laid on, the ground weltering 
 in blood, they asked him who he was, and on receiving 
 for answer that he was the king of Sweden, finding it; 
 impossible to carry him off as a prisoner, they gave 
 him several desperate wounds, and one of them disr 
 patched him by a shot through the head. Thus fell 
 Gustavus Adolphus, the greatest monarch that ever 
 sat on the Swedish throne, and one of the most dis- 
 tinguished heroes of ancient or modern history. He 
 
 united.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. ,*K>3 
 
 united in an eminent degree the qualifications of the 
 statesman and the commander, possessing that intui- 
 tive genius, which conceives the greatest designs, and 
 that happy combination of courage and conduct so 
 necessary to their successful execution. But besides 
 his political and military talents, his private virtues 
 ought to be held up as an example to mankind, as 
 they are capable of being imitated by ail ranks and 
 conditions of men in private as well as in public life. 
 He was not more great as king and an able com- 
 mander, than as a pious Christian, a sincere friend, a 
 tender husband, a dutiful son, and an affectionate 
 parent. His public and private character displayed 
 all the talents and virtues that dignify humanity. 
 
 After the king had fallen the battle was continued 
 with inexpressible fury. Never was a victory disputed 
 with greater obstinacy. Pappenheim, one of the 
 ablest generals in the imperial service, who had 
 arrived with a reinforcement of fresh troops, lost his 
 life on this memorable occasion. The Swedes, instead 
 of being disconcerted or thrown into confusion by the 
 fall of their king, thought rather uf revenging his 
 death, and fought like lions under General Knip- 
 hausen and the Duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar, who 
 had taken the command. The battle continued nine 
 hours; and such was the determined valour of the 
 Swedes, and the conduct of their generals, that, not- 
 withstanding the cowardice of their Protestant allies, 
 who, on this occasion, as well as on the affair of 
 JLeipsic, soon took to flight, and the vast superiority 
 of strength which the enemy acquired by Pappen* 
 heim's reinforcement of 7000 additional troops, the 
 action terminated in favour of the Swedes; and no- 
 thing but the approach of night prevented them 
 
 from
 
 553 SWEDEN. 
 
 exhortations wen* answered by shouts of applause from 
 the army ; and every soldier manifested his determi- 
 nation to conquer or die. Having disposed his army 
 in order of battle, he placed himself at the head of the 
 right wing, and drew his sword about nine in the 
 morning, being attended by the duke of Saxe Lawen- 
 bourg, Crailsham, grand master of his household, and 
 a body of English and Scotch gentlemen volunteers. 
 The action soon became general, and both sides fought 
 with unparalleled intrepidity. About eleven o'clock, 
 the king of Sweden fell, fighting sword in hand at the 
 head of the Smaland cavalry. He had first received i\ 
 wound in the arm, to which he paid little attention, 
 till at last he seemed near fainting from loss of blood. 
 At this moment an imperial cavalier, advancing close 
 up, transpierced his body with a pistol shot. The 
 cavalier, however, had but little enjoyment of his 
 triumph, being at the same instant shot dead by the 
 master of the horse. A furious attack being imme- 
 diately made by Piccolomeni's cuirassiers, rendered 
 it impossible to convey the king from the field. He 
 was for some time held up in his saddle, but his horse 
 being shot in the shoulder, made a violent plunge 
 and fell with his rider to the ground. The imperial 
 cuirassiers rushing forward killed or dispersed all his 
 attendants. Seeing him laid on, the ground weltering 
 in blood, they asked him who he was, and on receiving 
 for answer that he was the king of Sweden, finding it; 
 impossible to carry him off as a prisoner, they gave 
 him several desperate wounds, and one of them dis- 
 patched him by a shot through the head. Thus fell 
 Gustavus Adolphus, the greatest monarch that ever 
 sat on the Swedish throne, and one of the most dis- 
 tinguished heroes of ancient or modern history. He 
 
 united
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 553 
 
 united in an eminent degree the qualifications of the 
 statesman and the commander, possessing that intui- 
 tive genius, which conceives the greatest designs, and 
 that happy combination of courage and conduct so 
 necessary to their successful execution. But besides 
 his political and military talents, his private virtues 
 ought to be held up as an example to mankind, as 
 they are capable of being imitated by ail ranks and 
 conditions of men in private as well as in public life. 
 He was not more great as king and an able com- 
 mander, than as a pious Christian, a sincere friend, a 
 tender husband, a dutiful son, and an affectionate 
 parent. His public and private character displayed 
 all the talents and virtues that dignify humanity. 
 
 After the king had fallen the battle was continued 
 with inexpressible fury. Never was a victory disputed 
 with greater obstinacy. Pappenheim, one of the 
 ablest generals in the imperial service, who had 
 arrived with a reinforcement of fresh troops, lost his 
 h'fe on this memorable occasion. The Swedes, instead 
 of being disconcerted or thrown into confusion by the 
 fall of their king, thought rather qf revenging his 
 death, and fought like lions under General Knip- 
 hausen and the Duke Bernard of Saxe Weimar, who 
 had taken the command. The battle continued nine 
 hours; and such was the determined valour of the 
 iSwedes, and the conduct of their generals, that, not- 
 withstanding the cowardice of their Protestant allies, 
 who, on this occasion, as well as on the affair of 
 Leipsic, soon took to flight, and the vast superiority 
 of strength which the enemy acquired by Pappen-r 
 heim's reinforcement of 7000 additional troops, the 
 action terminated in favour of the Swedes; and no- 
 thing but the approach of night prevented them 
 
 from.
 
 ' '554 SWEHT.N. 
 
 from gaining a most decisive victory. J*erh;i}s no 
 army ever displayed greater heroism than tliat of the 
 Swedes on the memorable day of Lutzen. 
 
 The transcendent abilities of Gustavus, both in the 
 cabinet and the field, shewed themselves in the most 
 conspicuous and unequivocal manner after his death. 
 Like Philip of Macedonia, he left behind him a set of 
 generals trained to arms under his banners, and in- 
 structed by his example as well as his precepts, who, 
 during the space of eighteen years, gallantly main- 
 tained, with astonishing valour and success, the glory 
 of the Swedish arms.* 
 
 Gustavus left only a daughter, the famous Queen 
 Christina. She was only six years of age when her 
 father was killed ; but through the transcendent 
 abilities of the chancellor, Oxensticrn, Sweden, al- 
 though engaged in a foreign war of so long duration, 
 was tranquil and prosperous at home. Oxenstiern, 
 indeed, is not lefes celebrated as a statesman than 
 Gustavus is distinguished as a warrior. In 1(534, two 
 years after the battle of Lutzen, the king of Hungary, 
 eldest son of the emperor, being appointed generalis- 
 simo of the imperialists, in the place of the celebrated 
 Wallestein, the army was reinforced by 20,000 Italian 
 and Spanish troops, tinder the duke de Feria, besides 
 a body of men sent by the cardinal, infant governor of 
 the Belgic provinces, to the support of the Catholic 
 cause, and another of 10,000 men brought by the 
 duke of Lorraine : the duke of Bavaria at the same 
 time united his forces to those of the house of 
 Au stria. f 
 
 * Puffendorf, lib. 6, 7, 8, &c. Barre, torn. 9. Lonccns, lib. 9, &c. 
 t The celebrated imperial general Wallestcin Iind by liis haughty de. 
 aortuitnt, and the esteem in which he was hefd by the soldiers, excited 
 
 * The
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 555 
 
 The imperial army being thus augmented by these 
 numerous reinforcements, and animated by the pre- 
 sence of the son of their emperor, were now extremely 
 formidable. The Swedes, under Horn and Saxe Wei- 
 mar were, after the most desperate efforts of valour, 
 totally defeated by the king of Hungary, at TSord- 
 lingen. in one of the most hard fousjht battles re- 
 
 O \ ' CJ 
 
 corded in history. The consequence of this disaster 
 was the defection of the Protestant princes of Ger- 
 many, all of whom, except the Landgrave of Hesse, 
 deserted the Swedish 'alliance and concluded a peace 
 with the court of Vienna. Notwithstanding these 
 
 O 
 
 disasters, Oxcnstiern, being supported by Cardinal 
 Richelieu, and afterwards by Cardinal Mazarine* 
 carried on, in conjunction with France and the 
 United Provinces, a war of eighteen years, against 
 both the branches of the house of Austria, with so 
 great credit and success, that Sweden had no small 
 part in dictating the peace of Westphalia. 
 
 Christina, the young queen of Sweden, received an. 
 excellent education. She possessed a superior genius, 
 and made its cultivation her principal object; for 
 which purpose she invited to her court the most 
 learned men of the age, among whom were Descartes 
 and Salmasius. She corresponded with aH the dis- 
 tinguished literati of Europe, and expressed a parti- 
 cular regard for Grotius.. While she thus devoted 
 herself to the Muses, however, she did not neglect the 
 duties of a sovereign, but constantly maintained the 
 honour of her crown. Her desire of independency 
 liaviiiir determined her neither to marry nor anv longer 
 
 t* */ O 
 
 the jealousy of the Emperor Ferdinand. lie was accused of concerting 
 a revolt ; but the emperor dreading his influence over the army, caused 
 him to be dispatched by assassination. Anriulcs iK % I'Lmpire, loin. V. 
 
 to
 
 556 SWEDEN. 
 
 to encumber herself with the cares of government, she 
 resigned her crown to her cousin, Charles Gustnvus, 
 A.D. l6.>4 ; and having imbibed a predilection tor the 
 Catholic religion, as well as a classical attachment to 
 Italy, she retired to Rome in order to enjoy philoso- 
 phical leisure, and pursue her favorite studies. 
 
 Charles Gustavus was successful in his wars with 
 Denmark and Poland. His passage over the ice, and 
 his siege of Copenhagen, are mentioned in their 
 place. He made an entire conquest of Poland, but it 
 proved of short duration ; for although he obliged the 
 Poles to take an oath of allegiance, they soon revolted. 
 Charles died in 1660. His son and successor, Charles XI, 
 being a minor of five years of age, the regency judged 
 it expedient to conclude a peace with all the neigh- 
 bouring powers. After Charles had assumed the 
 reins of government, he sometimes received a subsidy 
 from Louis XIV, and sometimes was the ally of Eng- 
 land and Holland. He joined at one time with France 
 in a war against Austria; but all those wars, without 
 any important consequences, merit very little atten- 
 tion. The most remarkable event of his reign, was 
 the victory which he obtained over his own subjects, 
 in annihilating the power of the states, and changing 
 the constitution of thfe country from a limited to an 
 absolute monarchy. This prince fixed an indelible 
 stain on his memory, by condemning the brave Pal- 
 kul, the chief of the Livonian deputies, to decapita- 
 tion, for the boldness of his remonstrances in behalf 
 of his countrymen. This intrepid patriot, however, 
 was fortunate enough to make his escape, and thus 
 avoided the sanguinary sentence. Under the admi 
 nistration of this prince, however, Sweden made a 
 respectable figure in the political system of Europe. 
 
 Charles.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 55? 
 
 Charles XI. was succeeded by his son, the famous 
 Charles XII. This prince, like his father, ascended 
 the throne in his minority. He was only fifteen years 
 of age at his accession, and his father's testament had 
 fixed his maturity at eighteen. The term, however, 
 was abridged by the management of Count Piper, 
 who soon became his first minister and principal confi- 
 dant. It was not long before circumstances called his 
 .youthful ardour into full exercise, and afforded him ?n 
 opportunity of displaying that intrepidity and roman- 
 tic heroism, which proved so great a misfortune to his 
 own kingdom, as well as to the neighbouring states; 
 but which, under the direction .of prudence, would 
 have ranked him with the greatest monarchs of ancient 
 
 O 
 
 or modern times. Charles, however, though justly 
 condemned for his obstinacy, temerity, and restless 
 propensity to war, cannot be charged with wantonly 
 .beginning those hostilities, which were afterwards at- 
 
 <_> t j f 
 
 tended with so copious an effusion of blood, and so 
 great an exhaustion of revenue. The commencement 
 of those convulsions, which so long and so violently 
 agitated the eastern and northern parts of Europe, 
 was rather owing to the cool and sagacious views of 
 Peter the Great of Russia, than to the temerity of the 
 young Swedish monarch. The czar was now intent 
 on prosecuting his great plans for the civilization and 
 the aggrandisement of his empire; and, above all 
 things, desirous of procuring a port on the Baltic, in 
 order to facilitate the execution of his commercial 
 schemes. The province of Ingria had formerly be- 
 longed to his ancestors; but Sweden, not a century 
 before, hud wrested it from Russia. He considered 
 the youth and inexperience of Charles as affording a 
 favorable opportunity for re-conquering the province, 
 
 and
 
 5J8 SWEDEN. 
 
 and thought lhat a junction with the kings of Denmark 
 and Poland against Sweden, would facilitate this, or 
 still m6re extensive acquisitions. Thus H powerful 
 confederacy was formed against the young king of 
 Sweden. The king of Denmark began the war by an 
 invasion of the territories of the duke of Holstein 
 Gottorp, who had married the sister of Charles ; while 
 the ^Russians, Poles, and Saxons, entered Livonia and 
 Ingria. Churles renewed the former alliance of Swe- 
 den with England and Holland, and received from 
 these two powers a combined squadron of ships of 
 war. Without loss of time, he immediately landed an 
 army in Denmark, and began the siege and bombard- 
 ment of Copenhagen both by sea and land. Charles, 
 by this decisive measure, soon brought this war to a 
 termination. The citizens of Copenhagen sent depu- 
 ties to beseech him to desist from the bombardment, 
 a request which he granted on their agreeing to pay 
 him 400,000 rix dollars. The Danish monarch, at the 
 same time, seeing the Swedes in the heart of his king- 
 dom ; and his capital, together with his fleet, ready to 
 fall into their hands) had no resource left but submis- 
 sion. A negotiation was opened ; and through the 
 mediation 'of England and France, a peace was con- 
 cluded, A. D. 1700, between Denmark, Sweden, and 
 Holstein.* 
 
 Russia and Poland were not included in this treat}*, 
 fthich left the young king of Sweden at liberty to di- 
 f rect his whole force against those formidable enemies. 
 He first turned his arms against the Russians, who 
 had undertaken the siege of Narva. The memorable 
 rictory which Charles gained at that place, is men- 
 tioned in the historical view of Russia. This was fol- 
 
 * Hist, du Nord, Una. 2. 
 
 lowed
 
 HISTORICAL VIE\V. <?59 
 
 lowed by another decisive battle at Riga, which was 
 then besieged by the Saxons and Poles. The victory 
 on the side of the Swedes was scarcely less complete 
 than at Narva ; and the consequences were exceed- 
 ingly important. Charles now advanced through 
 Courland and Lithuania; and the rapidity of his con- 
 quests gave his progress the appearance of a pleasura- 
 ble tour, rather than of a military expedition. The 
 Poles, disaffected towards their king, Augustus, who 
 was ambitious of governing in Poland as despotically 
 as in Saxony, murmured at seeing their towns occu- 
 pied by Saxon garrisons, and their frontiers covered 
 with Russian armies ; and considering the war with 
 Sweden as nothing more than an artifice of the court 
 in order to furnish a pretext for the introduction of 
 foreign troops, made little resistance against a prince 
 whom they regarded as a deliverer, rather than an in- 
 vader.* 
 
 Charles taking advantage of this state of the public 
 mind in Poland, formed the great design of using the 
 discontents of the Poles as the means of dethroning 
 king Augustus, his implacable enemy. In this pro- 
 ject lie succeeded to the full extent of his most san- 
 guine expectations. Having entered into a secret 
 correspondence with the Cardinal Primate Jlajouski, 
 and several of the discontented grandees, and gained a 
 decisive victory over the king of Poland at Glissawr, 
 he lost not a moment in inarching to Cracow, which 
 surrendered without the least resistance. Charles t 
 however, left that city immediately in pursuit of King 
 Augustus, in order to prevent him from reassembling 
 an army. This measure, so well calculated to com- 
 plete the expulsion of that prince, was considerably 
 
 llit-t. dc Pulogr.e, (on. 1. 
 
 impeded
 
 560 t 
 
 impeded by an accident which happened to Charley 
 who having his thigh broken in consequence of his 
 horse falling, remained several weeks confined to his 
 bed. During this interval, Augustus assembled a diet 
 at Lublin, and prevailed on the nobles to maintain an 
 army for his defence, and to allow the king of Swe- 
 den forty days to determine on peace or war. But 
 before the expiration of that term, Charles being re- 
 covered, convened a diet at Warsaw, which annulled 
 the resolutions of that which Augustus had assembled 
 at Lublin. He then advanced against the remains of 
 the .Saxon army, over which he gained a complete and 
 easy victory. King Augustus having retired to Thorn, 
 from whence he escaped into Saxony, was now de- 
 posed in the diet at Warsaw, and the throne of Po- 
 land was in consequence declared vacant. On this 
 occasion, Count Piper, as great a politician as his 
 master was a warrior, advised Charles to place him-' 
 self on the vacant throne, which, with a victorious 
 army of Swedes, and a powerful party among the 
 Poles, he might easily have accomplished. But 
 Charles, more powerfully influenced by romantic ideas 
 of glory, than by maxims of political prudence, de- 
 clared that he had greater pleasure in giving away 
 kingdoms than in conquering them for himself. In 
 pursuance to these notions, he recommended to the 
 Polish diet Stanislaus Leezinski, palatine of Posen, 
 who was elected king by unanimous consent.* 
 
 Augustus being expelled from this kingdom, threw 
 himself into the army of the czar, as the only resource 
 that was left him in his desperate situation. Numerous 
 armies of Russians entering Poland, began to waste, 
 with fire and sword, the lands of all the nobles who 
 
 * Voltaire Hut. de Charles XII liv. .3. 
 
 adhered
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 56l 
 
 adhered to King Stanislaus. But their devastations 
 were not of long continuance. The king of Sweden 
 flew 'from province to province, defeated them in 
 every quarter, and notwithstanding the vast superio- 
 rity of their numbers, after exterminating the greatest 
 part of them, in several bloody engagements, at last 
 forced the shattered remains of their formidable force 
 to retire beyond the Borysthenes.* Having effected 
 the expulsion of the Russians, he resolved to carry the 
 war into the hereditary dominions of Augustus; and 
 directing his course towards Silesia, passed the Oder 
 with about 24,000 men, and entered Saxony. Augus- 
 tus now seeing himself destitute of every means of 
 resistance, was obliged to sue for peace, which he ob- 
 tained on the humiliating condition of renouncing his 
 claims to the crown of Poland, and recognising the 
 title of his rival Stanislaus. These bold and decisive 
 measures, and the rapid success of his arms, had now 
 rendered Charles almost the arbiter of Europe. France 
 and the emperor courted his friendship. Louis XIV, 
 in particular, solicited his alliance, with an ardour pro- 
 portioned to the distressed situation of his affairs, 
 pressed, as he was, by the victorious arms of Eugene 
 and Marl borough ; but the king of Sweden, intent on 
 his design of dethroning the czar, carefully avoided all 
 engagements that might turn his attention from his 
 grand object. 
 
 Here we see the intrepid but romantic monarch of 
 Sweden raised, by a continued train of victories, to the 
 zenith of hi* glory. His subsequent misconduct, and 
 his decisive defeat at Pultowa, where he lost in one 
 day the fruit of nine years of successful war ; and after 
 seeing his veteran army, which spread terror over 
 
 * Voltairt Hist, de Charles XII, ubi lupra. 
 
 vol.. in. C o Europe,
 
 f>2 SWEDEN. 
 
 Europe, totally "an nihflated, was compelled to fly for 
 refuge among the Turks at Bender, are related in 
 treating of Russia. The Fatal consequences of which 
 this defeat was productive to Sweden, in the loss of 
 the provinces on the eastern shores of the Baltic, are 
 also noticed. It will be to no purpose, in this place, 
 to relate the extravagancies of Charles during his re- 
 sidence among the Turks, whose generosity he abused, 
 and whom his imperious behaviour at last compelled 
 to storm his palace at Bender, and keep him confined 
 as a prisoner : all these circumstances are narrated in 
 more detailed accounts.* The effects which the fatal 
 action of Pultowa and the captivity of Charles had on 
 the national affairs, are more within the limits of the 
 present design. During the king's residence of some- 
 what more than five } r ears and four months in Turkey, 
 the Russians, Danes, and Saxons, carried on the war 
 against Sweden, not only with vigour, but also with the 
 most rancorous animosity; and the operations on both 
 sides displayed a continual repetition of retaliated bar- 
 barities. Sweden was harrassed and exhausted, drained 
 of men and money, and without a sovereign, was re- 
 duced to a desperate situation. The regency of Stock- 
 holm determined no longer to consult Charles in re- 
 gard to their proceedings, and requested the Princess 
 Ulrica Eleonora, his sister, to assume the government 
 until his return, and to conclude a peace with Den- 
 mark and Russia. The king, receiving intelligence 
 of this affair, signified to the Turkish vizier his wish to 
 return through Germany into his own dominions ; and 
 the Turks, heartily desirous of getting rid of him, neg- 
 
 * These nre all detailed at large in Voltaire's Hist, of Charles XII, 
 books 5, 6, and 7, as that author assures us, from genuine sources of iufor- 
 mtien. 
 
 lected
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 563 
 
 lected nothing that could forward his departure. He. 
 therefore set out attended by a Turkish convoy, which 
 conducted him to the frontier. The emperor of Ger- 
 many had given orders that the Swedish monarch 
 should he received, in every part of his dominions, 
 with all the respect due to royalty ; but Charles, un- 
 willing to have his progress impeded by pomp and 
 ceremony, chose to travel in disguise, and with only 
 two attendants arrived at Stralsund in Pomerania, on 
 the 2 1st of November, 1714. From this place, not- 
 withstanding the desperate situation of his affairs, he 
 dispatched orders to all his generals to push the war, 
 against Russia, Prussia, Denmark, and Saxony, with 
 redoubled vigour. The king of Sweden, however, was 
 now surrounded by such multitudes of enemies, that 
 all the efforts of valour and conduct might, by a cool 
 observer, have been considered as useless. The Ger- 
 man troops of the elector of Hanover, George I, king 
 of Great Britain, in conjunction with those of Den- 
 mark, invested Wismar. Peter the Great, of Russia, 
 with a fleet in the Baltic of twenty ships of war, with 
 3 JO transports, having on board 30,000 troops, threat- 
 ened a descent upon Sweden, while the king was be- 
 sieged in Stralsund by the combined army of Saxony, 
 Denmark, and Prussia. Charles, however, was not in 
 the least discouraged by these hosts of assailants, and 
 these complicated dangers. In Stralsund he made as 
 obstinate a defence as any recorded in history, against 
 the besieging army of almost 40,000 men, commanded 
 by the kings of Denmark and Prussia, and the gallant 
 prince of Anhalt. When the place was reduced to 
 the last extremity, die king of Sweden fought like a 
 private man among his grenadiers, in two desperate 
 attacks, in the latter of which the besiegers carried 
 3 o 2 the
 
 5f)4 SWEDEN. 
 
 the hornwork by storm, and could scarcely be ilia- 
 suaded by his friends from sustaining the grand as- 
 sault, which was hourly expected. At last, however, 
 he yielded to their arguments on the propriety of 
 leaving a place, which it was impossible any longer to 
 defend, and where he must infallibly be made a pri- 
 soner. He therefore embarked in a small vessel, and 
 passing through the Danish fleet, under favour of the 
 night, landed safely in Sweden. The next day Stral- 
 sund surrendered. 
 
 The remaining three years of Charles's life were a 
 continued series of fatigues and of desperate enterprises, 
 of which the details would here lead to prolixity.* 
 But a new scheme of ambition was susjeested by the 
 
 C/CJ f 
 
 baron de Goertz, which, although Providence happily 
 prevented its execution, is worthy of notice in history. 
 The baron was one of the most artful and enterprising 
 men of his time, endowed with a genius amazingly 
 penetrating and fertile in resources ; and from a eon- 
 geniality of ideas, in the highest degree bold and ro- 
 mantic, had becomv the king of Sweden's particular 
 favorite and confidential minister. To such a king, 
 and such a counsellor, nothing appeared impossible. 
 The project which Goertz had framed was that of 
 concluding a peace with Peter, and of joining the arms 
 of Sweden and Russia in order to place the Pretender 
 on the throne of Great Britain, and to give law to all 
 Europe. Having received full powers from Charles, 
 he entered into negotiations with the heads of the 
 English Jacobites, and the courts of Madrid and Pe- 
 tersburg. A marriage was projected between the Pre- 
 tender and Anna Petrowna, daughter of Peter the 
 
 * The transactions of this prince, after Ins return from Turkey, are de- 
 lailed bj Voltaire Hist, de diaries XII, liv. 8. 
 
 g Great.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 565 
 
 Great, Cardinal Alberoni, the Spanish minister, a 
 great political genius, a man of boundless ambition 
 and of the most enterprising spirit, entered fully into 
 tbe scheme. Conferences were appointed to be held, 
 and every thing seemed to prognosticate the conclu- 
 sion of a treaty, which might have been productive of 
 new convulsions in the political system of Europe. 
 But fortunately for the peace of mankind, the death 
 of the king of Sweden rendered the schemes of all 
 those politicians abortive. Charles had, since his re- 
 turn from Turkey, made two expeditions into Norway, 
 in the latter of which he .commenced the siege of Fre- 
 derickshall, in the month of December, when the cold, 
 in that severe climate, was so intense, that the soldiers 
 frequently fell down dead at thefr posts. The king, 
 in order to animate them by his example, exposed 
 himself to all the rigours of the climate and the dan- 
 
 O 
 
 gers of the siege, as much as the meanest soldier. 
 One night, in viewing the approaches, he was killed 
 by a shot, either from the fortifications, or else from 
 some traitorous hand. Some assert that the ball, 
 which terminated his existence, proceeded from a 
 cannon laden with grape-shot, others that he was shot 
 with a blunderbuss by one of his own officers, and 
 that opinion has been very prevalent among well in- 
 formed persons in Sweden ; but no proofs have ever 
 been produced that could entitle it to historical credi- 
 bility.* The moment that he received the stroke, 
 he had instinctively grasped the hilt of his sword, and 
 was found with his hand in that posture ; but his 
 
 * Voltaire Hist, de Charles XII, liv. R. Mr. Coxe has made a careful 
 enquiry into tliis aflfnir, which has caused so much doubt among the his- 
 torians, Coxe's Trav. vol. 4, ch. 3. He has not, iKwcver, been able to 
 wive the (question. 
 
 2 o a death
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 death was instantaneous, and he expired without a 
 groan. 
 
 The character of Charles XII. has ever excited ad- 
 miration, but displays no qualities that could command 
 esteem or affection. A dauntless intrepidity, which at 
 all times, and on all occasions, excluded every senti- 
 ment of fear ; an unwearied perseverance in enter- 
 prise ; an astonishing firmness of mind under misfor- 
 tune; a decided contempt of danger, and an enthu- 
 siastic love of glory, were its distinguishing features. 
 Qualities like these, united with prudence, would have 
 ranked him with the greatest of heroes ; but his ro- 
 mantic valour and blindness to consequences, r have 
 caused him to be regarded, by some judicious estima- 
 tors of the human character, as little better than an 
 illustrious maniac. Avoiding every extreme of cen- 
 sure, as well as of applause, it may not, however, be 
 amiss to repeat the remark already made, that Charles 
 was, by a powerful combination of enemies, forced to 
 unsheath the sword : his only fault, in this respect, 
 'was that of never being willing to return it to the 
 Scabbard. His romantic obstinacy exhausted the 
 resources of his kingdom, which he left in a miserable 
 state of depopulation and poverty. As to the private 
 character of Charles, it presents no amiable qualities. 
 A stranger to social pleasures, little acquainted with 
 literature, and insensible to the charms of the fair sex ; 
 & Goth in his manners, resentful, unfeeling, inaccessi- 
 ble to sympathy, he was calculated to inspire terror, 
 but not to conciliate love or esteem. 
 
 Happily for mankind, his life was not of long dura- 
 tion. He fell at the age of thirty-six, A.D. 1718, after 
 a reign of twenty-one years, of which eighteen had 
 been spent in the most bloody and ruinous wars. In 
 
 casting
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 5(J? 
 
 casting a retrospective look on those times, it appears 
 astonishing, that a country so poor, and of so small a 
 population as Sweden, could, without any subsidies, 
 without a single ally, support so long a series of hosti- 
 lities against so many and so powerful enemies. The 
 death of Charles was the signal for peace. A cessa- 
 tion of arms almost immediately took place, and the 
 Swedes raised the siege of Frederickshall. The baron 
 de Goertz was impeached by the senate of Sweden, of 
 alienating the affections of the king from his people, 
 and died by the hand of the executioner. And the 
 Swedes elected Ulrica Eleonora, sister to Charles, for 
 their queen, obliging her, however, to renounce all 
 hereditary right to the throne, and imposing on her a 
 variety of restrictions ; which, besides rendering the 
 crown elective, re-established the ancient aristocracy. 
 A peace was, in the next place, concluded; and the 
 provinces on the eastern shores of the Baltic were 
 ceded to Russia. These conditions were humiliating, 
 but imposed by necessity. S\Veden was drained of 
 her men and her money by the ruinous reigri of 
 Charles XII, and being totally eclipsed by the rising 
 splendor of Russia, has never since that disastrous 
 aera had any considerable influence on the politics of 
 Europe. The Swedish history, during the greatest 
 part of the last century, has been uninteresting. The 
 court of France had generally a preponderating influ- 
 ence in the politics of Sweden : afterwards that of 
 Russia gained the ascendancy. The reign of Adol- 
 phus Frederick, who ascended the throne in 1751, 
 ws rendered extremely troublesome by the contend- 
 ing factions, and by the restraints and oppositions 
 which he met with from the senate. He died in 177 I, 
 2 o 4 and
 
 68 SWEDEN. 
 
 and was succeeded by the late king, Gustavus III, a 
 man of extraordinary talents and accomplishments. 
 
 Gustavus III. ascended the throne in the twenty- 
 fifth year of hi* age. He was at Paris at the time of 
 his father's death, and wrote in the most insinuating 
 terms to the senate. An extraordinary diet was called 
 to deliberate on the affairs of the government, to set- 
 tle the terms of accession, and to regulate the form of 
 the coronation oath. The king signed a capitulation, 
 consisting of twenty-four articles, relative to the'admi- 
 nistration of government ; among which was an ex- 
 press clause against any attempt to introduce absolute 
 sovereignty, or any infringement of the aristocratical 
 constitution, as established in 1720. The king, having 
 made solemn declarations to rule according to the es- 
 tablished form of government, and accepted the crown 
 on condition of maintaining the ancient constitution, 
 immediately began to project its overthrow. The 
 enterprise was hazardous; and the king made use of 
 every art to ensure its success. By his dexterous 
 management and insinuating address, his condescend- 
 ing behaviour to all ranks of his subjects, and his ap- 
 parent concern for their welfare, he soon began to be 
 considered as the father of his country, and was idol- 
 ised by the people. Contentions between the differ- 
 ent orders of the states, afforded him not only a pre- 
 text for his project, but also the means of carrying it 
 into execution. Every means having been employed 
 in order to render the people disaffected to the aristo- 
 cratical form of government, the king took the proper 
 measures for bringing a considerable number of the 
 military over to his interests. The scheme being now 
 ripe for execution, Gustavus, in less than an hour, 
 made himself muster of the whole military force of the 
 
 capita],
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. .569 
 
 capital, and placed soldiers at the door of the council 
 chamber, where the senate was assembled. He then 
 seized the arsenal, planted cannon at the palace, the 
 bridges, and all the avenues leading to Stockholm, 
 and completely cut off all communication between 
 the capital and the country. The senators were con- 
 fined in separate apartments of the palace, and the 
 king visited the different quarters of the city in order 
 to receive oaths of fidelity from the municipality 
 and the militia. The next day, 20trf August, J772, 
 the same oaths were tendered to the people, to whom 
 the king addressed a speech, declaring that he 
 abhorred every idea of despotism, and renounced 
 every pretension to absolute sovereignty, esteeming 
 it as, he had ever done, his greatest glory to be the 
 first citizen among a truly free people ; protesting at 
 the same time, that his sole intention in overturning 
 the aristocratic form of government, was to suppress 
 licentiousness, to prevent oppression, and to ensure 
 the tranquillity and happiness of his country. A pro- 
 clamation was then issued, ordering an assembly of 
 the states for the following day. 
 
 The next morning, 21st of August, the palace was 
 invested on all sides with troops, cannon were planted 
 in the court facing the hall, and soldiers stood over 
 them with lighted matches. The states were here 
 assembled by the king's command, and his majesty 
 being seated on his throne, surrounded by his guards 
 and a numerous band of military officers, ordered 
 his secretary to read a new form of government^ which 
 he had framed, and now offered for their acceptance. 
 Heine: surrounded by an armed force, which taught 
 
 O ** O 
 
 them the necessity of compliance, the states signed 
 
 the
 
 57O SWEDEN. 
 
 the new constitutional act, and took the oaths to the 
 king which he himself dictated. His majesty then 
 began to sing Te Deum, in which he was joined by 
 the assembly; but whether all the members were 
 sincere in this act of thanksgiving, may be deemed 
 somewhat problematical. Thus, in the short space of 
 three days, was this extraordinary revolution com- 
 pleted, and the aristocratical constitution of Sweden 
 subverted without opposition or effusion of blood, so 
 well had the king adjusted his measures and taken his 
 precautions. The new form of government which 
 Gustavus established, has been greatly conducive to 
 the good of his people, as the aristocratic body 
 has never since made any struggle to recover its 
 former power. 
 
 The war which Gustavus III. undertook against - 
 Russia, appears to have been the most impolitic mea* 
 sure of his reign. It was certainly a rash attempt of 
 Sweden to attack a colossus like Russia; but the em- 
 barrassed state of that empire, might afford to Gusta- 
 vus some flattering hopes of success. All that is 
 necessary to be said of this war, may be found in 
 another part of this work.* This war was of short 
 duration, and its issue of little importance. 
 
 But Gustavus was about to act on a more conspicu- 
 ous theatre, in taking the supreme command of the 
 combined armies of Europe against the French re- 
 public, when he was assassinated at a masquerade in 
 the opera-house, on the night of the 16th of March, 
 1792, by a villain named Ankerstrom, who gave him 
 a mortal wound with a pistol shot, of which he lan- 
 guished till the 29th of the same month; when he 
 
 * See Historical View of Russia. 
 
 expired
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 57 i 
 
 expired in great agonies in the forty-fifth year of his 
 age, and at the close of the twentieth year of hts 
 reign. Gustavus retained to the last all his mental 
 faculties, and arranged with great foresight and pre- 
 cision, the future government of the kingdom. Several 
 slugs were extracted, but some rusty pieces of iron 
 having penetrated into his body, beyond the reach of 
 chirurgical operation, all hopes of his recovery were 
 soon extinguished. 
 
 Thus fell by the hand of assassination, Gustavus III, 
 a monarch of the most brilliant accomplishments, and 
 the most amiable qualities. Skilled in literature and 
 the arts, and courageous in arms, he seems to have 
 wanted nothing but more extensive means of displav- 
 
 O i */ 
 
 ing hjs talents. Had he been placed at the head of a 
 great and powerful empire, instead of a poor and en- 
 feebled kingdom, he would have obtained a distin- 
 guished rank among the most celebrated characters 
 of ancient and modern times ; and his reign would 
 probably have occupied some of the most splendid 
 pages of history. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, his son, only fourteen years 
 of age, was proclaimed king, and the Duke of Stide- 
 inania his uncle, and brother to the late sovereign, 
 appointed sole regent. The prudent arid conciliatory 
 measures of theregent, as well as of the young king, 
 who is now at age, do the greatest honour to their 
 characters. 
 
 The history of Sweden, when compared with that 
 of some other countries, affords but few opportunities 
 of observing the progress of letters and science, arts 
 and commerce. Amidst the tumults of anarchy, and 
 the darkness of Gothic barbarism, some circumstances 
 of a commercial nature, however, appear, that are 
 
 worthy
 
 572 SWEDEN. 
 
 * 
 
 worthy of observation. Sweden was, in these affairs, 
 much behind Denmark, but' so early as 1455, the 
 * former sent out a merchant ship of 1,000 tons burthen, 
 which was long before either England or France had 
 vessels of so large dimensions.* But commerce could 
 not flourish in a country so rent with factions, and 
 oppressed by foreign tyranny. The reign of Gustavus 
 Vasa,, first gave to trade, as well as to government, 
 vigour and stability. The acquisiti9n of Livonia, in 
 the middle of the sixteenth century, contributed 
 greatly to the increase of the Swedish trade.f But 
 the disasterous reign of Charles XII, in which Sweden 
 Jost all the fertile and commercial countries on the 
 eastern side of the Baltic, containing the cities and 
 ports of Riga, Revel, and Narva, gave the most fatal 
 l)lo\v to her trade, and cast the balance of commerce, 
 as well as of power, wholly in favour of Russia. The 
 age of Charles, and his great antagonist Peter, will 
 ever be memorable in history, as the aera of this great 
 revolution. In the last century some steps were taken 
 for the revival of Swedish commerce. In 1731 the 
 East India Company was established, and in 1740 a 
 lioard of trade and manufactures was erected, which 
 fyas been of considerable advantage to the country .'j; 
 The late king, Gustavus III, also endeavoured by 
 every possible "means, to promote both the trade and 
 ihe agriculture of the kingdom. 
 
 * And. Hist. Com. vol. 1, p. 477. 
 
 t Il/id. vol. 2, p. 115. 
 
 J Ibid. vol. 3, p. 38, 127, 174, 224.
 
 573 
 
 CHAP. IF. 
 
 Present State, Political and Mora! Religion Government Laws 
 Army Navy Revenues Commerce Manufactures Population 
 Political Importance and Relations Language -Literature Polrtc 
 Arts Education Manners and Customs Natioual Character. 
 
 Religion.] 1 HE religion of Sweden is Luther am sin. 
 The Swedish hierarchy is similar to that of England, 
 It consists of one archbishoprick, that of Upal, and 
 thirteen episcopal sees. The parishes are 2,337 in 
 number, the priests about 1378, with 134 vicars, and 
 1<J2 inspectors. 
 
 Constitution.] In the revolution of 1772, Gustavus 
 III. pretended only to restore the ancient limited form 
 of government, as it was regulated by Charles XI, 
 but which had since degenerated into a factious aris- 
 tocracy. But in 1789, an act of union was passed, 
 which converted the constitution into -an absolute 
 monarchy. The king unites in his person all ihe 
 powers of government ; and the diet can deliberate <> 
 no subject but what he chuses to propose. This diet 
 consists of nobles and gentlemen of landed property, 
 clergy, burgesses, and deputies of the peasantry. 
 Each of these four orders has a speaker. Tire arch- 
 bishop of Lpsal is always the speaker of the clerical 
 body; the*king nominates those of the three lay 
 orders. In 178S, the diet consisted of 49 counts, l'>6 
 biirons, 188 knights, S96 gentlemen, .51 ecclesiastics, 
 
 fH bur-
 
 SWEDEN. 
 
 JH burgesses, and lG5 deputies of the peasants.* So 
 numerous a body might oppose a formidable barrier 
 to the power of a monarch whose resources are very 
 small, but his dictatorial authority is supported by the 
 great mass of ihc people, who consider it as necessary 
 for overbearing that of the aristocracy, which is said 
 to consist of about 2,500 families. Many of the most 
 enlightened nobles also seem to regard the absolute 
 power of the sovereign, as the most efficacious means 
 of suppressing the prevalence of faction, as it is 
 evident that the aristocracy of Sweden was formerly 
 verging towards the same point as that of Poland* 
 which has produced so fatal a catastrophe. 
 
 Xtfttx] Although the government of Sweden was 
 rendered by Gustavus HI. as absolute as that of any 
 kingdom in Europe, the king does not exercise any 
 despotic authority. The laws are simple, just, and 
 iiiild, and no marks of tyranny appear.*(- 
 
 Army.'] The military force of Sweden consists of 
 about 36,OOO national troops, and 12,000 foreign in- 
 fantry. The national troops are a kind of militia 
 raised by the holders of crown lands, and are enlisted 
 for life. The holders of those lands are obliged to 
 furnish each soldier, gratuitously, with a cottage and 
 a portion of land, and also to cultivate it for him 
 when absent on service, or embodied for exercise. 
 In supporting cold, fatigue, hunger, and indeed every 
 kind of privation, the Swedish troops are equal to any 
 in the world 1 ; and their determined bravery in battle, 
 stands gloriously recorded in history. No nation of 
 the ancient or modern world, ever carried heroic 
 
 * Olwarus Le Xord littcraire ap. Pinkerton Gcog. vol. 1, p. 529. 530. 
 t Can's Travels" round the Baltic, p. 150. 
 
 valou*
 
 NAVY REVENUE COMMERCE. 575 
 
 valour to a higher pitch than the Swedes under Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus and Charles XII. 
 
 Navy.] In the war with Russia in 1792, the Swedish 
 fleet consisted of thirty ships of the line. At present 
 it is reduced to about half that number. But Sweden, 
 as well as Russia, pays great attention to the equip- 
 ment of gallies of a flat construction, which, as the 
 Baltic is full of shoals, are found more serviceable 
 than ships of larger dimensions. 
 
 Revenue.'] The revenue of Sweden is computed at 
 only l,oOO,000/. sterling, which is equalled by the ex- 
 penditure. The national debt is supposed to be about 
 10,000,000/. sterling.* 
 
 Commerce.'] The commerce of Sweden is far from 
 being important, being chiefly supported by her native 
 productions. The exports are chiefly iron, timber, 
 pitch, tar, hemp, and copper. Herrings have long 
 formed a considerable article, but the fishery is mucli 
 declined.f A considerable part also of the imports 
 from the isle of Bartholomew, in the West Indies, 
 and a still greater proportion of those from China, 
 are re-exported, Sweden affording but a small con- 
 sumption of these articles. J The principal imports, 
 are grain of various kinds, especially rye, Sweden 
 rarely producing a quantity sufficient for her own coa- 
 cumption. To these may be added tobacco, sugar, 
 coffee, silks, wines, See. According to Mr. Coxe's 
 estimates of Swedish commerce, at the time of hi? 
 calculation, the exports amounted to J,3G8,830/., and 
 the imports to 1 ,003,S9CJ/. If this statement approach 
 
 * Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 158. Pinkertor.'s Geog, vol. 1, 
 p. 531. 
 
 t Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 174 
 J And. Hist. Cora. vol. 5, p. 174. 
 
 any
 
 any thing near to truth, the whole commerce of the 1 
 kingdom of Sweden is not equal to half of that of 
 the single port of Petersburg.* 
 
 The scarcity of specie in Sweden is almost incredi- 
 ble. Gold and silver are scarcely ever to be seen, and 
 even the heavy copper coins have almost disappeared, 
 being supplanted by bank notes, some of which are 
 for very diminutive sums. The public debt being 
 mostly incurred at Hamburg, scarcely any kind of 
 currency is seen but the paper money of that city. 
 
 Manufactures.'] The Swedish manufactures are not 
 numerous. Those of iron and steel are the most con- 
 siderable. The manufactures of copper and brass, 
 and the building of ships, Likewise employ a great 
 number of hands. There are some also of cloth, hats, 
 watches, and sail-cloth; and in \7S5 it was supposed 
 that 14,000 persons were employed in those of wool, 
 silk, and cotton. 
 
 Population.'] The population of Sweden is ex- 
 tremely small when compared with its ample extent; 
 a circumstance arising from the mountainous surface 
 
 O 
 
 and barren soil of the country, together with the 
 severity of the climate in tfoe northern districts, 
 Swedish Lapland being supposed not to contain above 
 700O inhabitants-^ To these physical disadvantages 
 may be added the low state of trade and manufactures, 
 which do not, as in some countries, obviate the incon- 
 veniencies of sterility, by affording employment to 
 the inhabitants, and drawing supplies from abroad. 
 Sweden may here be contrasted with Holland, or even 
 with some of the manufacturing parts of Yorkshire, 
 wTiich, affording only scanty supplies of native pro- 
 
 * Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. 1, p. 456. 
 t Pink. Geog. vol. 1, p. 530.
 
 POLITICAL IMPORTANCE AND KELATIONS, &C. 577 
 
 dace, are crowded with numerous inhabitants. The 
 whole population of Sweden does not much exceed 
 3,000,000 ; but a late traveller says, that it is rapidly 
 increasing. 
 
 Political importance and relations."] The political 
 importance of Sweden, so conspicuous during the 
 glorious reign of Gustavus Adolphus, and his daughter 
 Christina, and even till the inauspicious accession of 
 Charles XII, is not at this time of much consequence. 
 The contest which she has for some time maintained 
 against Russia, whatever may be its result, has, how- 
 ever, imparted to her some weight in the scale of 
 European politics. 
 
 Language.] The language of Sweden is a dialect 
 of the Gothic, and nearly allied to the Danish, Nor- 
 wegian, and Icelandic. In the northern parts the 
 Finnish and Laplandic dialects pre.vail, both of which 
 are rude and barbarous. In proportion, however, as 
 civilization advances, the Swedish language gains 
 ground in Finland, but in Lapland it has made very 
 little, if any progress. 
 
 Literature and Sciences.'] Swedish literature cannot 
 boa>t of its antiquity ; the most ancient native chroni- 
 cle, and perhaps the first literary composition of this 
 country, being not more ancient than the fourteenth 
 century. The literature of Sweden, indeed, can hardly 
 be said to have dawned before the middle of the seven- 
 teenth century, when Queen Christina, the celebrated 
 daughter and successor of the great Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, invited Grotius, Descartes, and other distin- 
 guished men of letters and science into the country, 
 who sowed the seeds of learning. These gradually 
 began to prosper under the wise and beneficent reign 
 of Charles XI, and grew to greater maturity in the 
 VL, in. 2 P last
 
 57S SWliDEN. 
 
 last century, when the name of Linnaeus alone, would 
 have immortalized the literature of his country. With 
 him many other illustrious names may be joined, in 
 the various departments of natuial history. Sweden 
 also boasts of native orators and poets, as well as his- 
 torians, but not of many distinguished artists, the fine 
 arts having been slow in their progress towards the 
 north. The reign of the late king, Gustavus III, was 
 the Augustan age of Sweden. The institution of 
 numerous academies now promotes the interest of 
 science and literature. 
 
 Education."] Sweden boasts of three universities, of 
 which Upsal, the most ancient and famous, has already 
 been mentioned.* The others are Lunden and Abo 
 in Finland. This kingdom has also twelve literary 
 academies, most of which publish memoirs of their 
 transactions. But universities and academies are of 
 less importance than a general system of popular in- 
 struction ; and this great business appears to have been 
 less neglected in Sweden, than in most other coun- 
 . tries of Europe. A late traveller informs us, that in 
 consequence of having in almost every parish a school, 
 almost every peasant in Sweden can .read.-f* It would 
 be well if the same could be said of England and 
 most other countries, where many thousands are in- 
 capable of reading the inscriptions on guide posts and 
 milestones. 
 
 Persons, manners, and customs,] The Swedes of all 
 rank*, have in general a graceful appearance. The 
 men are robust, and both sexes well formed. The 
 ladies are in general en bon point, and have a trans- 
 
 * Vide description of Upsal, ch. 2, Sweden. 
 
 t Carr'* Travels round the Baltic, p. 177. ThLi, however, b quite 
 diJFereut from what PinkerUw advances. CJeog. vol. 1, p. 503. 
 
 parent
 
 PERSONS, MANNERS, AND CUSTOMS. 579 
 
 parent delicacy of complexion.* It is, however, to 
 be observed, that in this country the native com- 
 plexion is more diversified than in most other northern 
 climates, where it is generally fair; but in some parts 
 of Sweden it is very brown. This, however, is chiefly 
 to be observed among the lower sort of people. In 
 regard to their manners, those of the superior classes, 
 in consequence of their former connections with 
 France, may be reckoned entirely French. The 
 Swedish- nobility and gentry of both sexes, are, for 
 the most part, well educated and highly accomplished, 
 many of them speaking English, French, and Ger- 
 man with fluency.-f An attachment to luxury is ob- 
 servable among the opulent Swedes; and all ranks, 
 in proportion to'their circumstances, display a gener- 
 ous hospitality. The peasants are industrious and 
 frugal, and live in the plainest manner. They gener- 
 ally make their own cloths and furniture, trade and 
 manufactures having made but little progress. They 
 bake only once or twice in the year, and their bread, 
 which is made into thin cakes, consists of rye or oats, 
 with which the bark of the larch tree is sometimes 
 intermixed.;}; The manners of the Finlanders are now 
 assimilated to those of the Swedes; but the Laplanders 
 still retain their ancient peculiarities. The Dalecar- 
 lians in the west of Sweden, are not less remarkable 
 for their strength, agility, and manly form, than for 
 the honest simplicity of their manners. Their dress is 
 always of coarse cloth, gray or black. Their houses 
 have a hole in the top, which serves for a window, 
 and like all those of Sweden, are warmed by a stove. 
 
 * Carr's Travels lound the Bailie, p. 148. t Ibid. 
 
 | Ibid. p. 115. 
 
 f Cvxe's Trav. vl. 5, p. 19, Carr's Travels round the Baltic, p. 1$G. 
 
 a P 2 Their
 
 580 SWEDEN. 
 
 Their courage and loyalty are rendered famous in 
 history, by the part which they took with Gustavus 
 Vasa iu liberating the country from the yoke of Den- 
 mark. The Swedish peasantry, in general, have a 
 great deal of vivacity and address. 
 
 National character."] The national character of the 
 Swedes, does not, in general, display any striking 
 peculiarities. Hone&ty, courage, and generosity, 
 seem to be its most prominent features. 
 
 EUROPEAN
 
 . 581 
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA, 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Situation Extent Boundaries Face of the Country Mountains 
 Rivers Canals Lakes Mineralogy Mineral Waters Soil Cli- 
 mate Vegetable Productions Zoology Natural Curiosities Anti- 
 quities and artificial Curiosities. 
 
 L HIS large division of Europe, comprehending the 
 annexed provinces of Poland, extends from about 
 14 to 66 east longitude, and from about 44 north 
 latitude to the shores of the Frozen Ocean, where its 
 extreme parallel is not yet ascertained. Its greatest 
 .length being about 1,600, and its greatest breadth 
 above 1,000 British miles. About 1,200,000 square 
 miles may be taken as a rough estimate of its area. 
 The whole Russian empire extending over the north 
 of Asia, comprehends the largest space of territory 
 that has ever been united under one political system. 
 The Asiatic part will be spoken of in its proper 
 place ; our observations shall here be confined to Euro- 
 pean Russia. 
 
 Face of the country.'] The face of the country is 
 much less varied than might be expected in so wide a 
 space. Its principal feature consists in vast plains. 
 There arc some elevated level tracts of a great extent, 
 which modern geographers designate by the name ot 
 2 r 3 steppes.
 
 58'2 EUKOTEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 sreppes. These are chiefly met with in the- interior 
 and southern provinces. One of these elevated cham- 
 paign tracts, which lies above the seaofAsoph, ex- 
 tends near 400 English miles. 
 
 Mountains.] From this general sketch,- it will rea- 
 dily appear, that the -mountains constitute no striking 
 feature in the geography of Russia. There are some, 
 however, in the northern and eastern parts, which 
 deserve to be noticed. The principal are the great 
 Uralian chain, forming a marked boundary between 
 Europe and Asia. This immense range of mountains, 
 extends from the 50th to nearly the 6?th degree of 
 north latitude, a length of above 1,400 British miles, when 
 the winding obliquities are taken into the account. Their 
 elevation, however, when compared with the Alps, 
 the Pyren6es, &c. are inconsiderable, as Pauda, one 
 of the highest of the chain is, according to M. Gine-. 
 I'm, no more than 4,500 feet above the level of the 
 sea. The Uralian mountains are rich in metals, and 
 adorned with woods, chiefly of pine, fir, birch, cedar, 
 larch, &c. ; the south-west sides display a few oaks,, 
 elms, and lindens. The mountains of Olonetz, in 
 northern Russia, $un in a direction nearly north, the 
 "length of more than 1,000 English miles; they are of 
 no great height, but from the northern situation, the 
 arctic part of the chain is covered with perpetual 
 snow. A considerable part of the tract, which lies 
 between Petersburg and Moscow, is an elevated 
 ground, by some called the mountains of Valday, from 
 the town and lake of Valday, situated nearly on the 
 ridge, but nothhi^ like a mountain- appears. It is 
 only a high table land, with large sand hills, inter- 
 spersed with masse.; of red and grey granite. Near 
 Vaklay js the highest part of the ridge, stretching 
 
 from
 
 RIVERS. 583 
 
 from between the lakes Ladoga and Onega in a north- 
 east and south-west direction. The country about 
 Valday is extremely pleasant, " Fine slow rising hills/' 
 says Mr. Tooke, " a charming pellucid lake, with an 
 island, on which stands a noble monastery, delightful 
 groves, an extensive scenery, form the most inviting 
 variety."* This elevated tract is not much encum- 
 bered with forests, but consists chiefly of beautiful 
 pastures and fields, and grazing is here carried on to 
 advantage. The soil in the valleys is generally fertile, 
 and the whole can only be considered as an open 
 champaign country, the highest elevation being not 
 more than 200 fathoms above the level of Petersburg. 
 This tract, however, is that which sends forth the 
 great rivers Dwina, Nieper, and Volga : and from its 
 inconsiderable elevation, an idea may be formed of 
 the gentle fall of these rivers, as the course of the 
 Volga is reckoned not less than 1,700 miles. The 
 mountains of Taurida, or Crimea, running in a chain 
 along the coast of the Euxine, are of only a moderate 
 height, and scantily adorned with forests; but their 
 vallies are fertile and beautiful, and the trees are of 
 the richest foliaget In the northern parts, especially 
 in Russian Lapland, there are ranges of mountains, 
 some of which stretch towards the lakes of Ladoga 
 and Onega, but none of those are of any considerable 
 height. 
 
 Rivers.'] The rivers of this extensive country arc 
 numerous ; the chief of these is the majestic Volga, 
 which forms, through a considerable part of its course, 
 the boundary between Europe and Asia. This largest 
 
 * Russian Empire, vol. 1, p. 101. 
 
 t For a particular account of these mountains, tee Toote's View oflhc 
 Empire, vol. 1, p. 84 to 106J 
 
 '2 l> 4 /
 
 584 EUROPEAN HUSS1A. 
 
 of the European rivers, derives its sources from the 
 lakes of Valday, in the government of Tweer, be- 
 tween Petersburg and Moscow. Its course is con- 
 fined to Europe, till it reaches Taritzin, where it turns 
 south-east into Asia. It receives a number of tribu- 
 tary streams from the east and the west, among which 
 the chief is the Kbuma, a large river deriving its 
 
 waters from the Uralian mountains. The Volaa 
 
 o 
 
 running through a level country, having no cataracts 
 and few shoals, is navigable even to Tweer. It dis- 
 charges itself by several mouths into the Caspian sea, 
 below Astrachan. 
 
 The Don, or Tanais, rises from a lake in the go- 
 vernment of Tulan, and after a course of about 800 
 miles, falls into the Sea of Asoph. The Nieper, or 
 ancient Borysthenes, rises in the government of 
 Smolensk, about 150 miles south of the source of the 
 Volga, and after a course of about 1000 miles falls by 
 a wide sestuary into the Euxine. Those conversant in 
 classical literature are not ignorant that this river, 
 watering the country to which Ovid was banished, is 
 celebrated in his mournful elegies. The Bog, or 
 ancient Hypanis, falls into the sestuary of the Nieper. 
 The Neister, or ancient Tyras, now forming the 
 boundary between Russia and European Turkey, de- 
 rives its source from the north side of the Carpathian 
 mountains, and fulls into the Euxine at Akerman, 
 after a course of about 6()0 miles. 
 
 Among the rivers which direct their course to the 
 Arctic Ocean, may be mentioned the Dwina, which 
 passing by Archangel, falls into the White Sea, and 
 the Cara, an inconsiderable stream, but remarkable as 
 forming, for the space of 140 miles, the boundary be- 
 Europe aud Asia, from the termination of the Uralian 
 
 mountains
 
 , CANALS. 
 
 mountains t the sea of Cara-skoi. Several rivers also 
 discharge themselves into the Finnish Gulph and the 
 Baltic Sea; of these the principal is the Neva: it 
 takes its rise from the lakes of Onega and Ladoga, 
 which are joined together by the Svir. The Neva> 
 which pervades the city of Petersburg, is only about 
 forty miles in length, from the lake of Ladoga to the 
 Gulph of Finland; but its breadth and depth are 
 considerable, and it is very subject to great floods. 
 The Narva, on which stands the city of Narva, and 
 the Dvvina, which waters Riga, fall, the former into the 
 Xrulph of Finland, and the latter into the Baltic. 
 
 Canals.'] The canals of this empire are of great 
 importance. Peter the Great projected several grand 
 schemes for inland navigation. The sudden and dan- 
 gerous storms, to which the lake of Ladoga is so liable, 
 induced him to cut a canal along its margin, extending 
 about sixty-seven miles, from the river Volkov to the 
 Neva. A canal also leads from Moscow to the Don, 
 opening a communication with the Euxine. Peter 
 formed the grand design of establising an intercourse 
 between Petersburg and Persia, by the lake of Novo- 
 gorod, the Mesta, the Volga, &,c. but the ignorance 
 of the engineers, together with some other causes, oc- 
 casioned its failure. During the reign of Catharine II. 
 several canals were made or improved, and the inland 
 navigation of the empire owes much to her admini- 
 stration. The celebrated canal of Vishnei Voloshok 
 was nearly brought to perfection by Peter, and it was 
 only needful to join the Twertza with the Sheksna to 
 complete the communication between Petersburg and 
 Astrachan. 
 
 The navigation requires for its performance a fort- 
 night, three weeks, or a month, according to the sea- 
 son
 
 586 EtfRO?EArf BUS5IA* 
 
 son of the year, and near 4000 vessels are supposed 
 annually to pass this way.* With the single excep- 
 tion of the communication between Canton and 
 Pekin, this, through the interior of Russia,- is un- 
 questionably the m*st extensive inland navigation in 
 the world.f Mr. Coxe has given a detailed account 
 of this inland navigation of Russia, from actual ob- 
 servation, as he examined on the spot the junction 
 canal of Vishnei Voloshok. 
 
 Lakes.] Russia contains several lakes, some of 
 which are of considerable extent. The principal are 
 in the north-western part. Among these must be 
 reckoned the lake of Imandra, in Russian Lapland, 
 and likewise that of Onega, which is 150 miles in 
 length and about thirty of medial breadth. That of 
 Ladoga, being 150 miles long and about seventy broad, 
 is one of the largest in Europe. The fishery of this lake 
 seems to be of little importance ; but its northern 
 shores furnish a beautiful kind of marble, greatly 
 esteemed at Petersburg. Several other lakes might 
 be enumerated, as that of Ilmen, near which stands the 
 ancient ciry of Novogorod, and that of Peipus, the 
 source of the river Narova, or Narva. This lake con- 
 tains an island with three villages, and abounds with 
 fish. The lake Seliger, in the government of Tweer, 
 though narrrow, extends about thirty miles in length, 
 and emits one of the branches of the Volga, another 
 of which issues from a smaller piece of water in the, 
 same neighbourhood. 
 
 There are also a great number of morasses, some of 
 which are very extensive. According to Pallas the 
 northern coast presents an immense swamp, of several 
 
 * Philip's Hist. Inland Nav. p. 19. 
 t Travels in Rusiia, &c. vol. 3, ch. 7. 
 
 hundred
 
 MINERALOGY MINERAL WATERS SOIL. 08? 
 
 hundred versts in width, wholly grown over with moss, 
 destitute of wood, and almost perpetually frozen, being 
 thawed in summer to only a very small depth.* 
 
 Mineralogy.] The principal mines being in the 
 Asiatic part or the empire, will be noticed under that 
 article. There are, however, some in the European 
 part. Among the privileges which the English ob- 
 tained under I wan Basilowitz, was that of working the 
 iron mines, under the condition of instructing the 
 "Russians in metallurgy; and mines have long been 
 wrought about sixty miles from Moscow. Peter the 
 Great instituted a college of mines in 1?!9, and may 
 be regarded as the father of the Russian mineralogy. 
 The principal mines in the European division of the 
 empire, are those of the mountains of Olonetz. la 
 1739, gold was discovered in that chain, and mines 
 were opened ; but the quantity which they yielded of 
 that metal was so small, as scarcely to defray the ex- 
 pences of working. 
 
 Mineral waters.] European Russia appears to con- 
 tain few mineral waters, nor will they, perhaps, ever 
 be much sought for, the warm baths so general 
 throughout the country, rendering them in a great 
 measure unnecessary. Those which have been dis- 
 covered are for the most part strongly impregnated 
 with iron, especially the chalybeate springs of Buigova, 
 in the district of Olonetz, and those of Sarepta, near 
 the Volga. In some parts of Taurida, particularly 
 near Perecop, and in the island of Timan, there are 
 springs of JNaphta. 
 
 So//.]- The soil of a country so extensive must 
 necessarily be various; and every attempt to describe 
 its varieties from the mossy swamps which border the 
 
 * Profess. 1'allas's Travels, vol. 3, 
 
 Frozen
 
 588 EUROPEAN KUSSIA. 
 
 Frozen Ocean to the fertile plains of the Don and the 
 Volga, would be vain mid useless. It may, however, 
 be remarked, that the northern parts in general pre- 
 sent a dreary picture of sterility ; the middle provinces 
 have a muc"h better soil, as well as a more genial 
 climate j and th southern parts display the greatest 
 fertility. Between the Don and the Volga, from 
 Voronez to Simbirsk, the soil, consisting of a black 
 mould, strongly impregnated with salt-petre, is ex- 
 tremely fertile, producing the most luxuriant vegeta- 
 tion. Perhaps the frequent burning of the grass stiH 
 practised by the Tartars, as well as the savages of 
 South America, and, perhaps, by all nations in the 
 first stages of the pastoral life, may have produced 
 this rich black soil, found not only in Russia, but in 
 several other countries. 
 
 Climate.'] European Russia extending from, the 
 Arctic Ocean to the Euxine, presents all the varieties 
 of climate that can be found between Lapland and 
 Italy. The climate of Petersburg, as well as its situa- 
 tion, is unpleasant. Winter, even here, maintains the 
 chief sway ; and the Neva is frozen from October or 
 November till March or April. The cold is very 
 severe in winter, and in summer the heat is excessive. 
 Violent storms are frequent, seldom fewer than twelve, 
 but sometimes more than sixty happening in the space 
 of a year, and when these come from the south-west 
 they cause great inundations by the overflowing of 
 the Neva.* At Moscow the summer heats of June 
 and July are oppressive, and the nights are chill. The 
 winter, which sets in about the middle of November, 
 and often earlier, and lasts till the end of March, is 
 severe, and attended with copious falls of snow ; but 
 
 * Storch' Pict. Petersburg, vol. 5. 
 
 tbe
 
 VEGETABLE PRODUCTIONS. 539 
 
 the atmosphere is dry, pure, and elastic, and the air 
 extremely salubrious.* In the southern parts, the 
 summer heats continue much longer; but the winters, 
 
 O ' ' 
 
 though short, are somewhat severe. In almost every 
 part of Russia, except on the borders of the Gulph of 
 Finland, on the banks of the Volga, towards the 
 shores of the Caspian, and near the mouths of the 
 rivers which fall into the Euxine, the climate is dry 
 and healthful. But throughout the whole empire, the 
 summer and winter verge towards the extremes of 
 heat and cold. From some decrees to the south of 
 
 O 
 
 Moscow, all northern Russia has only two seasons, the 
 transition from, winter to summer, and again from 
 summer to winter, being so sudden that spring and 
 autumn are unknown. f 
 
 Vegetable productions.'] In the vast extent of terri- 
 tory, which European Russia comprehends, consisting 
 of so great a variety of soil, and stretching through 
 all the climates from the shores of the Arctic Ocean 
 to the genial latitudes of the southern departments of 
 France, and the northern parts of Italy, we must neces- 
 sarily expect to meet with all the different productions 
 that distinguish so many different situations.^ Cora 
 and pasturage are the general features of Russian 
 farming, and of the former all kinds are produced. 
 In the northern parts, rye is chiefly cultivated ; in the 
 middle and southern regions, great quantities of wheat 
 are produced. Taurida produces some maize; and 
 the olive prospers in the southern mountains along 
 the shores of the Euxine, although it has not sue- 
 
 * 
 
 * Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 419. t Ibid, rol. , p. 449. 
 
 } Mr. Coxe remarks the uncommon quantity of mushrooms in the 
 northern parts of Kassia between Moscow ui;J Pter*biirg. Trav. vol. 2, 
 p^ 0*. 
 
 ceeded
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 ceeded in the vicinity of Astrachan. The culture of 
 the vine has also been attempted in the south, and 
 with proper management will undoubtedly succeed* 
 especially in Taurida. Barley is a general produce ; 
 and hemp and flax constitute an important object of 
 Russian agriculture. Tobacco has lately been culti- 
 vated, but potatoes are imaccountbly neglected. Iti 
 the middle and southern parts are large orchards. 
 Apples and pears are found as far north as 49". 
 Cherries and plumbs extend as far as 55. The 
 Kirifskoi apple, which is of an agreeable flavour, and 
 will keep a long time, often grows to the weight of 
 three and sometimes of four pounds. Great quantities 
 of fruit, however, are still imported. Russia is capable 
 of producing an immense quantity of all things neces- 
 sary to man ; sufficient, indeed, for three times the 
 number of its present inhabitants, who are, indeed, 
 three times too few for its cultivation. It is, there- 
 fore, no wonder that agriculture should be considera- 
 bly neglected. Want of population and the existence 
 of vassalage are the bane of Russian prosperity. 
 
 Zoology."] The animal as well as the vegetable pro- 
 ductions of this vast region* are so various that only a 
 slight sketch can here be attempted. Those of the 
 central, and in a great measure also of the southern 
 parts, are common to the rest of Europe. Among 
 those which have met with the greatest attention is 
 the horse ; and the breed is, in many parts of the em- 
 pire, much improved. The Tartarian horses have long 
 been celebrated for their beauty and spirit, and in 
 Taurida they have been much improved by the intro- 
 duction of Turkish and Arabian stallions. Elegant 
 saddle horses, however, are far from being plentiful in 
 Russia, aud great numbers are annually imported at 
 
 Petersburg.
 
 NATURAL CURIOSITIES. 591 
 
 Petersburg. Near Archangel is a breed of poneys, 
 not unlike those of Scotland. 
 
 The sheep in the northern parts are of a middle 
 size, many of them rather small, with coarse wool. 
 Those of the south are much superior, and their wool 
 much finer ; but the best is produced in Kazan, and 
 other eastern provinces of European Russia. The 
 islands of Oesel and Dagho have an excellent breed 
 with fine wool ; but Taurida is the principal sheep 
 country. It is said that many of the common Tartars 
 of that province keep 1000 sheep ; while the opulent 
 proprietors have very numerous flocks. The whole 
 number in the peninsula is computed at 7,000,000: 
 the mutton is excellent ; but the wool is coarse. 
 Throughout the whole empire, a great deal of excel- 
 lent pasture is found ; and cattle, in general, are in 
 tolerable plenty. Goats and swine every where 
 abound. Of wild animals the wolf, the lynx, and the 
 elk are found in the northern parts, and among those 
 of a more peculiar kind may be reckoned the sea-bear 
 of Nova Zembla. It is said that the camel is not un- 
 known in some of the southern parts. 
 
 Natural curiosities.] The greatest natural curiosities 
 of Russia are those which indicate the \severity of its 
 climate. Such was that singular production of nature 
 and art combined, the palace of ice, built by the Em- 
 press Anne on the banks of the Neva in 1740, which 
 when illuminated had a surprising effect. And the 
 mountains which float in the Frozen Ocean may be 
 ranked among the most wonderful works of nature. 
 Some of these are many miles in length and breadth, 
 and of an astonishing height, being formed by the 
 aggregation of vast fields of ice forcing themselves 
 one under another, and thus raising the immense mass 
 
 higher
 
 392 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 higher out of the water, where it receives an addi- 
 tional increase from the successive falls of snow. 
 Some of these floating mountains are 400 or 500 
 yards in height, resembling vast cathedrals, adorned 
 with pinnacles, 8cc. presenting a thousand fantastic 
 shapes, and reflecting a thousand colours from the 
 rays of the sun, or the aurora borealis. 
 
 Among the natural curiosities of Russia may also 
 be numbered the mineralization of roots of trees, and 
 other vegetables, on the mountains which abound in 
 iron mines. In some places even the soil is changed 
 into ferruginous earth. 
 
 Antiquities and artificial curiosities.'] Russia does not 
 offer many things that can properly come under the 
 head of artificial curiosities, and her antiquities cannot 
 be supposed to afford any thing peculiarly magnificent 
 or striking. The chief are the catacombs of Kiof, in 
 the Ukraine, which are subterraneous labyrinths of a 
 vast extent, excavated through a mass of hard clay ; 
 but whether they be of Christian or Pagan origin, or 
 whether they have been places of royal or popular 
 sepulture, cannot be well ascertained.* 
 
 * For an accurate account of the catacombs of Kiof, tide Dissertation* 
 lut lei AHti<juit6s de la Rustle, 1795. 
 
 UUP.
 
 593 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Principal Cities and Towns Edifices Islands. 
 
 Moscow.'] IN a view of the Russian cities, Moscow, 
 the ancient metropolis of the empire, challenges the 
 first attention. It is situated on two rivers, the Yausa 
 and the Moskva, neither of which is considerable ; 
 but the latter has in the spring a sufficient depth of 
 water to bring tip large barks. Over these rivers are 
 twenty-three bridges, which keep up the communica- 
 tion between the different parts of the town. Moscow 
 was anciently divided into five principal districts, the 
 Kreml, Kitaigorod, Bielgorod, Zemlenoigorod, and the 
 Slobodes. The Kreml or Kremlin seems to have been 
 the original and most ancient part of Moscow; the 
 name is Tartarian, and signifies a fortress. It is parted 
 from the Kitaigorod by a semicircular rampart and 
 fosse. The Kreml occupies the centre of this im- 
 mense city, upon a considerable elevation, on the 
 bank of the Moskva, and commands a prospect that 
 can scarcely be paralleled. The meandering course 
 of the river beneath, carts and carriages of all sorts 
 incessantly passing over its bridges, Gothic monas- 
 teries, with their gilded turrets, on charming eleva- 
 tions, decorating both its banks, diversify and em- 
 bellish the picture, while magnificent palaces, worthy 
 of adorning Florence or Rome, interspersed with 
 
 ?OL. in. 2 o, miserable
 
 5<H 
 
 miserable huls, that would disgrace a British village, 
 form a contrast which distinguishes Moscow from all 
 the other great cities of modern Europe. Here stands 
 the ancient palace of the czars, the birth place and 
 long the residence of the immortal Peter. It is 
 spacious and built in the Gothic style, and has nothing 
 majestic or imposing in its appearance. The Kreml 
 also contains two large monasteries, and thirty-two 
 churches, all of which have a number of steeples near 
 them, with gilt or silveredx'upulas and crosses. Among 
 these the Belfry, called Ivan Veliki, reckoned the 
 highest turret in Moscow, is the most conspicuous. 
 It was built in the reign of Boris Godunof. In this 
 Belfry lies the largest bell in the world, which was 
 cast by order of the Empress Anne, and weighs 
 12,000 poods. Its fall was occasioned by a fire which 
 happened in the yx?ar 1737, and it has not since been 
 hung. Among the churches of the Kreml, are seven 
 which, by way cf eminence, are called sobores, or 
 cathedrals. Of these the Uspenskoi, or Church of the 
 Ascension, where the sovereigns of Russia are crowned, 
 is the richest in the whole empire, in gold and silver 
 decorations, and the sacerdotal vestments here pre- 
 served are of astonishing magnificence. Here is also 
 the famous chandelier presented to Boris Godunof by 
 the Venetians. It weighs 2800 pounds, and is a curious 
 piece of workmanship. Among the curiosities of this 
 magnificent temple, are the monuments of the patri- 
 archs, and the portrait of the Holy Virgin, painted as 
 it is said by St. Luke, the Evangelist. Indeed it bears 
 every mark of high antiquity.* Two other superb 
 structures adorn the Kreml : one of these is the senate 
 
 * Tooke'i Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 374.
 
 MOSCOW* 595 
 
 house, a grand work of Catherine II. in a magnificent 
 modern style : the other, which is opposite, is the 
 arsenal, a compact and solid edifice. 
 
 The imperial palace of the Kreml was originally 
 built of timber, by Prince Daniel Alexandrovitch, 
 A.D. 1SOO. In l.,67, Dmitri Ivanovitcb Donski re- 
 constructed it of stone. The present structure is 
 the work of Italian architects, who, in 1488, were em- 
 ployed by Ivan Vassillievitch to enlarge the palace 
 and give it the form in which it now appears. 
 
 The next division of Moscow, called Kitaigorod, 
 winds in a semicircular form round the Kreml. The 
 origin of the appellation is uncertain ; but its literal 
 signification implies the Chinese City : as the trade 
 with China was formerly very flourishing, probably 
 this was the quarter in which the commodities of that 
 country were chiefly sold. It is surrounded by a wall 
 and a ditch, and has four gates by which it communi- 
 cates with the other districts. Kitaigorod consists 
 
 O 
 
 almost entirely of shops and warehouses, amounting 
 in number to 4,021 of brick, and 54 of wood ; and the 
 whole has the appearance of a perpetual fair.* 
 
 In Kitaigorod are several public buildings ; of which 
 the most remarkable is the Zaikonospaskoi monastery, 
 in which is an academy for the Slavonian, Greek, and 
 Latin languages; an institution destined to the educa- 
 tion of persons designed for the church. Here is also 
 the palace of Count Sheremetof, and two of those 
 large churches called cathedrals. 
 
 Bielgorod, the third division of Moscow, embraces 
 the Kitaigorod in a semicircular form, and was for- 
 merly surrounded by a wall, which being now taken 
 down, its place is occupied by a canal ; and an alley 
 
 * Tooke'* Hist Russia, vol. 2, p. 3i2, 
 
 2 O, Of
 
 EUROPEAN RtSStA. 
 
 of birch and Linden trees, and affords an agreeable 
 promenade. In this division are a number of monas- 
 teries and nunneries, with seventy-two churches, be- 
 sides a new erected Armenian church. Here is also 
 the university of Moscow, founded by the Empress 
 Elizabeth in 1755, and two large gymnasia, or schools.* 
 This division also contains the house of the nobility 
 club, in which is a magnificent hall, capable of con- 
 taining 2,000 persons. Here is also the theatre, in 
 the galleries and halls of which, masquerades are fre- 
 quently given. In this quarter is the bird fair, in 
 which are sold singing-birds, and all sorts of domestic 
 animals. This trade is more considerable than a 
 stranger would conceive ; for in no place, perhaps, in 
 the world, are there so many fanciers of this kind as in 
 Moscow. Nightingales, quails, doves, and dogs, are 
 frequently sold at incredible prices. The lowest price 
 of a canary-bird is five roubles, nearly I/, sterling; but 
 when they are well taught, they are frequently sold as 
 high as 50 or 100 roubles, or from. Ql. or 10/. to 18/. or 
 20/. sterling. The division of Bielgorod contains 378 
 shops. 
 
 The Zemlenoigorod, and the Slobodes encircle the 
 quarters above mentioned. Here massy and elegant 
 structures are intermixed with wooden houses 
 and wretched hovels. The slobodes, or suburbs, are 
 encompassed by a wall, which also encloses a number 
 of waste and empty spaces, probably left for the fu- 
 ture enlargement of the city ; and indeed the number 
 of houses augments so rapidly, that several of these 
 unoccupied places have, within no long period of 
 time, been converted into populous streets. The cli- 
 mate of Moscow, in 55, 12' north latitude, is extremely 
 * Air. Tooke ipeaks highly of the university, vol. t, p, 396, 397. 
 
 salubrious.
 
 MOSCOW. 597 
 
 salubrious. The situation is elevated, and the soil dry, 
 except in some parts near the Neglinnaiya and the 
 Yausa. The atmosphere is generally clear and bright, 
 the weather regular and wholesome, and in winter re- 
 markably settled. The streets of Moscow are broad, 
 the squares spacious, and, in many parts, are exten- 
 sive gardens; so that it bears a strong resemblance to 
 the Oriental cities. The houses mostly consist of only 
 one story; and not being contiguous, but separated 
 by interstices, the air and the sun diffuse their benign 
 influence, with nearly as little impediment, as in the 
 open country ; and noxious vapours cannot stagnate. 
 This renders the place extremely healthful ; and Mr. 
 Tooke remarks the strong and nervous structure of 
 the native inhabitants. 
 
 The whole circuit of the imperial city of Moscow is 
 about twenty-six English miles. Its population it is dif- 
 ficult to ascertain, as it varies exceedingly at different 
 seasons of the year. " In winter," says Mr. Tooke, 
 " when the numerous nobility with their hosts of re- 
 tainers flock to the metropolis, the number of the in- 
 habitants amounts to upwards of 300,000; whereas in 
 summer, when they are allured back to the country, 
 it does not exceed 200,000." It seems, therefore, 
 that another traveller, who, without making this dis- 
 tinction, computes them at 200,000, had not made his 
 estimate on slight information.* In Moscow, as in 
 many other great capitals, winter is the season of ani- 
 mation. Trade and amusements assume new activity, 
 and the streets are crowded with carriages. In this 
 capital of the Russian empire, society, indeed, has an 
 animated appearance. The theatre is one of the 
 largest in Europe, containing four stories of boxes 
 
 * Coxe's Travls, vol. \, p. 351. 
 
 "2 o ,'j ar>cl
 
 598 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 and two spacious galleries ; nor is it inferior to any in 
 splendid decorations. 
 
 Notwithstanding the general propensity to dissipa- 
 tion, so prevalent at Moscow, it is somewhat astonish- 
 ing, that its ample extent affords so few places of ac- 
 commodation. The coffee-houses, tea-gardens, &c. 
 so common in most other cities, are here either totally 
 wanting, or on so contemptible a footing, as to be fre- 
 quented by none but the populace. For want of these, 
 the citizens of Moscow, of all ranks, have recourse to 
 promenades in the environs, which indeed are ex- 
 tremely delightful, affording, in some places, magnifi- 
 cent views of that immense capital. From an eminence 
 before the Dorgomubof gate, it presents itself in its 
 whole extent to the eye of the spectator. The whole 
 visible hemisphere seems covered with buildings. The 
 Sparrow Mount, an elevated spot on the banks of the 
 Moskva, is also an agreeable place of resort. It com- 
 mands a fine view of the metropolis ; and the sur- 
 rounding country is extremely beautiful. The grand 
 summer holiday, on the first of May, is a splendid and 
 interesting scene. The gardens of Count Orloff are 
 greatly frequented by people of rank. They are laid 
 out in the English manner, on the sloping bank of the 
 Moskva. The magnificent palace and fine gardens of 
 Pashkoff, on a considerable elevation, on the banks of 
 the Moskva, form a grand place of popular resort on 
 Sundays and holidays. From the Belvidere in the 
 cupola, is seen a most delightful view of the whole 
 cily of Moscow. An innumerable concourse of peo- 
 ple frequently fills the gardens, the court, and the 
 palace. Free acctss to every part is permitted, every 
 entrance is perpetually open, and servants attend with 
 the most civil oflieiousness. The effect produced by 
 
 the
 
 PETERSBURG. 599 
 
 the illumination of this palace on the holidays of the 
 imperial family, is indescribable. The citizens of 
 Moscow, on these occasions, vie with each other in 
 the splendor of their illuminations. The Vauxhall in 
 Moscow, as well as the theatre, owes its origin to the 
 enterprising genius of Mr. Madclox; but it is not 
 greatly frequented, as few of the nobility remain in 
 the city during the summer season. Here is also 
 a place for beast-baiting; but this cruel diversion docs 
 not meet with so much approbation at Moscow as at 
 Vienna. 
 
 The inhabitants of Moscow, however, have an in- 
 exhaustible source of agreeable and healthful amuse- 
 ment in their promenades, not only to the places just 
 mentioned, but also the imperial country palaces in the 
 vicinity, and to the villas ,of the nobility, many of 
 whose gardens are open to the public : among the 
 former, Pctrofskoy, about three versts, Tzaritzin 
 twelve, and Ismailova eight versts from this metropo- 
 lis, are the principal. Among those of the nobility, 
 the chief are Kuskova and Astrankia, both belonging 
 to Count Scheremetof ; and Petrofskoy, a charming 
 country seat of Count Rasumofsky, not far from the 
 imperial villa of the same name. 
 
 Petersburg."] Petersburg, the imperial residence, 
 and the emporium of the foreign commerce of Russia, 
 ranks, in extent and population, next to Moscow, the 
 ancient metropolis, and merits, on many accounts, an 
 equal, if not a superior degree of attention. The place 
 where it stands, in the provinces of Ingria and Finland, 
 in ,09 sW north latitude, MO-; u dreary extent of bar- 
 ren morass, under a rigid chuuile, uninviting to luxury, 
 and unlikely to become the residence of one of the 
 most splendid courts of Europe. But Peter the Great 
 o, 4 having
 
 600 EUHOPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 having conquered the province from the Swedes, and 
 being desirous of opening a communication by the 
 Baltic with the rest of Europe, in order to render Rus- 
 sia a commercial and maritime power, resolved to 
 build here a city that might serve as an emporium of 
 trade. In order to facilitate the progress of this great' 
 work, and to add to the importance of his new city, by 
 attracting to it the nobility and gentry, he there fixed 
 his abode ; and Petersburg shared alternately with 
 Moscow the honours and advantages of the imperial 
 residence. His successors have assiduously followed 
 up his plans, and Petersburg, now greatly extended 
 and embellished, displays a magnificence worthy of 
 the capital of a great empire. 
 
 The year 1703, constitutes the sera of the founda- 
 tion of Petersburg. The part that was first built was 
 on the Vassillic Ostrof, an island between the two 
 principal branches of the Neva. This Peter deter- 
 mined to render* as much as possible, like Amsterdam, 
 by intersecting it with twelve canals, two of which 
 were to be navigable for ships of burden. He also 
 obliged his nobility to build houses on the sides of 
 these canals, and to let them to merchants for their 
 accommodation. The work was carried forward with 
 SjUch vigour, that the emperor saw, in his own life- 
 time, 109 houses of stone, and 354 of timber, erected 
 on this island. After his death, however, this part of 
 the plan was relinquished, and such of the canals a& 
 had been dug were filled up. In the mean while, as 
 the part which now contains the three admiralty quar- 
 ters, was somewhat less marshy than the island j many 
 people had voluntarily built there, and this gradually 
 became the best and most populous part of the city. 
 In 1711, the Vyborg side of the Neva began to be 
 
 built
 
 PETERSBURG. 601 
 
 built' upon ; but this part of the town has never been 
 carried to any great extent. The successive sove- 
 reigns of Russia, in the prosecution of Peter's designs, 
 have constantly embellished the new residence ; and 
 each reign, of any considerable length, has seen its 
 extent and population increase. But since Catherine II. 
 assumed the reins of government, the completion of 
 Petersburg has been pursued with unremitted ardour; 
 and imperial munificence, displayed for that purpose, 
 has been seconded by that of noble and opulent indi- 
 viduals. Its trade has also constantly increased. About 
 A.D. 1736, the annual arrival of shipping amounted to 
 scarcely 100. In 1746 they were above double that 
 number. Ten years afterwards they had increased to 
 300, and in the next ten years to 400. About the 
 year 1776 above 700; and at present considerably 
 above 800 vessels annually enter the port. The valua 
 of the commodities imported is estimated at more 
 than 12,000,000 of roubles; but that of the produce 
 exported amounts to a much greater sum.* 
 
 When a stranger enters Petersburg, his eyes are 
 struck with a scene of novel magnificence. The vast 
 spaces of its streets and areas give it a superiority over 
 every other European capital. In every ancient city, 
 the disparity of the buildings, and the incongruity of 
 its different parts, point out the gradual progress of its 
 prosperity and taste. In Petersburg all is modern, the 
 whole is the result of one grand design. The travel- 
 ler's attention is first attracted by the prodigious length 
 and breadth of the streets, and the magnitude and 
 magnificence of the houses, which are of brick, stuc- 
 coed and stained so as to resemble stone, and built in 
 the Italian style of architecture. They mostly con- 
 
 * Tooke's Hist. Russia, ol 1, p. 456. 
 
 f sist
 
 602 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 sistof four stones including the basement, in the cen- 
 tre of which is generally a carriage gateway : the roof 
 has a very gentle slope, and is composed of sheets of 
 cast-iron or copper, painted red or green.* The im- 
 mense number of chariots drawn by four horses; the 
 coachmen with their venerable beards, and the ser- 
 vants in large laced cocked-hats and gorgeous live- 
 ries, with military boots, heighten the general effect, 
 and altogether compose a scene of singular magnifi- 
 cence. The celebrated street called the Grand Per- 
 spective, runs the length of about four miles, in a di- 
 rect line, from the church of the Admiralty, from 
 which the principal streets of that quarter diverge like 
 radii to the monastery of St. Alexander Newsky ; but 
 its breadth is scarcely equal to that of Oxford-street, 
 in the British metropolis.^ It is lined with noble 
 houses and elegant churches; but the Linden trees 
 which enclose the broad foot-path in the middle, and 
 which, from the want of soil and moisture, look very 
 sickly, diminish the beauty of the perspective. 
 
 It would lead to a tedious prolixity to attempt a 
 particular description of the various embellishments 
 of Petersburg ; but the celebrated colossal statue of 
 Peter the Great, cannot be omitted in any sketch that 
 is given of this new capital of Russia. This stupen- 
 dous monument, raised by the munificence of Cathe- 
 rine II. and the genius of Stephen Falconet, to the 
 memory of the founder of the Russian greatness, ex- 
 ceeds every thing of the kind, which even Roman 
 magnificence could display. The granite rock, which 
 serves as a pedestal, after having the superfluous parts 
 
 * Storch's Picture of Petersburg, p. 26. 
 
 t Carr's Trav. round the Baltic, p. 236. A note on Storch's Picture of 
 Petersburg says, that tire Grand Perspective is half as wide again as Ox- 
 ford-street. 
 
 broken
 
 PETERSBURG. (J03 
 
 broken off by explosion, was S3 feet In length, 21 in 
 breadth, and the same in height ; and its weight by 
 calculation 3,'200,000 pounds, or 1,428 tons, 11 cwt. 
 48 lb.* This ponderous stone was found in a marshy 
 forest about nine English miies from Petersburg, and 
 was conveyed to the place of its destination partly by 
 land, and partly by water, over hills and bogs, and 
 upon the river Neva, by windlasses and nautical ma- 
 chines, constructed under the inspection of that able 
 engineer, Count Carburi, who passed under the name 
 of the Chevalier Lascari, and has given an account of 
 this stupendous performance in a folio volume, pub- 
 lished in 1777- The substance of the stone is granite, 
 with a small mixture of white and coloured quartz, 
 white and red feldspar, black and white micse, with 
 some iron granites and schoerl chrystals. It is iu 
 many parts extremely beautiful, and takes a high po- 
 lish. The colossal figure in bronze of the monarch is 
 eleven feet high; the dress is in the old Russian style, 
 with half-boots, whiskers, and cropped hair ; the head 
 is encircled with a crown of laurel, and the right arm 
 extended. The head was modelled by Mademoiselle 
 Collet, and is esteemed a great likeness. The whole 
 attitude is noble and full of expression. The horse, 
 which is seventeen feet high, is executed in high per- 
 fection, animated with great fire and exertion, gallop- 
 ping up the rock, and treading with his hind leg on a 
 serpent ; the whole being emblematical of the difficul- 
 ties which Peter had to encounter in civilizing his 
 empire. On the side of the pedestal lacing the Admi- 
 ralty, is this inscription in the Russian language; 
 
 * The largest obelisk ever before known, that which Constaiiiius, son 
 of Constantino the Great, transported from Alexandria to Runic, weighed 
 only <J07,789 pounds, or 40j tons, 5 Cut. 291b. 
 
 " Pctiu
 
 604 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 " Petru provomu, Ekatarina utoraia ;" and on the side 
 toward the senate, the same in Latin, " Petro Primo, 
 Catharina Secunda, 1782." To this monument of Ca- 
 therine's magnificence and of Falconet's art, the world 
 does not afford any parallel ; and Petersburg would 
 merit the attention of the tourist, if it contained no- 
 thing else worthy of notice. 
 
 The winter palace, the work of the Empress Eliza- 
 beth, begun in 1754, and finished in 1762, the last year 
 of her reign, is a prodigious structure in the form of a 
 long quadrangle. It stands on the right bank of the 
 Neva. Each of its fronts, towards the river and to- 
 wards the town, are 450 English feet in length, the 
 other two sides 350 feet, and the height 70 feet. On 
 the part which contains the chapel, a cupola rises with 
 a cross, and the parapet is adorned with statues and 
 other ornaments. The whole of this palace is magni- 
 ficent; but the interior is gloomy. The sumptuous 
 paintings and sacred vestments of the chapel are wor- 
 thy of observation. The church service here is 
 amazingly grand ; and its solemnity is much heigh- 
 tened by the exquisite singers that compose the choir. 
 The cabinet, containing the insignia of the empire, is 
 the richest collection of jewels in Europe. The great 
 crown of gold, faced with red velvet, is almost entirely 
 covered with precious stones of great magnitude and 
 value. The famous diamond, weighing 194 carats, 
 which her late majesty purchased of Safratz, the 
 Greek, for 450,000 rubles and a life annuity of 100,000 
 rubles, forms the knob of the sceptre.* The old im- 
 perial winter palace, the residence of Peter the Great 
 and of Catharine I, is chiefly remarkable for the pic- 
 ture gallery built by the late empress. According to 
 
 * Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. l,p. 445. 
 
 the
 
 PETERSBURG. 60,3 
 
 the catalogue taken in 1774, the number of paintings 
 amounted to 2,080 ; and in consequence of the vari- 
 ous purchases since made by that princess, they may 
 now be computed at upwards of 4,000 without risk of 
 exaggeration. The sovereign's private library con- 
 tains about 2,000 volumes; which, with that of Vol- 
 taire and Diderot in other apartments, amount to 
 about 40,000 volumes. Here are also vast collections 
 of copper-plate engravings, coins, medals, 8cc. with a 
 variety of natural curiosities. In I7$6, the empress 
 purchased the choice collection of that celebrated and 
 indefatigable naturalist, Professor Pallas. 
 
 The monastery of St. Alexander Newsky, at the 
 end of the street called the Grand Perspective, is 
 moated round, occupies a vast space of ground, and 
 contains a magnificent church. The church of St. 
 Peter and St. Paul is the burial place of the sovereigns 
 of Russia, Here, in an oblong quadrangular sepulchre 
 of stone, covered with velvet, richly embroidered with 
 gold and silver, are deposited the remains of Peter the 
 Great and his successors : and on each side of the 
 church are seen standards and other military trophies, 
 taken in war from the enemies of the empire. The 
 interior of this church has a gloomy appearance, and 
 displays no architectural beauties ; but its magnificent 
 spire, 240 feet high, richly covered with gold, is a 
 splendid ornament to the ciiy. The view from the bel- 
 fry is one of the grandest spectacles that can be con- 
 ceived. The bridge of Pontoons is also a point from, 
 which the grandeur of Petersburg shews itself with 
 great lustre. 
 
 In addition to the superb edifices with which Pe- 
 tersburg is already adorned, a lale traveller, who 
 visited that city in 1804, informs us that a new church, 
 
 the
 
 ()O6 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 the largest and most magnificent in Russia, is about to 
 be erected. This vast temple, which is to be dedi- 
 cated to the Virgin Mary, will, according to his ac- 
 count, be little interior to St. Paul's at London, in mag- 
 nitude and grandeur. All the sacred utensils are to 
 be set with the richest diamonds, and even the screen 
 will be studded with precious stones. The same wri- 
 ter adds, that the emperor has allotted an enormous 
 sum to* the execution or' this great work, and that the 
 scaffolding was already prepared.* 
 
 The marble palace has been noted by every travel- 
 ler, and by every one 1 who has undertaken to write a 
 description or' Petersburg. This structure, unrivalled 
 in its kind, is an unique in magnificence. Its form is 
 an oblong quadrangle of avast extent,-with two wings, 
 aud it rises in three lofty stories. The window-frames 
 are of gilt brass, and the panes of looking-glass. The 
 interior sets all description at defiance. All that a 
 poetical imagination has feigned in the Tales of the 
 Genii, seem here to be realized. This palace was ori- 
 ginally built for Gregory OrlofF; and at his death it 
 devolved back to the empress. Paul, her successor, 
 assigned it to Stanislaus Poniatovvsky, king of Poland, 
 for his residence ; and that unfortunate monarch 
 there terminated his troublesome life. The Tauridan 
 Palace, the superb residence of Prince Potemkin, the 
 Bank, and various other public and private edifices, 
 might be mentioned ; but a description would require 
 volumes, and a bare enumeration would be tedious. 
 It must, however, be observed, that the balustrade of 
 the summer gardens is a work of magnificence, unri- 
 valled in any of the capitals of Europe. All these 
 prodigious piles of stone, these temples, palaces, 
 
 * Can's Travels round the 13altic, p. 251. 
 
 streets,
 
 . PETERSBURG. GO? 
 
 streets, and canals, the work of one century, proclaim 
 the omnipotence of human abilities. Petersburg, in- 
 deed, is a colossal monument of human energy, unpa- 
 ralleled in the history of the world. 
 
 Petersburg, as it now stands, partly in Ingria arid 
 partly in Finland, on the continent, and on several 
 islands in the Neva, is about twenty English miles in 
 compass, but many parts are not yet built on, although 
 from the rapidity with which the houses increase, the 
 whole plan promises a speedy completion, as well in 
 extent as in elegance ; for building of timber grows 
 daily into disuse.* The Neva, in its principal branches, 
 is from 300 to 400 yards in width, being nearly as 
 wide as the Thames at London, but not sufficiently 
 deep for the passage of large vessels ; and the ships 
 of war, built at the Vlmiralty, are conveyed down to 
 Cronstadt by a difficult process and Herculean toil. 
 The population of Petersburg WAS. by the census cf 
 J784, found to amount to !<' ,^UO, of which number 
 27,890 were foreigners, its present population is not 
 accurately ascertained. 
 
 We should proceed with pleasure to the description 
 of the various and laudable institutions established by 
 the different sovereigns of Russia, for the public bene- 
 fit ; the hospitals for suffering humanity, and the 
 schools for the diffusion of knowledge ; but to convey 
 any accurate information of subjects so vast and so 
 various, would extend this sketch far beyond the li- 
 mits which the present plan can admit. Among these, 
 the academy of arts and sciences, the gymnasium, 
 the military and marine schools, the foundling hospi- 
 tals, and a variety of others, would merit a particular 
 
 * Storch'i Picture of Petersburg, p. 3, 4. 
 
 description,
 
 608 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 description.* It must here suffice to say, that the 
 greatest number of these beneficial institutions owe 
 their origin or their improvement to Catherine II, 
 whose name will be immortal in history, and memora- 
 ble in the minds of philanthropists and philosophers. 
 The number of scholars constantly educated at the 
 cxpence of government, in the different academies 
 and schools of Petersburg, were 6,800 of both sexes ; 
 and the costs of their education amounted to 754,335 
 rubles per an num. -f- 
 
 The environs of Petersburg, like the city itself, owe 
 every thing to art, and nothing to nature. The cir- 
 cumjacent country is an unpictuvesqne level, entirely 
 forest and morass, except where human industry has 
 converted it into beautiful scenes, being extremely 
 different from the charming situation of Moscow, 
 where nature seconds and even precedes the efforts of 
 art, in forming the most delightful landscapes. In the 
 vicinity of Petersburg, every object displays a triumph 
 over natural obstacles, at an astonishing expence of 
 human labour. Of this the high roads leading from 
 the capital to the imperial country palaces, especially 
 that of Peterhoff, are striking examples. Peterhoff, 
 about twenty-five versts from Petersburg, is superbly 
 situated on a precipice of twenty-four yards in eleva- 
 tion, and commands a prospect over the gulph to the 
 shores of Carelia to Cronstadt and Petersburg. This 
 palace was built by Peter the Great, and has received 
 various improvements under his successors. Both 
 the exterior and interior are suitable to its destination ; 
 and the gardens are still more interesting than the 
 
 * For an accurate account of all these public institutions, vide Storch's 
 Picture of Petersburg, and Tooke's View 01" Russia. 
 
 t Storth's Picture of Petersburg, p. 241. Tooke's View of Russia. 
 
 building.
 
 PETERSBURG. 
 
 building. Eight versts farther is Oranienbaum, in a 
 situation similar to that of Stretna and Peterhoff, but 
 which may claim the pre-eminence in regard to pic- 
 turesque views and rural scenery. This was the 
 palace of Prince Menzikoff, and the favorite residence 
 of the unfortunate Peter III, a circumstance which 
 gives it a melancholy celebrity. Oranienbaum and 
 Peterhoff, notwithstanding the advantages of their 
 situations, are seldom frequented by the court, and 
 Stretna has been long since deserted. 
 
 Cronstadt.'] The island of Cronstadt, the grand 
 rendezvous of the Russian navy, is only seven versts 
 from Oranienbaum. It is about seven versts long and 
 one broad. The docks, the harbour, and the shipping, 
 with the prodigious fortifications of granite, make a 
 grand and striking appearance. The town of Cron- 
 .stadt, on the eastern extremity of the island, is sup- 
 posed to contain about .'30,000 persons, of whom a 
 considerable number belongs to the fleet. 
 
 The Tzarzko Zclo road, resembles that of Peterhoff, 
 and like it has also the versts marked on columns of 
 marble, jasper, and granite. On the sides are 1,1CO 
 globular lamps, which are lighted when the court is 
 at Tzarzko Zelo. The first remarkable object that 
 presents itself, is the imperial palace of Yaegerhoff, 
 \vhich, although within the precincts of the Moscow 
 quarter, stands in the open plain. At the distance of 
 somewhat more than six versts from Petersburg, rise 
 the turrets of Tschesine, in a marshy plain abounding 
 with ozicrs.* This palace is entirely in the Gothic 
 style. The road for the next twenty-two versts, prc- 
 ys^nts no objects remarkably interesting; but the coun- 
 
 * Store!;'* Picture of Peternburg, p. 74. 
 
 VOL. m. 2 R try
 
 6lO 
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 U'y begins t assume a more varied aspci. Taarzko 
 Zelo, the favorite su:nmer residence of Catharine II, 
 is. situated in an open pleasant district, diversified 
 with gentle eminences, meadows, aad woodlands. 
 Tills princely residence owes its origin to Catharine I, 
 and its enlargement and embellishment to Eliza- 
 beth ; but it is chiefly indebted to Catharine II. for 
 its completion in elegance, taste, and magnificence. 
 The exterior of the palace is striking from its magni- 
 tude, and dazzling to the eye from its numerous gilded 
 ornaments ; and the taste and elegance of its interior 
 can scarcely be paralleled. The gardens are of a vast 
 extent, Jatd out in the English style, and embellished 
 with every appropriate ornament that creative genius 
 couJd devise. Obelisks and columns commemorate 
 the victories of Kagul, of Tschesme, and of the 
 Morea; and a triumphal arch proclaims the courage 
 and patriotic ardour of Count OrlofT, who, repairing 
 to Moscow in the year 1771, when that city exhibited 
 a scene calamitous and terrific beyond all descrip- 
 tion, intrepidly faced, and successfully extinguished- 
 the complicated horrors of insurrection and pestilence. 
 Pavlofsk, at the distance of five, and Gatchina at 
 twenty versts from Tzarzko Zelo, are charming re- 
 treats, belonging to the imperial family. The road to 
 S-chfTSsseltwrg, along the left bank of the Neva, is 
 ndomed with; a series of elegant houses. Here are 
 also some of t.he chief man-ufaetori-es. Alexadrofsk , 
 the eoimtry residence of Prince Vsesetnskoi, is finely 
 skua ted, an<l surrounded with romantic scenery. The 
 imperial seat of PelJa, at the distance of thirty-five 
 Vfersts from Petersburg, is (m a singular plan, con- 
 sisting of several palaces and pavillions, ranged with 
 
 itudk'd
 
 PISTBRSBURO. 
 
 studied irregularity, connected by arcade* and corri- 
 dors, and exhibiting at a distance a striking appear- 
 ance. 
 
 The police of Petersburg ia exact and well regu- 
 lated, and in few great cities do the inhabitants enjoy 
 so perfect n state of security. Robberies and murders 
 seldom occur ; but almost every mode of tricking and 
 sharping is common. Society is here, on the whole, 
 animated and gay; luxury abounds among the great, 
 but the public amusements of the higher classes, are 
 less numerous than the opulence of the inhabitants, 
 and their propensity to pleasure might lead one to 
 suppose. Genteel company in Petersburg, contracts 
 itself chiefly whhin family circle*, to which, without 
 letters of recommendation, a stranger finds it difficult 
 to gain access; and contrary to the practice of Lon- 
 don, Paris, Vienna, and Berlin, respectable persons 
 seldom enter a coffee-house.* For this reason, the 
 taverns, &c. of Petersburg, are far inferior to those 
 of many other capitals, in accommodation and ele- 
 gance, and even the principal hotels bear no compa- 
 rison with those of the second order in Paris and 
 London. To remedy in some measure this inconve- 
 nience, there is a number of clubs, where the mem- 
 bers have a choice table at a moderate expence, and 
 may amuse themselves with reading the Russian, 
 French, German, and English newspapers. Strangers, 
 however, with letters of recommendation, or in the 
 way of transacting important business, experience 
 an unbounded hospitality in the opulent houses at 
 Petersburg. 
 
 The other cities of European Russia are not very 
 considerable ; Tula is supposed to contain 30,000 in- 
 
 * Storeli'g Picture of Petersburg, p 4<M ; 422. 
 
 J ). -2 habitants,
 
 l'2 EUROPEAN KUSIA. 
 
 habitants, and Riga, a town of considerable trade, 
 about 27,000; 20,000 is the number ascribed to Cher- 
 son, and the same is assigned to Gaffer in Taurida. 
 
 O 
 
 Narva is a place of some trade, but of small extent 
 and population. 
 
 Khyff and Norogorod.] The ancient cities of Kioff 
 and Novogorod, are greatly declined from their former 
 importance. The latter of these cities had long been 
 one of the great comptoirs of the Hanseatic mer- 
 chants, and before its reduction by the Czar Ivan Vas- 
 silievitch, was a place of great commerce* and opu- 
 lence. That conqueror is said to have carried from 
 Novogorod to Moscow, 300 cart loads of gold and 
 silver, &c., besides an immense quantity of furs, 
 cloths, and other merchandize. t Previous to that 
 calamity, Novogorod constituted a, separate prin- 
 cipality, or rather a republic under the nominal sove- 
 reignty of its dukes. Since that period its- trade 
 gradually declined, although it was still considered as 
 a large city in the latter part of the sixteenth century. J 
 But the building of Petersburg totally annihilated its 
 
 O C7 v 
 
 commerce, and its population is now so reduced, that 
 it is not supposed to contain above 7000 or 8000 
 persons. It has by some been imagined, that Novo- 
 gorod, when in the flourishing state of its commerce, 
 might contain 400,000 inhabitants, a supposition, 
 however, which can scarcely be considered as resting 
 on probability. 
 
 Edifices.~\ The principal edifices of Russia, have 
 already been mentioned in treating of the cities of 
 Moscow and Petersburg and their environs. Most 
 
 * Aud. Hist. Cora. vol. 1, p. 494. 
 
 t Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. 1, p. 283. 
 
 f Bolero, causes of tiie niagnif. and greatness of cities, lib. 2.
 
 EDIFICES. 613 
 
 of them, indeed, are situated in or near thcb-s two 
 great foci of Russian magnificence, although some 
 at a greater distance, might deserve notice in a work 
 of more detailed description. In most of the other 
 cities and towns, the houses are generally of wood, 
 and the rest of the buildings proportionally mean. 
 In regard to magnificence and luxury, elegance and 
 taste, Petersburg and Moscow may be considered as 
 the whole empire. 
 
 R 3 CHAP.
 
 614 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 Hntorictil View General Progress of Society of Arts and Sciences 
 Literature and Commerce. 
 
 1 HE origin of every nation is involved in impene- 
 trable .obscurity ; and although some may appear of 
 higher antiquity than others, they may all be traced 
 to a period beyond which we cannot proceed without 
 losing ourselves in idle conjecture. Nothing is more 
 certain than that the modern Russians are an assem- 
 blage of various tribes, anciently inhabiting the vast 
 extent of their empire, of which a late author has 
 given a distinct account.* The S]avi, however, are 
 universally allowed to have been the founders of the 
 Russian empire; but their origin sinks into the same 
 obscurity as that of the Nomadic hordes, who pre- 
 viously roamed about in those extensive regions. 
 Equally unsatisfactory are the etymologies of the word 
 Slavi, which have been devised by fanciful authors. 
 Tooke has exhibited some of the most rational, but 
 the plan of this work does not admit of useless and 
 uninteresting disquisitions. They seem, however, to 
 have been one of the primitive races of mankind, and 
 from the incontestable proofs, which, wonderful as it 
 may appear, M. L'Evesque has given of the radical 
 affinity of the Slavonic and Latin languages, it is not 
 to be doubted that in a period beyond the rpach of 
 
 * Tooke's iutiofl.tofiiit. Russia. 
 
 historical
 
 HISTORICAL VIW. 
 
 historical record, a colony of Slavi had been esta- 
 blished in Italy, and were probably the first settlers in 
 that country. Mr. Tooke has furnished some out- 
 lines of their mythology, which, from the imperfect 
 documents that history affords, appears in its princi- 
 pal features to have resembled that of the Goths, and 
 other nations of Scythian origin. 
 
 In the fifth century a horde of Slavi, or Slavonians, 
 from the banks of the Danube, came and settled on 
 the shores of the Dnieper, the Volkoff, and the Neva. 
 Thus arose two Slavonian slates, one in the region 
 watered by the Dnieper, and another in the northern 
 mrt of Russia, in the neighbourhood of the lake of 
 Ladoga. Of the former, during some centuries KiofY, 
 was the capital, as Novogorod was of the latter; but 
 of their circumstances and transactions history is for 
 a long time totally silent ; and the period in which 
 those cities were founded is unknown. It is not till 
 the ninth century, that we find some information con- 
 cerning them in the Byzantine historians. Novo- 
 gorod seems, even at that time, to have been a com- 
 mercial city, and the emperor Constantine Porphy- 
 rogenitus speaks of its trade with Constantinople. 
 This Slavonian state seems to have long been a re- 
 public, but about the period of which we are speak- 
 ing, a revolution happened, which converted it into 
 a principality. The bordering nations frequently 
 made incursions on their territories, and the Novoso- 
 
 ' O 
 
 rodians, although powerful, were not at all times able 
 to repel their aggressions. On one of these occasions 
 they called to their assistance the Varagians, or pi- 
 rates of the Baltic, who appear to have been the same 
 people that in -England were called Danes, arid in 
 1'Vance Normans, and under these different names 
 
 'i u 4 carried
 
 616 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 carried their depredations into most of the maritime 
 parts of Europe. These allies having assisted the 
 Novogorodians in repulsing the enemy, instead of re- 
 turning home with their stipulated reward, acted in 
 the same manner as the Saxons had formerly done 
 towards the Britons, and hegan to make dispositions 
 for remaining in the country. This produced a war, 
 in which Novogorod was unsuccessful, and was at 
 last obliged to receive Rurick, the chief of these ad- 
 venturers, for its sovereign. The year 864 is marked 
 
 O *- 
 
 as the epoch of this important revolution. 
 
 Rurick thus became the founder of an empire, 
 which continued some centuries in a flourishing, and 
 even an increasing state. After this period the people 
 began to be known by the denomination of Russians, 
 a name which these Vara^es had probal.lv borne before 
 
 O I * 
 
 they came hither over the Baltic, arid now commu- 
 nicated to the whole empire. Rurick, after a reign 
 of fifteen years over jiorthern Russia, died in 87P, 
 and Igor, his son, being a minor, Oleg, one of his 
 relations, took upon him the government of the coun- 
 try. This ambitious regent no sooner found himself 
 in possession of the sovereign power, than he began 
 to form the most towering projects. He collected a 
 numerous army, took Smolensk and several other 
 cities, and at last made himself master of Kioff, and 
 the whole of that Slavonian state. The great number 
 of towns then existing in Russia, shews that the 
 Russians had already made some progress in civiliza- 
 tion. Those towns cannot, indeed r be supposed to 
 have borne any resemblance to the magnificent cities 
 which constitute the ornament of modern Europe; 
 but men Jiving in permanent habitations, and subsist- 
 ing by the cultivation of their lands, are advanced far 
 above the rank of savages. 
 
 Oleg
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 6l? 
 
 Oleg having united the two great Slavonian states, 
 and subdued many neighbouring tribes, on whom he 
 imposed tributes to be paid in furs or money, began 
 to extend his ambitious views to Constantinople, in 
 hopes of conquest, or at least of plunder. In order 
 to be nearer the theatre of his future enterprises, he 
 removed the seat of empire from INovogorod to Kioff, 
 -and immediately began to prosecute his designs. 
 Embarking 80,000 warriors on board of 2,000 vessels, 
 he proceeded on his expedition, entered the Euxine, 
 and at length appeared before Constantinople, then 
 called by the Russians Tzargorod, or the city of the 
 csesars. 
 
 In order to prevent the entrance of this formidable 
 armament, a massy chain had been drawn across the 
 harbour. The Russians, however, landed and de- 
 vastated the country with the most horrible ravages; 
 and Leo the Philosopher, who then reigned over the 
 Eastern empire, was obliged to purchase peace at a 
 stipulated price. The conquerors now returned laden 
 with spoils, and Oleg made his entrance into KiofT, 
 where the people, dazzled with his successes, regarded 
 him as a being of a superior order, and endowed with 
 more than human powers. Another treaty was soon 
 afterwards concluded between Oleg and the .Greek 
 ewiperor, from which, and from the preceding stipu- 
 lations, it is evident that the Russians, notwithstand- 
 ing their avidity of plunder, and their inclination to 
 praedatory war, were strongly addicted to commerce, 
 and had right notions of distributive justice. The 
 first treaty contained several articles favorable to the 
 Russian trade with the Greek or Byzantine empire, 
 and the second exhibits various regulations, which 
 shew that the Russians had an exalted idea of the 
 sanctity of oaths ; that their laws punishing murder 
 
 with
 
 EURO-PEAN RDSilA. 
 
 vith death, were infinitely preferable to those of many 
 other nations > which, inflicting only a pecuniary fine, 
 left the lives of the poor at the mercy of the rich : 
 that theft, which attacks property alone, was pun- 
 ished by the loss of property, and that a due propor- 
 tion was preserved between the crime and the penalty : 
 that wives had a legal share in the estates of their 
 husbands, and that confiscation of property did not 
 involve the innocent in the punishment of the guilty, 
 And reduce the widow and orphan to beggary. In 
 this treaty is also an article providing for the due ex- 
 ecution of testaments made by such Russians as died 
 in the dominions of the Byzantine emperor, a circum- 
 stance which proves that they were already acquainted 
 ' with letters.* 
 
 The laws of succession to the sovereignty among 
 the Russians of that age, have not been defined by 
 historians. Oleg, notwithstanding the attainment of 
 his ward to an age of maturity, still swayed the 
 sceptre, and Igor succeeded to The throne, not at the 
 expiration of his minority, but at the death of the 
 regent, which happened in 913, after he had been 
 ihirty-three years in possession of the sovereign au- 
 thority. After the demise of Oleg, several ef the 
 nations, tribes which had been subdued by his arms, 
 and held in subjection by the terror of his name and 
 the vigorous measures of his administration, revolted 
 against his successor. Igor, however, soon reduced 
 them to obedience. After these successes, the wealth 
 of the eastern empire again tempted the avidity of the 
 Russian chiefs, and excited their military ardor. 
 Imitating the example of his predecessor, or rather 
 
 * Tooke's HUt. Russia, vol. 1, p. 155, on the authority of the clironi- 
 cJe of .Nestor, the most ancient of the Russian historians. 
 
 intending
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 intending to surpass his exploits, Igor assembled an 
 army of "400,000 men, whom he embarked in 10,000 
 vessels, according to Nestor's chronicle, a statement 
 which Mr. Tooke, however, justly suspects of ex- 
 aggeration.* With this force Igor set sail for the 
 dominions of Constantinople, where he, his chief- 
 tains, and his army, flattered themselves with the ricii 
 reward of a successful campaign. They ravaged 
 almost without opposition Paphlagonia, Pontus, and 
 Bythinia, and massacred the inhabitants, especially 
 the ecclesiastics, with every circumstance of the most 
 savage cruelty. The news of these horrors soon 
 arrived at Constantinople, and roused the Greeks TO 
 arms, in order to expel those terrible invaders. Their 
 armies pouring in from all quarters, surrounded the 
 Russians, whose blood liberally atoned for that of 
 their victims. Great numbers of them were slaugh- 
 tered, and the rest having with difficulty regained 
 their ships, met with new disasters. The patrician. 
 Theophanes, commander of the Byzantine fleet, at- 
 tacked them by surprise, and throwing among them 
 the Grecian fire, most of their vessels were consume*!, 
 and the men leaping overboard to escape the flames, 
 perished in the sea. The remainder of this forinklii- 
 ble army dispersing itself in Bythinia, was again at- 
 tacked and defeated with great slaughter, by <Phocas 
 the patrician. The Russians now regaining such of 
 their barks as had escaped destruction, were again 
 attacked by Theophanes, several of thieir remjuning 
 vessels were destroyed, and by the confessiqn of ilue 
 Russian chronicles, Igor escaped with scarcely & flh-irH 
 part of IMS army. This unsuccessful expedition was 
 undertaken in tlte year <J4 1 , 'but notwithstanding iu 
 
 * ToyKc's Iliat. "Russia, vol. 1, p. IjO. 
 
 f disastrous
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 disastrous issue, the Rdssians, impelled by th; hops 
 of plunder, did not lose courage. In 044, Igor levied 
 new forces, and'again set sail for the Grecian coasts. 
 But Romanus, who had usurped the imperial throne 
 of Constantinople, unwilling to expose his newly ac- 
 quired sovereignty to the uncertain events of war, 
 sent ambassadors to Igor, and concluded a peace on 
 condition of paying the same tribute that Oleg had 
 imposed on hi& predecessors. Soon after this expedi- 
 tion, Igor having imprudently advanced into the 
 country' of the Drevlians/ for the purpose of levying 
 new contributions on those people, who were already 
 his tributaries, was killed in an ambuscade. Olga, 
 his widow, took a horrible revenge for his death, 
 massacred great numbers of their principal men, 
 ravaged their country in a terrible manner, and instead 
 of allowing them to be governed by their own p-'mces 
 as formerly, incorporated the nation with the Rus- 
 sians. Olga was the first of the Russian sovereigns 
 that embraced Christianity, being baptised at Con- 
 stantinople, where the emperor Constantine Porphyro- 
 genitus received her with great honours, and sent her 
 back loaded with valuable presents. On this account 
 she has obtained a place in the calendar, among the 
 saints of the Greek church, although her conversion 
 to the Christian faith seems not to have operated any 
 conspicuous change in her cruel and artful disposition. 
 Few of her subjects followed her example, and even 
 Sviatoslaf, her son, appears to have had an aversion 
 to Christianity, although he did not persecute its pro- 
 fessors. 
 
 The character of Sviatoslaf was such as constitutes 
 the hero of barbarous ages. Ferocious, restless, and en- 
 terprising, he was constantly engaged in hostilities 
 
 with
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 6'21 
 
 with the neighbouring tribes, or with the Byzantine 
 empire. He was at length defeated and slain by the 
 Petchenegans, and it is said that his skull, orna- 
 mented with a circle of gold, was used by their prince 
 as a goblet. 
 
 Sviatoslaf dismembered" the empire, by dividing it 
 between his children, a pernicious system of politics 
 which has proved fatal to many powerful states, and 
 among others to Russia. Re gave Kioff to his son 
 \aropolk, the country of the Drevlians to Oleg, and 
 Novogorod to Vladimir, a natural son born to him by 
 one of his mother's attendants. These princes, soon 
 after the death of their father, commenced against 
 each other the most rancorous hostilities. Oleg was 
 killed in battle against Yaropolk, and the latter fell a 
 victim to the savage ferocity of Vladimir, who, by 
 the destruction of his brothers, became sole monarch 
 of Russia. To relate all his,warlike expeditions, would 
 now excite little interest; it suffices to mention, that 
 besides the conquest of some parts of Poland, he re- 
 duced several neighbouring tribes, especially those 
 inhabiting the districts which now form the govern- 
 ment of Razan on the banks of the Volga, the Yaik, 
 and the Kama. A circumstance, however, is record- 
 ed, which at once shews his ferocious cruelty, and 
 the sanguinary superstition cf his subjects. Resolv- 
 ing to oiler to his gods a sacrifice of his prisoners of 
 war, his courtiers, in their barbarous piety, persuaded 
 him that a victim selected from kis own subjects 
 wottld be a more acceptable offering, as exhibiting a 
 stronger proof of his gratitude to Heaven; the choice 
 or lot, fell on a young Varagian, the son of a Chris- 
 tian, and educated in that faith. The unhappy father 
 refused to deliver up the victim. The people, cn- 
 * rasrej
 
 N RUSSIA. 
 
 raged at a refusal, which they considered as an insult 
 to their prince and their religion, tumultuously assailed 
 the house, and cruelly massacred both the young man 
 and his affectionate parent; a horrible proof of the 
 power of superstition in extinguishing the feelings of 
 humanity. 
 
 Of all the Russian monarchs Vladimir was the most 
 Vigoted to idolatry, and his zeal inflamed that of the 
 nation. He erected at Novogorod a superb statue to 
 the Deity Perune, who was worshipped with barbarous 
 rites and human sacrifices'; and his superstition en- 
 riched both the temples and the priests of his gods. 
 This idolatrous prince, however, was ordained by 
 Divine Providence to establish the Christian religion 
 in Russia; so far are the designs of God beyond the 
 penetration of man. The greatness of the Russian 
 monarch was now so conspicuous as to attract the at- 
 tention of the neighbouring princes. All of them 
 courted his friendship or dreaded his arms ; and we 
 are told that missionaries from all quarters were sent 
 to endeavour to fix his attachment by the ties of one 
 common religion. Catholics of the Latin church, 
 Mahomedans from Bulgaria, and Greek? from Con- 
 stantinople, laboured for his conversion ; and some 
 say that a deputation of Jews attempted to bias him 
 jn favour of the law of Moses. The Greeks, however, 
 proved either the most eloquent or the most fortunate, 
 and influenced him the most powerfully in favour of 
 their religion. Desirous, however, of gaining more 
 perfect information, the Russian prince dispatched 
 fen persons of distinguished reputation for wisdom, 
 in-to foreign countries, in order to observe and examine 
 the principles and rites of their different religions. 
 Thore who were serrt among the Bulgarians were not 
 
 much
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 much affected with the Manichsean and the Mahom- 
 medan modes of worship : others who travelled into 
 Germany found little that was striking in the ill-built 
 churches and illiterate clergy of that country ; and 
 it is probable that they never proceeded to Italy. In 
 that period, indeed, when the western countries of 
 Europe had, during several centuries, been over-rim 
 with successive hordes of barbarians, and agitated 
 with the most terrible convulsions, destructive to 
 every exertion of the arts, and subversive of every 
 species of magnificence, religion had not assumed in 
 the Latin churches a very elegant form. But the 
 case was different at Constantinople : there the im- 
 posing splendor of religious worship, amidst the mag- 
 nificent decorations of the proud Basilicum of St. 
 Sophia, struck the Russian sages with reverential awe. 
 Their imagination being heated with the grandeur of 
 the spectacle, they returned to their sovereign with an 
 account of what they had seen, and all concluded that 
 the people whose religion displayed such pomp, must 
 certainly be in possession of the true faith. Un- 
 fortunately, however, Vladimir had no priests, and to 
 a*k them of the Greek Emperor he considered us a 
 kind of humiliation. He, therefore, conceived a pro- 
 ject consistent with his character, and wilh that of 
 the nation and the times. He resolved on a \var witii 
 the Christians in order to obtain priests and extort 
 instruction by force. 
 
 In pursuance to this design lie levied u formidable 
 army and invaded the Chersonese, or modern Crim 
 Tartary, then a province of the Byzantine empire. 
 After a long protracted siege, in which, as Mr. Took-e 
 observes, " thousands of human beings were butchered 
 because a barbarian "would not be christened like an 
 
 ordinary
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 ordinary person," he rendered himself master of the 
 city of Theodosia by stratagem, and reduced the 
 whole peninsula. He then sent to the Greek em- 
 perors, Basil and Constantine, offering to embrace 
 Christianity, and demanding their sister Anna in 
 marriage, threatening immediately to assault the im- 
 perial city in case of refusal. On these terms peace 
 was concluded. Vladimir received the rite of baptism, 
 married the Princess Anna, restored the Chersonese 
 to his brothers-in-law, and returned home with what 
 he considered as a rich booty, consisting of priests, 
 sacred vessels and church books, pictures of saints, 
 and consecrated relics. 
 
 The Russian prince, on his return to Kioff, imme- 
 diately exercised his vengeance on the idols, which 
 had so lately been the objects of his bigoted adora- 
 tion. The Russian monarch then issued a proclama- 
 tion that all who should continue in idolatry should 
 be regarded as enemies to Christ and the sovereign. 
 But the authority and example of the prince were so 
 powerful that persecution was unnecessary. Having 
 issued a proclamation commanding all the inhabitants 
 of Kioff to repair to the river to be baptised, the}' 
 obeyed with the utmost alacrity, and removed every 
 scruple, if any occurred, by this plain argument, that 
 if baptism was not a good thing it would not have 
 been adopted by the sovereigns and the nobility.* 
 
 This first Christian monarch of Russia, who waded 
 through a brother's blood, to the sovereignty of Kioff, 
 received from his nation the surname of Great, and 
 chained the rank of a saint. He certainly possessed 
 great natural abilities, although unimproved by cul- 
 ture ; and his great soul disdaining hypocrisy, and 
 
 * Tooke'b Hist, of Russia, vol. 1, p. 204. 
 
 stead v
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 6*25 
 
 steady in in every pursuit, not only adhered with zeal 
 to the doctrines, but imbibed the morals of the reli- 
 gion which he had embraced. An essential reform 
 was wrought in every part of his conduct. He go- 
 verned his people with equity, with prudence and 
 lenity; and by his care, in establishing churches and 
 schools, Russia was completely christianized, and 
 received from him not only her religion, but also the 
 seeds of moral and intellectual improvement. In 
 every point of view, the reign of this prince forms an 
 important epoch in the Russian history. The empire 
 had attained to a high degree of power, and stretched 
 over a vast extent of territory, comprising the greatest 
 part of Lithuania and Livonia, and reaching from the 
 Euxine to the Baltic. But although his reign was so 
 prosperous, and his administration, in general, so pru- 
 dent, he committed the capital error of adopting the 
 same disorganising plan as his father had done, in 
 dividing the empire among his sons. The system 
 which he adopted, was that of dividing the empire 
 into distinct principalities, in subordination to the 
 grand prince of KiofF. This paramount sovereignty 
 he retained for himself, and distributed the other 
 provinces among his children. But it was not long 
 before his son, Yaroslaf, whom he had made prince of 
 Novogorod, refused to acknowledge his dependence 
 on his father. Thus this great monarch, whom for- 
 tune had almost constantly favoured, and whose ban- 
 ners victory had generally accompanied, saw his last 
 days embittered by domestic revolt. He had formed 
 the resolution of reducing his rebellious son to obe- 
 dience by arms, but died in the midst of his prepara- 
 tions for war, A.D. 1015, after a reign of forty-five 
 years over Russsia. 
 
 VOL.111. 2S N
 
 626 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 No sooner was Vladimir consigned to the grave, 
 than Sviatopolk, one of his sons, resolving, by artifice or 
 violence, to make himself sole monarch of Russia, dis- 
 patched by assassination three of his brothers, a horri- 
 ble circumstance, which gave the others good reason to 
 expect the same fate. Yaroslaf, prince of Novogorod, 
 resolving to frustrate the designs of his ambitious and 
 sanguinary brother, drove him from Kioff, and obliged 
 him to take refuge with Boleslaus, duke of Poland, 
 whose daughter he had married. Boleslaus, in hopes 
 of profiting by the dissensions of the brothers, readily 
 espoused the cause of his son-in-law, retook Kioff, and 
 re-established Sviatopolk in his government. Yaroslaf, 
 in his turn, fled to Novogorod, and levied fresh forces. 
 Boleslaus retired from Russia, having previously plun- 
 dered Kioff and seized some places on the frontiers. 
 A bloody battle took place between the two brothers, 
 in which Sviatopolk, being totally defeated, betook 
 himself to flight, and died on the road. Yaroslaf, who 
 owed his victory to the firm support of the* Novogo- 
 rodians, distinguished them-by marks of his gratitude, 
 giving them laws, and granting them privileges, which 
 greatly contributed to the future prosperity of their 
 city. He also exerted himself for the welfare of the 
 empire and the prosperity of the Christian church, by 
 building several towns and establishing a metropolitart 
 see at Kioff. Yaroslaf was himself an able theologian 
 for that age, and endeavoured to diffuse among his 
 subjects the knowledge of Christianity; of which, 
 notwithstanding their profession, their notions were 
 very obscure. For this purpose he caused religious 
 books to be translated from the Greek, and employed 
 transcribers to copy them for dispersion among the 
 people. This prince, however, notwithstanding the 
 
 reiterated
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 6'2? 
 
 reiterated experience of its fatal consequences, adhered 
 to the pernicious system of dismemberment, instituted 
 by Vladimir, his father, and threw the same bone of 
 contention among his successors. He had resigned 
 Novogorod to his son, Vladimir, who, in an unsuccess- 
 ful expedition against the Greek empire, instead of 
 acquiring a rich booty, as he had expected, lost about 
 15,000 men. Isiaslaf succeeded to the grand princi- 
 pality of Kioff, and the other brothers had each his 
 separate portion of the empire. Yarosbf died A.D. 
 1054, after having pathetically exhorted his sons to 
 maintain among themselves fraternal concord and po- 
 litical union, as the only means of obtaining respect 
 from foreigners, and of reigning in peace and prospe- 
 rity. But neither the admonitions of a dying parent, 
 nor the ties of blood, could repress the lust of domina- 
 tion. Isiaslaf was, in the year 10(i7, obliged to aban- 
 don the grand principality of Kioff; but was rein- 
 stated the year following by the assistance of the 
 Poles ; and in 1075 was a second time expelled. He 
 then applied to Henry IV. emperor of German}', for 
 succours, which that monarch was not able to furnish ; 
 and on this disappointment the Russian prince, as his 
 last resort, had recourse to the Roman pontiff, who 
 claimed the right of disposing of kingdoms and em- 
 pires. Gregory VIII. who then sat in the papal chair* 
 xeadily gave away what was not his own, invested Isi- 
 aslaf with the sovereignty of Russia, and commis- 
 sioned the duke of Poland to reinstate him in the 
 grand principality. The view of Gregory in this pro- 
 cedure was to acquire for the see of Rome the supre- 
 macy of the Russian church, which was vested in the 
 patriarch of Constantinople. But although the Poles 
 reinstated Isiaslgf, the pope failed in his attempt to 
 
 '2 s 2 unite
 
 628 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 unite the Russian with the Latin church ; and the 
 clergy of that empire still continued to reject the su- 
 premacy of the Roman, and to acknowledge that of 
 the Byzantine see. 
 
 From this period, about A.D. 1077, the history of 
 Russia displays only a chaos of intestine confusion. 
 The empire was now split into a number of principa- 
 lities, the sovereigns of which scarcely acknowledged 
 even a nominal dependence on the grand prince. Such 
 were the principalities of Tweer, Tschernigoff, Smo- 
 lensk, Polotzk,. Nishncy Novogorod, Novogorod Si- 
 verskoy, Vladimir, Moscow, and several others, gra- 
 dually formed by repeated partitions, which weakened 
 the empire, and converted it into a theatre of perpe- 
 tual contention. A circumstantial detail of the un- 
 ceasing hostilities which the Russian princes carried 
 on against one another; their expulsions, reinstate- 
 ments, conspiracies, and assassinations, and the speci- 
 fication of the thousands who fell in those continual 
 wars, would only weary without instructing the mind. 
 It may therefore suffice to say, that the most horrible 
 scenes of civil contention recorded in the history of 
 any other country, might here find a counterpart. All 
 the political calamities that imagination can conceive, 
 existed in Russia as dreadful realities. In order to 
 put a stop to those desolating wars, a general assembly 
 of the princes met in 1 100, in which a treaty of union 
 was concluded, and almost immediately violated. The 
 Russian princes seemed indeed to have lost every idea 
 of the blessings of peace; and whenever a worthy so- 
 vereign appeared, he could not singly ameliorate the. 
 whole. 
 
 During those ceaseless revolutions resulting from 
 such a disorderly state of things, the grand principality 
 
 8 " of
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 629 
 
 of Kioffi, being always the object of aspiring ambition, 
 particularly suffered, and rapidly fell into a state of de- 
 cline; while the princes of Vladimir grew so powerful, 
 as to assume the paramount authority and title. No- 
 vogorod also flourished in power amidst these com- 
 motions. That city, formerly a Slavonian republic, 
 had always shewn a strong attachment to liberty. 
 Jlurik and the succeeding princes had always endea- 
 voured to keep the republican spirit within bounds; 
 but while the power of the sovereigns of Kioffwas 
 declining, the love of independence resuscitated afresh 
 among the Novogorodians. They barely acknow- 
 ledged a nominal obedience to their princes, whom 
 they .imprisoned, deposed, expelled, and changed at 
 pleasure. Within the space of 100 years, Novogorod 
 had no fewer than thirty-four different princes. One 
 of these they accused of keeping a large pack of 
 hounds, with a great number of hawks and falcons, 
 and of appropriating to himself the rivers in which 
 they used to fish. They presented to him a remon- 
 strance, which concluded with these words : " We can 
 no longer endure thy tyranny ; get away from us in 
 God's name ; we will presently find us another prince." 
 The prince immediately sent deputies to the citizens, 
 and promised to submit to their pleasure; but they 
 would not take his word, and threatened to expel him 
 by force, if he did not voluntarily resign : another 
 of their princes they imprisoned, because, as they said, 
 he only pursued his pleasures of hawking and hunting, 
 and gave himself no concern about the government 
 and the administration of justice. These facts are 
 sufficient to shew that the Novogorodian princes pos- 
 sessed very little power, and that the state was, in 
 reality, a republic, rather than a principality. Not
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 only their particular princes, but also the grand princes 
 were obliged to "content themselves with a nominal , 
 sovereignty over that haughty city; which besides 
 being the emporium of the Russian commerce, and 
 the staple town of the Hanseatic merchants', was in 
 possession of Ingria and Karelia, and consequently 
 able not only to raise a formidable army within its 
 own territories, but also sufficiently opulent to procure 
 and to pay numerous bodies of auxiliaries. Thus, in 
 the midst of general confusion, the proud city of No- 
 vogorocl, supported by commerce and flowing in 
 wealth, displayed all the haughtiness %hich prosperity 
 so often inspires. 
 
 The Russian empire, split into numerous divisions, 
 had been lacerated by intestine wars, during the space 
 of two centuries, when a still more dreadful calamity 
 was about to complete the long catalogue of its mis- 
 fortunes. The Mongols, a nation of the same pedigree 
 as the Huns, inhabiting an extensive region in Asia, in 
 the vicinity of China, hud, about the year 1224, emi- 
 grated from their native seats, under the conduct of 
 the famous Zinghis, or Gengis Khan, the most suc- 
 cessful conqueror of his time. This barbarian chief 
 subdued the various Tartar hordes, which inhabited 
 the extensive countries, lying between Mongalia and 
 the Caspian Sea, and over-ran Bucharia, Persia, and 
 the greatest part of China. His numerous armies, 
 consisting not only of Mongols, but also of the agglo- 
 merated swarms of the Tartar nations, whom he had 
 subdued, acting on the principle of insatiable rapacity 
 and unrelenting cruelty, spread terror and dismay on 
 all sides, and marked their footstep with barbarities and 
 devastation. His son, advancing along the shores of 
 the Caspiah Sea, gradually approached towards Eu- 
 rope
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 631 
 
 rope, subdued the Circassians and Polovitzes, and pro- 
 ceeded as far as the Dnieper. The Russian princes 
 might plainly foresee that they would be the next 
 objects of attack ; and when it was somewhat too late, 
 resolved to support the Polovitzes in the defence of 
 their country, which lay as a rampart between Russia 
 and the invading Tartars. A bloody engagement took 
 place near the river Kalka, in which the combined 
 forces of the Russians and the Polovitzes were totally 
 defeated by the invaders, with a terrible slaughter. 
 The Tartars, however, for some reasons not specified 
 in history, instead of pursuing their conquests, left the 
 Russians thirteen years without further molestation. 
 They had therefore sufficient time for constructing 
 fortifications, and concerting plans of defence against 
 any new attack. But the Russian princes, actuated 
 by an infatuation similar to that of the Britons at the 
 time of the Saxon invasion,* although convinced by 
 experience that the Tartars were formidable enemies, 
 instead of employing this favorable interval, in form- 
 ing a confederacy to prevent their future incursions, 
 recommenced those domestic quarrels, which had so 
 greatly enfeebled the state. These incessant wars 
 continually depopulating the country, and diminishing 
 the number of fighting men, invited the attacks of the 
 Tartars, and smoothed their way to the conquest of 
 the empire. . 
 
 Baaty, grandson or nephew of Zinghis Khan, was 
 the first of the Tartar princes who penetrated into the 
 interior of Russia. He had first attacked and subdued 
 the Bulgarians, who had in vain implored the assist- 
 ance of the Russian princes. He then advanced into 
 Russia, where Riazan was the first principality that 
 
 * See Hut. of England in thu \rwnk. 
 
 ( l S 4 fclt
 
 (532 EUROPEA-N RUSSIA. 
 
 felt the desolating fury of the Tartars. These people, 
 indeed, were terrible enemies: wherever they came 
 the whole country was laid waste, the towns and vil- 
 lages plundered and burnt, all the men able to bear 
 arms were put to the sword, the women and children 
 carried into captivity; submission met with no greater 
 lenity than resistance : their mode of making war being 
 on the sole principle of universal destruction. The 
 fall of Riazan was immediately followed by that of 
 Perciaslavi, Susdal, Rostock, and several others. The 
 Tartars now entered the grand principality of Vladi- 
 mir, which they desolated with fire and sword. The 
 capital was taken and burnt; and the grand princess 
 and her children, with other ladies of distinction, hav- 
 ing taken refuge in a church, perished in the flames 
 which consumed the building. The massacre of the 
 inhabitants was general and indiscriminate ; no age, 
 sex, or rank, was spared. The grand prince, who by 
 an unaccountable negligence had delayed to take the 
 necessary measures for resistance, was employed at a 
 distance in collecting an army, when he heard of the 
 horrible fate of his capital and family. Impelled by 
 despair, he engaged the Tartars with a small number 
 of chosen warriors ; but his courage was exerted too 
 late, and he fell bravely fighting at the head of his 
 troops. The Tartars .pushed forward to within sixty 
 miles of Novogorod, when, for reasons totally un- 
 known, they suddenly turned about and retreated: 
 and thus that rich and commercial city escaped the 
 scourge of Tartar devastation. 
 
 About two years after this terrible incursion, the 
 Tartars again returned ; and southern and western 
 Russia became the ensanguined theatre of those hor- 
 rors which the eastern parts had so lately experienced.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 In many parts of the country the inhabitants, aban- 
 doning the towns and the villages, and even the forti- 
 fied places, fled before this desolating enemy. Kioff 
 was taken after a desperate resistance ; and the bloody 
 scenes of Vladimir were renewed in that city. Baaty 
 the Tartar chief, then turned his arms against Poland; 
 and having overrun that country, forced his way into 
 Silesia, and returned through Moravia and Hungary. 
 After this expedition the Tartars discontinued their 
 incursions, and contented themselves with imposing 
 on the Russian princes considerable tributes. These 
 princes were also obliged to appear in the main camp 
 of the Tartars of Kaptschak in order to receive their 
 investiture from the khan, and do homage to him as 
 their paramount lord. This camp was known by the 
 name of the Golden Horde, having received that ap- 
 pellation from the magnificent tent of the khan. Rus- 
 sia, thus reduced to the most degrading state of humi- 
 liation, was obliged to acknowledge die Tartarian so- 
 vereignty, and to acquiesce in whatever tribute it 
 should please the khan, their paramount lord, to im- 
 pose on her princes. At first a contribution was fur- 
 nished by each prince, who levied it on his subjects ; 
 but afterwards the khans required a tribute in propor- 
 tion to the population of each principality, aud ap- 
 pointed Tartar collectors, who imposed on every Rus- 
 sian, without distinction, a tax according to the 
 standard of his circumstances. Only the clergy, and 
 ull persons engaged in the functions of religion, were 
 exempted. The singular reverence in which sacer- 
 dotal order was held among the pagan Tartars, appears 
 to have caused them to respect it even among ene- 
 mies and Christians. 
 
 The exhausted and enfeebled state of the Russian 
 
 empire
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 empire, resulting from the incursions and ravages of 
 the Tartars, naturally excited the neighbouring na- 
 tions to take advantage of its distress. Among others, 
 the Danes, the Swedes, and the Livonian knights, had 
 their eye upon Novogorod, and made preparations for 
 its reduction. But Alexander their prince, son of the 
 grand prince, Yaroslaf, to whom his father, at his de- 
 parture for Vladimir, had resigned the government of 
 the Novogorodian state, gained a complete victory 
 over the Danes on the banks of the Neva, which pro- 
 cured him the surname of Newsk-i, so famous in the 
 religion and history of Russia. Whether Alexander 
 had taken some steps to acquire greater influence than 
 the princes of Novogorod had hitherto possessed, or 
 whether the Novogorodians only apprehended such 
 an attempt, they revolted against his authority and 
 compelled him to retire; but being again menaced by 
 enemies, they sent to request his return. Alexander, 
 however/ did not comply till he received from them a 
 second embassy with the archbishop at its head. He 
 then came, and not only relieved Novogorod, which 
 was closely besieged, but also repulsed the enemy, and 
 advancing to Livonia, gained, A.D. J245, a new vic- 
 tory over the Germans, Danes, and Tschudes, on the 
 borders of the Lake of Peipus. The fame of his ex- 
 ploits must have soon reached the ears of the Tartar 
 khan; who, on the death of his father, the grand 
 prince, Yaroslaf, invited him to the horde. The manly 
 figure and graceful deportment of the prince of Novo- 
 gorod so captivated the khan, that he confessed his 
 merit to be superior to all that fame had reported in 
 his praise. In l^i.52 Alexander ascended the throne 
 as grand prince, and soon afterwards undertook ano- 
 ther expedition against the Swedes, which proving 
 
 successful,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. f>35 
 
 successful, he ravaged the countries captured from the 
 enemy, conformably to the practice of that barbarous 
 age, and returned with a multitude of prisoners and 
 great quantities of spoil. 
 
 Novogorod had happily escaped the ravages of the 
 Tartars, but in common with the rest of the empire, 
 was subject to tribute; and this ignominious circum- 
 stance was singularly galling to 'its high spirited citi- 
 zens, who peremptorily refused to pay the taxes to the 
 Tartarian collectors. The grand prince, Alexander, 
 foreseeing the dangerous consequences that might 
 arise from their obstinacy against a power, which it 
 was at that time impossible to resist with success, took 
 a journey from Vladimir to Novogorod, and by his. 
 influence among the citizens, settled the business, both 
 to their satisfaction and to that of the Tartars. The 
 general displeasure of the Russians began soon after 
 te manifest itself in acts of violence; and in several 
 of the cities the Tartar collectors were massacred. The 
 khan, on receiving intelligence of these proceedings, 
 was extremely exasperated, and commanded not only 
 the grand prince, but all the other Russian princes, to 
 appear at the camp, each at the head of his troops. 
 His design being evidently to deprive Russia of its 
 armed defenders, in order to reduce her to a still more 
 rigorous subjection, Alexander, desirous of averting 
 
 v O 
 
 the disasters which threatened his country, conceived 
 the adventurous resolution of repairing alone to the 
 horde in order to make use of his influence with the 
 Tartar chief, to appease his wrath by Ji prudent sub- 
 mission. He remained a whole year at the horde, be- 
 fore he could succeed in diverting the khan from his 
 purpose; but having at last accomplished the dijjicult 
 task,l;e procured his dismission, and dietl suddenly on 
 
 his
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 his return home, A.D. J^26'2, with circumstances which 
 excited a suspicion that poi;*on had been administered 
 to- him previous to his departure from the camp. Thus 
 died the celebrated Alexander Newski, a consummate 
 politician and an intrepid warrior. He was certainly 
 a hero, and is regarded by the Russian church as a 
 saint- His name is held in so great veneration, 
 throughout the whole empire, that Peter the Great, 
 in order to give his new city of Petersburg greater 
 importance in the eyes of a people remarkably fond of 
 saints and miracles, built a monastery to the honour 
 of St. Alexander Newski, and caused the relics of the 
 grand prince to be brought, attended by several hun- 
 dreds of priests, with numberless ceremonies, from 
 Vladimir to Petersburg. The emperor with the whole 
 court went to meet the procession, and saw the coffin 
 deposited in the monastery. This consecrated edifice 
 has received various embellishments from the suc- 
 ceeding sovereigns of Russia : Elizabeth, in particu- 
 lar, caused a shrine of beaten silver to be made for 
 the saint. Peter I. likewise instituted an order of 
 knighthood in honour of St. Alexander Newski, which 
 is worn even by kings.* 
 
 From this short digression, commemorative of a 
 personage whose name stands so high in the political,, 
 religious, and military history of Russia, and who was 
 undoubtedly a great prince and a good patriot, if we 
 return to take a rapid glance at the state of things in 
 that empire after his death, nothing but a chaos of 
 calamities and crimes presents itself to our view. The 
 princes of Russia, even in a state of degrading sub. 
 
 * Tliis order was conferred b_y the Emperer Paul on Lord Camper- 
 down, on occasion of the victory guiued by that great commander over the 
 DutcU fleet, A.D. 1797. 
 
 jection,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 637 
 
 jection, could not desist from those mutual animosities 
 and jealousies which had first reduced them to that 
 condition. Their whole system of policy was to gain 
 by presents and bribes, the favour of the Tartar khans 
 and of the great men of the horde. Supported by 
 their interest, Yury, prince of Moscow, attempted to 
 wrest the grand principality from Michael of Vladir 
 mir. The latter, however, bravely defended his do- 
 minions, and defeated the Moscovian prince, whose 
 army was strengthened by Tartar auxiliaries. Yury's 
 consort, who was .sister to the khan, was made pri- 
 soner, and her death happening soon after was attri- 
 buted to Michael. The grand prince was summoned 
 to appear at the horde ; and obeying the summons 
 contrary to the advice of his sons, was there put to 
 death by the hands of the executioner ; and Russia, 
 sunk to the lowest state of degradation, witnessed the 
 humiliating spectacle of her sovereign judicially con- 
 demned, and publicly executed by the command of u 
 foreign barbarian. Yury now obtained the grand 
 principality, and about the year 13CJ5, transferred its 
 seat from Vladimir to Moscow. But he did not long- 
 enjoy the fruits of his intrigues, being shortly after 
 assassinated bv one of Michael's sons, in revenue of 
 
 / O 
 
 his father's death. The assassin, in his turn, was put 
 to death by the khan, who raised a second son of the 
 decapitated Michael to the grand principality. This 
 grand prince and his son both lost their lives at the 
 horde; and Ivan, prince of Moscow, was, through his 
 artful intrigues with the khan, elevated to the throne 
 of the grand principality. From this period Moscow 
 became the chief scat of the Russian empire. During 
 a period of thirteen years, from 1340 to 13.33, Simeon, 
 son and successor of Ivan, reigned peaceably, in con- 
 junction
 
 (>38 EUROPEAN KUSSIA. 
 
 t 
 
 junction with his brethren, in the grand principality; 
 exhibiting a phenomenon in the Russian history. 
 The otlier inferior princes continued their system of 
 contention and strife, and numbers of their subjects 
 joined themselves to those of Moscow, where cilone 
 they could enjoy tranquillity. Thus the population 
 of that principality was increased ; its strength con- 
 solidated, and a foundation was laid for the future 
 grandeur of the Russian empire. 
 
 The multiplied divisions of this empire, and the con- 
 tentions of its princes, which rendered them unable to 
 resist the Tartars, had caused its downfal ; and similar 
 circumstances taking place among its enemies, contri- 
 buted to its restoration. The Tartars separating into 
 several hordes, and becoming the prey of intestine 
 commotions, held with a feeble hand the sovereignty 
 over Russia, whose princes acknowledged only a loose 
 kind of obedience, sometimes to one khan and some- 
 times to another, according to temporary circum- 
 stances, and as it suited their particular purposes. 
 Sometimes even the contending Tartar chiefs solicited 
 the protection of the Russian princes. Thus the Rus- 
 sian power gradually rose, while that of the Tartars 
 declined. The tributes were now less punctually paid, 
 and although the Tartars sometimes made inroads to 
 enforce their payment, or procure an indemnification, 
 thej' were no longer found the same formidable enemy 
 as before ; and the Russians frequently defeated their 
 predatory bands. 
 
 The khan of the Donskoi Tartars resolving at last to 
 maintain, by arms, his sovereignty over Russia, the 
 grand prince, Dmitri, prevailed on the rest of the 
 .princes, for once, to form a confederacy in defence of 
 their country. Having by this means collected an 
 
 army
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 639 
 
 army of 200,000 men, he marched from Moscow, and 
 advancing to the Don, gained, though not without 
 great loss, a complete victory over the khan, whose 
 army was greatly superior in numbers. This battle of 
 the Don taught the Russians that the Tartars were not 
 invincible, and that nothing bnt union was wanting to 
 enable them to shake off the yoke with which they had 
 so long been*oppressed. This, however, was not effected 
 at once. The Tartars made several other incursions, 
 in one of which they took and destroyed Moscow ; 
 and the grand prince was obliged to submit to tribute, 
 and to obtain his confirmation from the khan. Rus- 
 sia about this time was threatened with a new, and 
 perhaps still heavier bondage from the appearance of 
 Tamerlane, who having conquered Persia, and the 
 Tartars of the Don and the Volga, about the year 13y(>, 
 penetrated as far as Moscow ; but, fortunately for 
 Russia, India had superior charms in the eyes of this 
 conqueror ; a circumstance which saved her empire 
 from further ravages, and perhaps from total subjuga- 
 tion. 
 
 The power of the grand princes of Moscow was now 
 so greatly increased, that Vassilly, the son and suc- 
 cessor of Dmitri, caused himself to be crowned ; a 
 measure which none had ventured to adopt since the 
 establishment of the Tartar sovereignty. But in pro- 
 portion as Moscow was rising to greatness, Kioff had 
 declined. The Tartar invasion of 1240 had reduced 
 the country around it to a desert ; and at last, in 1320, 
 the duke of Lithuania seized on the enfeebled princi- 
 pality, whereby it devolved to Poland ; but after a 
 separation of above 300 years, it was re-anncxcd to 
 Russia. The Hungarians also had seized on Hulitsch 
 and Vladimir, which they had been obliged to aban- 
 I don
 
 1 . 
 
 640 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 don to the Poles, and the Swedes had likewise taken 
 possession 1 of some of the Russian provinces bordering 
 on their dominions. 
 
 The reign of Ivan* Vassillievitch I, who ascended 
 the throne of the grand principality of Moscow in 
 146O, at the age of twenty-three, gave an entirely 
 new aspect to Russia. Ambitious and enterprising in 
 himself, and instigated by .his consort, a Grecian 
 princess, he formed the great plan of shaking off the 
 i'gnominous yoke of the Tartars, and of consolidating 
 the empire by completely establishing the authority 
 and domination of the grand prince. In three cam- 
 paigns he reduced the Tartars of Kazan, and obliged 
 their khan to acknowledge himself a vassal of Russia. 
 The khan of the Golden Horde, however, made an 
 attempt to assert his sovereignty. He cited Ivan to 
 appear in his camp, and on his refusal marched into 
 Russia. Ivan made an attack on the horde, and 
 carried off a considerable booty, a circumstance which 
 induced the khan to make a precipitate retreat. 
 But another Tartarian tribe having carried off all the 
 
 o 
 
 women and children, and destroyed the dwellings, 
 fell on the khan himself in his return, routed his 
 army, and entirely put an end to the Golden Horde,f 
 from the ruins of which the Kazanian and Krimean 
 Tartars greatly increased the.ir numbers. Ivan now 
 turned his arms against the Poles and Lithuanians, 
 and being every where successful, recovered many 
 places which had been rent from Russia. In I486) 
 the subjects of the prince of Tweer having risen in 
 
 * Iran is tlie Russian name of John. 
 
 t The name of the Golden Horde, of which the origin has already 
 been related, was given to the whole territory of the Tartars on the banks 
 f the Volga. Tooke's Hist. Ilussia, vol. 1, p. 251. 
 
 rebellion,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 
 
 teliellion, Ivan, at then- request granted them his 
 assistance, and on that occasion united the princi- 
 pa'ity of Tweer to that of Moscow. Most of the other 
 principalities had already been annexed to that para- 
 mount state, so that Ivan united under his dominion, 
 the collective strength of the whole Russian empire. 
 He was able, therefore, to set on foot a great military 
 force, which was the more formidable as he had pro- 
 cured fire arms and artillery, the use of which had 
 been taught to the Russians by Aristotle of Bologna, 
 an Italian.* Destitute of these advantages, the irregu- 
 lar troops of the Tartars, accustomed only to desultory 
 warfare, were unable to keep the field against the 
 armies of Russia. 
 
 Novogorod, famous for the wealth and the haughti- 
 ness of its citizens, still existed as a separate state, 
 over which the grand prince had little control. A 
 plot being formed among the inhabitants for the 
 purpose of totally dismembering that principality from 
 Russia, and uniting it to Lithuania, Ivan adopted the 
 gentle measure of remonstrating, by his ambassador, 
 on the impropriety of their conduct. The Novogo- 
 rodians, however, treated his representations with the 
 most insulting arrogance, in consequence of which 
 both sides prepared for war. Ivan commenced hosti- 
 lities by breaking into their territory on three sides, 
 with three different armies. The Novogorodians, find- 
 ing themselves unable to resist so formidable an attack, 
 offered to own him for their sovereign, on the same 
 terms as they had acknowledged former princes. But 
 Ivan required from Novogorod the same uncondi- 
 tional obedience that was paid him at Moscow, and 
 forcibly deprived the citizens of those privileges which, 
 
 " Levesque Hiitoire cle Russic, toni. ?, p. 533. 
 VOL. in. 2 T they
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 they would not voluntarily resign. Treating them a> 
 a conquered people, he broke up the popular assem- 
 blies, sentenced numbers of the inhabitants to death, 
 confiscated their estates, and carried away that im 
 raense booty which has already been mentioned.* 
 In 1485, some disposition to revolt having appeared- 
 among the citizens, lie removed fifty of the principal 
 families into other towns, and in 1487 and 1489 re- 
 peated this transplantation, by distributing great 
 numbers of the most considerable Novogorodians into 
 different parts of the empire, and sending a colony o 
 more loyal subjects to Novogorod. He also imprison- 
 ed the German merchants residing in that city, whom^ 
 indeed, he afterwards liberated; but he confiscated 
 all the property of the Hanseatic league. After this 
 period, Novogorod no more recovered its former 
 splendor.f Towards the end of his reign the Kaza- 
 nian Tartars made a violent effort to shake off the 
 Russian yoke, and carried their arms to the gates of 
 Moscow. Ivan was compelled to conclude a disad- 
 vantageous treaty, but was afterwards so fortunate a* 
 to render himself a second time master of Kazan. 
 Severin, the last distinct principality, was in his reign 
 annexed to that of Moscow, so that before his death* 
 all the Russian provinces were reunited, and com- 
 posed one empire. The title of Czar began to be 
 given him towards the close of his reign; but his 
 grandson, Ivan II, was the first monarch of Russia by 
 whom it was publicly assumed. 
 
 Ivan Vassillievitch I, was succeeded by his son 
 
 * Sec account of Nevogorod in the preceding chapter. 
 
 t " No place ever filled me with more melancholy ideas of fallen 
 grandeur than the town of Novogorod," says Mr. Co.\e, Trav. vol. %, 
 p. 213. 
 
 Vassilly,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 643 
 
 Vassilly, who took Smolensko from the Poles, but 
 was unsuccessful against the Kazanians who in his, 
 reign pillaged the city of Moscow.* This prince was 
 succeeded in 1553 by his son Ivan Vassillievitch II, 
 an infant, who in his riper years acquired the shock- 
 ing surname of Terrible. The reins of government 
 during his minority were held by his mother, who 
 addicted herself to pleasurable pursuits, and on her 
 death the chiefs of the nobility assumed the sovereign 
 power. Numerous parties arose, and the empire 
 which had been so lately consolidated, was near being 
 again broken into fragments, and falling into its 
 former anarchy. The Tartars also took and burned 
 Moscow. But Ivan having attained his seventeenth 
 year, took upon himself the government, and imme- 
 diately adopted the most vigorous measures. His two 
 gran4 political objects were to suppress all the fac- 
 tions, and to incapacitate the Tartars from again in- 
 festing the empire. Both these aims he successful]^ 
 accomplished. The city of Kazan was taken, the 
 khan was compelled to be baptized, the Mahomedan. 
 mosques were converted into Christian churches, and 
 the Kazan-tartarian empire was annexed to Russia. 
 This conquest was followed by that of the Tartar king- 
 dom ofAstrachan; and in Ivan's successful reign, a 
 new world, an empire of an immense extent, expand- 
 ed itself to the possession of the Russian czars, in the 
 discovery and conquest of Siberia. On this subject 
 more will be said in its proper place. Confining our 
 views at present to Europe, we shall observe, that 
 Ivan not only extended the limits of his empire by 
 arms and by accident, but also resolved to reform and 
 civilize his people, and to rentier them more polished, 
 
 J'ull'end. Hist, des Ktats formi eu Europe, vol. i>, di. 1 1 
 2 T 'I
 
 644 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 more skilful and industrious. He began his reforms 
 by erxictin-g a code of laws ; but he soon perceived 
 that the temper of Ins subjects was not to be altered 
 by legislative systems and theories, but by harsh 
 treatment and painful corrections. Even the great 
 men, for the most part, passed their lives in a state 
 of mental inactivity, and in a total ignorance of what- 
 ever can improve and elevate the human intellect; 
 but the czar was resolved to force upon them those 
 benefits which they were unwilling to receive. The 
 restless city of Novogorod, felt the most horrible 
 effects of his severity. The 'archbishop being sus- 
 pected of having, in concert with a great number of 
 the citizens, framed a plot for delivering- wp the town- 
 to the king of Poland, the czar immediately marched 
 to Novogorod, and there held a bloody tribunal. 
 No fewer than 25,000 persons implicated in the con- 
 spiracy, were condemned and executed with the most 
 shocking circumstances of cruelty.* Ivan was not' 
 only cruel in his politics, but his temper was naturally 
 irascible, and one of the violent ebullitions of his 
 anger, eventually proved a source of misfortunes to 
 his. empire and his family. On some sudden provoca- 
 tion, of which history does not mention the cause, 
 he killed his eldest son with a stroke on the head, a 
 misfortune, of which Ivan soon foresaw the disastrous 
 consequences ; for although at his deftth he left two 
 other sons, the eldest of them was infirm both in 
 body and mind, and the younger was in his infancy* 
 He therefore reproached himself all his life with this 
 calamitous event, which produced. a series of convul- 
 
 * Tooke's Hrst.Russra,-ol. ljp.597,
 
 HISTORICAL V1.J5W. 645 
 
 sions in the empire, that terminated in the accession 
 of a new family to the Russian throne.* 
 
 Ivan Vassillievitch died A.D. 1584, in the fifty-fifth 
 year of his age, and the thirty-ninth of his reign, 
 reckoning from the expiration of his minority. 
 Knowing the incapacity of his eldest son Feodor, he 
 instituted a regency, and appointed persons to super- 
 intend the education of his younger son Dmitri. The 
 court soon began to split into factions, and the imbe- 
 cility of Feodor gave rise to a repetition of the same 
 evils, as his father's minority had before occasioned. 
 'In this state of affairs, Boris Gudenoff, whose sister 
 was married to Feodor, found means to murder the 
 young Dmitri. The death of Feodor, whether natural 
 or the effect of poison is uncertain, also happening 
 soon after, Boris was, by the management of the 
 patriarch of Moscow, raised to the Russian throne, 
 and was crowned at Moscow A.D. 1598- Thus ended 
 the sovereign race of Rurick, the founder of the 
 Russian monarchy, whose descendants had ever since 
 864 possessed its throne. 
 
 Though Boris did not attain to the sovereignty by 
 the most justifiable means, his subsequent conduct 
 shewed him worthy of the empire. In every respect 
 he was provident for the prosperity and welfare of 
 the people. The extension of commerce, the im- 
 provement of manufactures, the introduction of learri- 
 
 * In the reign of this prince tlic English trade with Russia commenced 
 by the accidental arriral of Captain Richard Chancellor at Archangel, 
 A.D. 1553. The Tartars also, in the beginning of this reign, made their 
 last irruption into Russia, and burnt the city of Moscow, then accord- 
 ing to some accounts thirty, and according to others filty miles in com- 
 pass, and resembling a number of towns, or rather of villages joine/d 
 together. Ivan caused it to be rebuilt in a better style. Tooke's Hist, 
 sin, vol. 1, p. 301. 
 
 2x3 iii
 
 64(5 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 ing, science, and arts, were the grand objects of his 
 attention. He imitated Ivan VassiJlievitch in his 
 encouragement of foriegners; and in the time of a 
 grievous famine, which raged three years in Russia, 
 from 1601 to 1604, he shewed himself the true father 
 of his people, by opening his abundant coffers, and 
 distributing vast sums among the distressed inhabi- 
 tants of Moscow. He also compelled the nobility and 
 clergy to open their plentiful granaries, and to sell 
 him their corn at half its value, which he then dis- 
 tributed gratis to the poor. In a word, his great 
 abilities and the benefits which he conferred on the 
 empire, render it a subject of regret that he had not 
 a just title to the sovereignty. Notwithstanding his 
 benevolence to the people, however, he has been 
 taxed with cruelty. Many of the great men who had 
 been his equals, were hostile to his measures, and 
 could not brook his superiority. Thus was generated 
 a factious spirit among the nobility, which he endea- 
 voured to repress by imprisonments, exiles, and 
 bloody executions. 
 
 All the precautions, however, that Boris could take 
 for maintaining bis power, proved ineffectual ; and 
 .his throne was overturned by an attack which no 
 human sagacity could have foreseen or expected. A 
 young monk, who had been repeatedly informed in 
 his convent, that his person bore a striking resem- 
 blance to that of the prince Dmitri, who had been 
 murdered by Boris, conceived the adventurous pro- 
 ject of mounting the throne of the czars by means 
 of this circumstance. He therefore assumed the 
 name and person of Dmitri, affirmed that he had been 
 saved from assassination in a wonderful manner, and 
 like Perkin VVarbeck in England, had framed a com- 
 plete
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 647 
 
 plete narrative of his singular escape and subsequent 
 adventures. Retiring into Poland, he opened the 
 drama by communicating it to some of the nobles as 
 a secret tb^c he was Dmitri, the son of Ivan Vassillie- 
 vitch, and consequently legal heir to the throne of 
 Kussia. To the graces of a fine person, he added the 
 charms of an irresistible eloquence, which gained him 
 a number of friends and admirers, among whom was 
 the vaivode of Sendomir, who promised him his 
 daughter Mariana in marriage. Even the king of 
 Poland himself espoused his cause, and gave him 
 every encouragement to proceed. Dmitri, to ensure 
 the support of the Poles, learned their language, 
 shewed a great attachment to their religion, and ob- 
 tained the patronage of the pope, by promising to 
 unite the Russian witlj the Roman church. The 
 Cossacks of the Don, disgusted with Boris, declared 
 without hesitation for the pretender; and the wonder- 
 ful news that Prince Dmitri was yet alive, soon spread 
 throughout Russia. Boris resolving, if possible, to 
 put a stop to this enterprise at its commencement, 
 prohibited all intercourse with Poland, and sent out 
 assassins hi quest of the pretended Dmitri. The 
 patriarch at the same time excommunicated all who 
 should give credit to his pretensions. The young 
 prince's mother, who was confined in a monastery, 
 was obliged to publish a declaration that her son 
 Dmitri died of a fever; and Boris wrote to the king 
 of Poland, requesting him not to countenance so vile 
 an imposture. The pretended Dmitri, on the other 
 hand, caused to be dispersed in Russia a declaration, 
 in which he affirmed that he was the real Dmitri, son 
 of Ivan, and consequently claimed the throne as his 
 indefeasible right. The courtiers, who were envious 
 <2 T 4 ou
 
 648 
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 on account of the elevation of Boris, were delighted 
 to see this attack on his power ; while those who knew 
 that Boris had caused Dmitri to he murdered, re-ard- 
 cd this event as a judgment from Heuv en . But a 
 great part of the nation believed this to be the true 
 prince, and since he had been preserved by miracle, 
 considered it as a duty to concur with the hand of 
 Providence in placing him on the throne. 
 
 While the public mind was thus agitated, the pre- 
 tended Dmitri appearing on the frontiers with an 
 army of Poles and Cossncks, defeated the forces of 
 the czar, which were greatly superior in number. 
 The impostor possessed uncommon intrepidity, and 
 displayed a great appearance of piety. Previous to 
 an engagement, he Used to pray aloud with great 
 pathos and eloquence, recommending to Heaven his 
 righteous cause; and his victory over the superior 
 army of the czar, augmented the number of those 
 who believed that he was favoured by Providence. 
 At this time a natural event also happened, which 
 .proved extremely prejudicial to the interests of Boris. 
 Strong corruscations of the aurora borea/is waving in 
 the air, and a comet also appearing in the Heavens, 
 the Russians, extremely superstitious and totally ig- 
 norant of natural causes, regarded those phcenomena 
 as manifest demonstrations of the Divine wrath 
 menacing their country, the awful effects of which 
 could be averted only by supporting the cause of 
 Dmitri, whom Providence had so miraculously pre- 
 served and brought to light. The defection now be- 
 came general, and Boris concluding it impossible to 
 make an effectual resistance, terminated his life by 
 poison.* The impostor shortly after made a magni- 
 
 * The accounts of hi* death have been differently related. Coxe, 
 Tol. 2, p. 84, where also see his character delineated. 
 
 ficent
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 649 
 
 ficent entry into Moscow, attended by a great num- 
 ber of his Polish troops. 
 
 Dmitri having now succeeded in his grand project 
 of placing himself on the throne of Russia, appears 
 to have been so much elated with his singular good 
 fortune, as to flatter himself that he could have no 
 further difficulties to encounter. But his imprudence 
 in this respect, furnished his enemies with the means 
 of accomplishing his overthrow. His predilection 
 for the Poles, of whom he had brought several .thou- 
 sands to Moscow, and conferred on many of them 
 .high offices and dignities, his connivance at the ex- 
 cesses of which they were guilty, his partiality for the 
 Catholic religion, his indifference towards the Greek 
 church, and his want of reverence to the clergy, his 
 marriage with a Polish lady, his inclination for the 
 manners and customs of Poland, and his, inordinate 
 voluptuousness, were all notoriously manifest, and 
 gave an extreme disgust to the Russians. The tide 
 of popular i'avour was now turned against him, and 
 his enemies artfully excited doubts of his legitimacy. 
 He had, indeed, sent for the mother of the murdered 
 Dmitri from the convent in which she was confined, 
 went to meet her with a splendid retinue, and be- 
 haved to her in every respect as a son. She also, 
 without hesitation, acknowledged him as such, and 
 acted perfectly well the part of a mother. It did nor, 
 however, require any great degree of penetration to 
 perceive, that her acknowledgment was no proof of 
 his legitimacy. She had no alternative between the 
 part that she acted, and immediate death. Setting 
 even that danger aside, as she could not recall to life 
 her murdered child, it must have given Jier pleasure 
 Jo see the downfall of his murderer ; and the liberty 
 1 and
 
 650 EUROPEAN fcUSSIA. 
 
 and splendor of a court, with the respect paid to her 
 as mother of the reigning czar, could not fail of being 
 preferable to the gloom of a convent. It is, there- 
 fore, no wonder that her testimony was readily ob- 
 tained, and not generally credited. His predilection 
 for foreign manners, was represented as a proof that 
 he could not be sprung from the blood of the Russian 
 czars.* The most ridiculous stories were invented to 
 exasperate the nation against him, and among others 
 a report was industriously spread that he intended, by 
 means of his Polish troops, to massacre the inhabitants 
 of Moscow. The hatred of the people was now 
 wrought tip to fury, and their sentiments were une- 
 quivocally expressed. Schulskoy, a nobleman of 
 Moscow, taking advantage of the general ferment, 
 put himself at the head of the enraged populace. The 
 clergy also encouraged the revolt, vehemently de- 
 claiming against the czar as a heretic. Schulskoy 
 immediately led a numerous multitude to storm the 
 -czarian palace. A dreadful slaughter of the Poles 
 ensued, not only at the palace, but in all parts of 
 Moscow, and such as escaped with their lives were 
 made prisoners. Dmitri escaped out of the tumult, 
 but was killed in his flight. 
 
 From this epoch Russia may date the commence- 
 ment of one of the most calamitous periods of her 
 existence, of shorter duration indeed, but not less 
 clisasterous than that of her subjection to the Tartars. 
 During several years the most flagrant enormities 
 proceeded in full career. Schulskoy pretending to 
 have no other object in view than the benefit of his 
 country, hawing, with the cross in one hand and a 
 
 * Great doubts hare been entertained whether Dmitri was or was not 
 an impostor. See the curious investigation in Coxe's Trav. rol. 2, cli. 7. 
 
 9 sword
 
 H1STOKICAL VIEW. 651 
 
 sword in the other, made his way to the palace, was 
 hailed by the clergy and populace as the defender of 
 the faith, and protector of the throne against a heretic 
 and impostor. This throne, however, was the object 
 at which he aimed, and which by his dextrous manage- 
 ment he found means to ascend. But the numerous 
 competitors for the crown, discontented at his eleva- 
 tion, immediately caused a report to be spread that 
 Dmitri, who was supposed to have been slain in the 
 late insurrection, was still alive. They also asserted, 
 that in spite of all that had been alledged, he was the 
 true Dmitri. The czaritza was now examined, and 
 confessed that the late czar was not her son Dmitri, 
 but that she hud been obliged to acknowledge him for 
 such, as the only means of saving her life. Indeed 
 she was still in the same predicament when she made 
 this confession, and therefore its validity was equallv 
 exceptionable. The Poles, however, enraged at the 
 fate of their countrymen at Moscow, produced a new 
 pretender, who is said to have been a schoolmaster in 
 Poland, and whom they asserted to be the true Dmitri. 
 Marina, consort of the late tzar, having been liber- 
 ated from confinement, impelled by her desire of 
 nvenging the death of her husband, and by an am- 
 bitious hope of remounting the throne, embraced this 
 second Dmitri as her spouse, who had happily escaped 
 durin^ the insurrection at Moscow. This new im* 
 
 O 
 
 poster, as well as the former, soon gained a multitude 
 of adherents, but was killed in an engagement with 
 the Tartars, .fresh impostors, however, continually 
 appeared, and there seemed to be no end of their suc- 
 cession. The czar, Skulskoy, soon discovered all the 
 difficulties of his situation, and found the throne from, 
 which he had hurled his predecessor, 10 be a seat 
 
 of
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 of uneasiness. After being for a long time harrassed 
 by incessant and increasing troubles, he was at length 
 obliged to resign the crown and adopt the cowl. He 
 was afterwards delivered up to the Poles, and died in 
 a dungeon. 
 
 These intestine commotions laid Russia open to the 
 intriguesand attacks of foreigners. In l60|), the king 
 of Poland' marched an army into the country, and was 
 joined by the Polish troops who had followed the two 
 Dmitris. These bold and licentious bands, now form- 
 ed an independent and powerful body, and it was 
 only after a long negotiation, and on condition of 
 great rewards, that they consented to join the standard 
 of their former sovereign. The Russians, harrassed 
 with unceasing commotions, were at length brought 
 by force and intrigue to submit to the ascendency of 
 the Poles, and came to the resolution of placing 
 Vladislaf, son of the king of Poland, on the throne 
 of the czars. Accordingly, in the year 1610, they did 
 homage to him at Moscow by proxy, in his absence^ 
 and surrendered the city to the Polish troops. But 
 his conformity to the Greek religion being nuide one 
 of the conditions of his elevation, gave rise to some 
 difficulties in the conclusion of the treaty ; and the 
 ultimate view of the Polish monarch being to unite 
 Russia and Poland under one sceptre, he delayed 
 from time to time to send the prince to Moscow. In 
 the mean while the Polish troops in Russia, especially 
 those stationed in the capital, were guilty of the most 
 flagrant enormities. The inhabitants at last took arms 
 against those licentious oppressors, and open hostili- 
 ties commenced. The Poles set fire ta the cities, 
 massacred about 100,000 of the inhabitants, and hav- 
 ing made a general pillage, retreated into the citadel 
 
 with
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 6*53 
 
 with a vast quantity of treasure. Russia again ex- 
 perienced all the horrors of intestine war. After a 
 long and bloody contest, however, the Poles were 
 driven out of Moscow, and obliged to evacuate the 
 
 ' O 
 
 whole empire. 
 
 During the long series of convulsions, which since 
 the death of the impostor Dmitri had agitated Russia, 
 the Swedes had conqaered the provinces adjoining 
 to their territories and captured Novogorod. The in- 
 habitants of that city had sent a deputation to Sweden, 
 requesting to have one of the sons of Charles IX. for 
 their sovereign ; but Charles dying before any thing 
 was concluded, Gustavus Adolphus, his successor, 
 formed views of a similar kind to those of Sigis- 
 mund of Poland, and thought it" preferable to unite 
 Russia to Sweden- But the Swedes in Novogorod, 
 by their misconduct, soon incurred the aversion of the 
 Russians, as the Poles had done in Moscow. In this 
 distracted state of the empire, it is no wonder that it 
 "was the general wish to have a sovereign by whom 
 tranquillity might be restored. The choice una-ni- 
 mously fell on Mikhaila Feodorovitch, a youth of 
 sixteen, a native Russian of the family of Romanof, 
 whose father, the Metropolitan of Rostock, was held, 
 in general estimation. In this election the clergv 
 were particularly active, being desirous that a Rus- 
 sian, educated in the Greek communion, should be 
 raised to the throne, as the only effectual means of 
 preventing the introduction of Protqstant or Catholic 
 heresy into the church of Russia, by a. Swedish or 
 Polish prince. 
 
 The election of Mikhaila, which took place A.D. 
 1()1.'{, frustrated tbe expectations which the kings of 
 Poland and Sweden had formed in respect of the 
 
 Russian
 
 654 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 Russian throne ; but it was no easy task to expel those 
 formidable enemies, who held several parts of the 
 empire that were contiguous to their own territories. 
 The first care of the new czar was to allay the internal 
 ferments of the empire, excited by the partizans of 
 Dmitri, that so the united national force might with 
 better success be directed against a foreign enemy. 
 By the prudent counsels of Philaretes, the czar's 
 father, who was made patriarch of (Moscow, the 
 government was conducted on a wise and judicious 
 plan. But the empire was too much exhausted to 
 contend at once with two such powerful enemies as 
 the Swedes and the Poles. A treaty of peace was, 
 therefore, concluded with Sweden, by which Russia 
 eded Esthonia, Livonia, Ingria, and Karelia, to that 
 crown ; and two years afterwards a pacification was 
 also effected with Poland for fourteen years and a 
 half. Russia purchased this truce with the surrender 
 of Smolensk, and several other of the frontier towns 
 to the Poles. In the present circumstances of the 
 empire, these sacrifices, however humiliating, were 
 necessary. 
 
 During this interval of tranquillity, the czar endea- 
 voured to form connections with the other European 
 states, to most of which he sent ambassadors; and 
 Russia, which had till then been regarded as an. 
 Asiatic, rather than an European power, now became 
 daily more known to the rest of Europe. The truce 
 with Poland being expired, Mikhaila judiciously pre- 
 pared for the recommencement of hostilities, by erect- 
 ing fortresses on the frontiers, and augmenting his 
 army. This war, however, was not of long continu- 
 ance. The czar failed in his attempt to draw the 
 Swedes into an alliance against Poland; and he plainly 
 
 perceived'
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 655 
 
 perceived that the Russian troops were not a match 
 for the Poles. A peace, therefore, was concluded, 
 on the condition of things remaining as before the 
 war. Mikhaila indeed had, during his reign, suffi- 
 cient employment to remedy the internal disorders t t3 
 bring again into play the disorganized machine of the 
 state, to restore vigour to the government, efficiency 
 to the laws, and activity to commerce. These objects 
 he pursued with great assiduity and vigour, although 
 be proceeded with great prudence and moderation, 
 and made as great progress as could be expected, in. 
 a reign begun under circumstances so extremely un- 
 favorable. It was reserved to his sou Alexis, who 
 succeeded him in 1 645, to give greater stability and 
 consequence to the empire. 
 
 The minority of Alexis, who ascended the throne 
 at fifteen years of age, was productive of various dis- 
 orders through the ambition, injustice, and oppression 
 of Morosof, to whom Mikhaila had committed the 
 education of the czar, and who had gained an entire 
 ascendency over the mind of his pupil. Disturbances 
 arose at Moscow, Novogorod, and other places, which, 
 however, were not 'followed by any serious con- 
 sequences. 
 
 The internal troubles of the empire, however, were 
 no sooner composed, than a war broke out with 
 Poland, and soon after also with Sweden. At the 
 conclusion of peace with the former power, Russia 
 regained possession of Smolensk, Severin, Tchernigof, 
 and Kioff, the primitive seat of the czars. The king 
 of Poland aUo renounced the supremacy over the 
 Cossacks, on whose account chiefly the war had been 
 commenced, and that nation became an appendage to 
 Russia. But the war with Sweden terminated le** 
 
 favourably.
 
 656 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 favourably. After horrible scenes of pillage and 
 massacre, after the sacrifice of thousands of human 
 beings, a peace, as it is often the case, was concluded 
 on the condition that things should remain on the 
 former footing. 
 
 The throne of Alexis was now endangered by a re- 
 volt of his new subjects the Cossacks. The Russian 
 commander in their district, had caused one of their 
 officers to be hano-ed,- which the nation considered 
 
 O 7 
 
 as a grievous infringement of their liberties; and 
 Radain, a brother of the deceased, found no difficulty 
 in e\citing a general insurrection. This rebellion 
 was not confined to the Cossacks alone, as the system 
 of warfare adopted by this rebel was general devasta- 
 tion and plunder ; multitudes of vagabonds from dif- 
 ferent provinces crowded to his standard, and he saw 
 himself at the head of 200,000 men. But his troops, 
 although so numerous, being totally undisciplined and 
 isrnorant of war. were not formidable to a regular 
 
 O ' O 
 
 military force. Their chief himself was so weak as 
 to surfer himself to be persuaded by an idle report, 
 that the czar had pardoned him and desired to see 
 him at Moscow. Flattered by this idea, he set out 
 with his brother for that capital, without entering 
 into any negotiation, or soliciting a safe conduct. At 
 a small distance from the city he met a gallows in a 
 cart, the dreadful harbinger of his fate. His execu- 
 tion had the desired effect on his followers, who im- 
 mediately began to disperse. Astraehan, their prin- 
 cipal retreat, was assaulted and taken by the czar's 
 troops, and 12,000 of those ruffians were gibbeted 
 on the high roads leading to that city. Thus ended 
 a revolt, which, under a skilful leader, might have been 
 productive of dangerous consequences to the empire. 
 
 Russia
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. Go? 
 
 Russia, formerly weakened by divisions, which had 
 reduced her to a state of insignificancy in the poJiti- 
 cal scale, being now united, began to appear formida- 
 ble ; and her acquisition of the sovereignty over the 
 Cossacks excited the jealousy of the Ottoman Porte. 
 The Turkish emperor, however, thought it adviseuble 
 first to make an attack on Poland, already weakened 
 by the war with Alexis, and afterwards to humble Rus- 
 sia. The Turks, therefore, in 1 671, invaded the Po- 
 lish dominions; and Alexis having concluded with. 
 Poland a treaty of alliance against this dangerous 
 neighbour, took an active part in the war. He also 
 sent ambassadors to several Christian princes whom 
 he exhorted to form a coalition against the implaca- 
 ble enemy of their faith; but their mutual jealousies, 
 animosities, and perpetual quarrels, prevented them 
 from listening to the proposal. The idea of a general 
 combination of Christendom against the Ottoman 
 empire, how brilliant soever in theory, could never be 
 brought into existence in the system of practical poli- 
 tics. For some years successively the Turks were 
 victorious, till a stop was put to their conquests by 
 that celebrated general, John Sobieski, who by his 
 victories over the enemies of his country, obtained the 
 crown of Poland. Alexis did riot live to see the ter- 
 mination of this war, as he died in 1676, in the forty- 
 seventh year of his age, and the thirty-second of his 
 reign, which was in general prosperous, and ultimately 
 benefical to his country. 
 
 This monarch not only aggrandised, but also im- 
 proved his empire. These were the two grand ob- 
 jects of his attention and pursuits. The mildness of 
 his government, and his liberal encouragement of me- 
 rit, allured into his dominions a great number of Ita- 
 
 VOL. in. ay lians,
 
 658 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 lians, Germans, Dutch and other foreigners.* He had 
 already formed several of the designs which his son, 
 Peter the Great, afterwards carried into execution ; 
 particularly that of making his subjects acquainted 
 with naval architecture and maritime commerce. And 
 although various circumstances had concurred to pre- 
 vent the execution of many of his projects, it may, 
 with strict justice be affirmed, that, during his reign, 
 Russia made some progress in civilization. 
 
 Alexis having been twice married, left by his first 
 marriage two sons, Feodor and Ivan, and six daugh- 
 ters, of whom one was the famous Sophia : Peter and 
 Natalia were the offspring of the Second. The prac- 
 tice of the czars, contrary to that of the other sove- 
 reigns of Europe, had long been to choose their con- 
 sorts among their own subjects.^ By this custom the 
 influence of foreigners on the national interest was, in 
 some measure, prevented ; and what seems to have 
 been, before the time of Peter the Great, a considera- 
 ble object of Russian politics, the empire had as little 
 connection as possible with other countries. But this 
 selection of the czaritza from the daughters of natives, 
 by giving that undue influence to particular families, 
 often excited the spirit of faction ; and if a czar married 
 twice, it was a fertile source of disasters to the empire. 
 "Several families became related to the sovereign, one 
 endeavouring to circumvent the other, and the new 
 relatives using every means for subverting the power 
 of the former alliance. This was the case with Alexis- 
 
 * About 3,000 Scotchmen went into Russia during his reign. Tooke's 
 Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 29. 
 
 t From this custom, however, some deviations occur in the Russian 
 .history. Vhidimir and Ivan II. married Grecian prince^sos. Tookc'^ 
 Hist Russia, vol. 1, p. 202278. 
 
 J By
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 By his first consort the family of Miloslafskoi acquired 
 great influence, which declined on his second mar- 
 riage with aNariskin. The czaritza naturally favoured 
 her own relations ; and the family of the Nariskins 
 gained the ascendancy. Feodor and Ivan, children of 
 the former marriage, were only of a feeble constitu- 
 tion of body, and gave no great indications of intel- 
 lectual abilities: in the latter respect, indeed, the opi- 
 nion in regard to Feodor proved to be ill founded ; but 
 Ivan, in addition to his corporeal infirmities, laboured 
 under great imbecility of mind. In this case it was 
 natural that the Nariskins should think of raising the 
 younger son, Peter, to the throne. By the accession 
 of Feodor, in consequence of the czar's nomination, 
 this project failed ; but the young czar's infirm state 
 of health encouraged a hope of its future success. 
 Notwithstanding, however, the weakness of his corpo- 
 real frame, Feodor, during his short reign of six years, 
 displayed great talents for government, and a sincere 
 wish for the good of his people. The war with the 
 Turks, in which Alexis had left him engaged, was ter- 
 minated without any disadvantage to Russia and her 
 sovereignty over the Cossacks was acknowledged by 
 the Porte. In the internal affairs of the empire, Feo- 
 dor's administration shone with still greater lustre, and 
 was attended with greater advantages to the empire. 
 He rectified many abuses, and made a variety of good 
 regulations. " He lived the joy and delight of his 
 people, and died amidst their sighs and their tears."* 
 Nothing but the succession of Peter the Great could 
 have compensated the loss which the empire sustained 
 by his death. 
 
 Knowing that Ivan's abilities were not adequate to 
 
 * .-tii!:ar;,lu f, lh? R'i-si:i!i liittorinn, apnd Toote, rol. 1, p. 40. 
 
 <J u 2 the
 
 6C0 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 the task of governing an empire, Feodor had nomi- 
 nated Peter, then only ten years old for his successor. 
 Peter, even at that early period of life, displayed ex- 
 traordinary abilities, and Ivan acknowledging his own 
 incapacity, was willing to relinquish, the throne ; but 
 to this, Sophia, his sister, would not consent. Under 
 the pretext of a sisterly affection for Ivan, her real 
 aim was to ascend the throne ; and her views were 
 favoured by the minister Galitzin, a man of great ta- 
 lents and sagacity. Sophia was a princess of exqui- 
 site beauty and of the most splendid accomplishments, 
 in the full bloom of youth, of boundless ambition, and 
 of the most daring courage. The exclusion of Ivan, 
 although with his own consent, afforded her a favora- 
 ble opportunity of forming a powerful party as the pa- 
 troness of the claims of her elder brother. In order 
 to promote her designs, her first step was to secure, by 
 money and promises, the concurrence of the strelitzes, 
 a body of soldiers, which consisting of upwards of 
 14,000 men, was able to give a powerful support to 
 any party. This military corps, first instituted by 
 Ivan Vassillievitch II, was at Moscow, what the prae- 
 torian guards once were at Rome, and what the janis- 
 saries are at Constantinople. These strelitzes being 
 dexterously gained, after having committed, during 
 three days, all manner of excesses, and sacrificed to 
 their fury several of the chief officers of state, who 
 were enemies to Sophia, forced their way to the pa- 
 lace, demanded the heads of the Nariskins, and by 
 acclamations declared Prince Ivan to be czar. He, 
 however, desiring that Peter should be colleague with 
 him in the government, his request was granted ; but 
 Sophia, was also declared co-sovereign with the two 
 czars; a regulation which, in consequence of Peter's 
 
 Youth
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 66l 
 
 youth and Ivan's imbecility, threw the power of the 
 government wholly into her hands. In the year 1687, 
 Sophia added her name to that of the czars, and caused 
 her image to be stamped on the coin. 
 
 A dangerous insurrection of the strclitzes, who had 
 so greatly contributed to the elevation of Sophia, now 
 threatened her downfall. Prince Kovanskoi, their 
 commander, having become her adversary,* had so 
 much influence over his licentious band as to arm the 
 whole body of the strelitzes against the government. 
 Sophia, the two czars, and the whole court, were re- 
 duced to the necessity of retiring precipitately from 
 Moscow, and of taking sanctuary in the strong monas- 
 tery of the Holy Trinity, about thirty-six miles from 
 that capital. Here they collected a great body of 
 troops, many of whom were foreigners, and were pre- 
 pared for a vigorous defence before the strelitzes ad- 
 vanced, f The result of this affair was, that the stre- 
 litzes being defeated and disarmed, Kovanskoi, their 
 commander, was beheaded, and the whole corps was 
 decimated for execution. The majority of them were 
 then draughted into other regiments on the frontiers. 
 After this commotion, tranquillity was for a while re- 
 stored ; but a war with the Turks, unsuccessfully con- 
 ducted by Galitzin, who, although a prudent minister, 
 was not a skilful commander, raised a general com- 
 plaint against both him and Sophia. Peter in the 
 meanwhile had, under the colour of an amusement, 
 attached to his interests a number of zealous adhe- 
 rents. He had formed a regiment consisting, for the 
 
 She had refused to give one of her sisters in nmriage to his son. 
 Tooke's Hist. Jlu;sia, vol. 1, [>. 4t~>, 
 
 I ; or a description of the monastery of (he Holy Trinity, ice Coxe's 
 1'rav. vol. 1', p. 7.']. 
 
 '2 V .'5
 
 662 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 most part, of youths of his own age. They were called 
 the czar's play-mates, and many of them were sons of 
 the principal nobility. In this company the czar 
 served first as a drummer, and was progressively 
 promoted through the several ranks. The proba- 
 bility that Peter might one day be sole sovereign 
 of Russia constantly brought to this small military 
 society an accession of young men, who became zea- 
 lously attached to his person. Sophia and her party, 
 at first paid little attention to this affair, which was 
 only considered as a frivolous amusement. But Peter, 
 having now attained his seventeenth year, began all at 
 once to display such a spirit of enterprise, with such 
 energy and perseverance in whatever he undertook, 
 as excited the admiration and hopes of his friends, and 
 greatly alarmed his enemies. 
 
 In 1GS9 Peter and Sophia came to an open rupture, 
 which could not fail of ending in the downfall of one or 
 the other. Peter, with his court and his friends, at- 
 tended by most of the foreigners among the troops, 
 repaired to the fortified monastery of the Holy Trinity. 
 Sophia, on the other hand, threw herself again into 
 the arms of the strelitzes, who had been re-established, 
 and whose leader engaged to remove Peter out or the 
 way, but the project miscarried. A great number of 
 defenders now resorted to Peter, the public voice* of 
 the nation being in his favour ; and he was placed on 
 the throne without a partner; for although Jvan lived 
 about seven years longer, he was a mere nonentity ; 
 Sophia was confined to a monastery ; Galitzin was 
 exiled to Siberia ; the commander of the strelitzes was 
 beheaded, and the rest of the conspirators were pu- 
 nished.* 
 
 * A curious investigation of Sophia's conduct and character may be 
 seen in Coxc' TraT. vol. 2, cli. 8. 
 
 From
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 663 
 
 From this period must be dated the commence- 
 ment of Peter's active reign. Being now s<5le sove- 
 reign, he gave the most unequivocal proofs of his pe- 
 netration and enterprising genius ; and shewed himself 
 thoroughly acquainted with the defects of his empire. 
 Except a few regiments on the frontiers, the strelitzes 
 of Moscow were the only standing forces of Russia ; 
 and these were more distinguished by their licentious- 
 ness than hy their military skill or their valour. The 
 rest of the Russian troops consisted of feudal levies, 
 without discipline, without any military uniform, and 
 with various kinds of arms. Peter resolved to form a 
 large standing army, and appointed the famous Le 
 Fort, a Genevan, and Gordon, a Scotchman, to raise 
 regiments after the European model. In these a mul- 
 titude of foreigners eniisted. In Gordon's were a 
 great number of Scotchmen, and the greater part of 
 Le Fort's regiment of 12,000 men consisted of fo- 
 reigners, many of them French. 
 
 This active and enterprising monarch having also 
 conceived a design of creating a marine as well as a 
 military force, took a journey to Archangel in order 
 to inspect the ships in the harbour. During his stay 
 there lie caused a large vessel to be built, and atten- 
 tively observed the work in every stage of its progress. 
 He employed himself also in making models of ships, 
 put his hand occasionally to labour, and learned the 
 business of a steersman. The extension of the com- 
 merce of his empire, and the establishment of a ma- 
 rine, were his two great plans ; but the want of ports 
 was, in the present state of the empire, an insurmount- 
 able obstacle to their execution. During the troubles 
 of the former reigns, the Swedes had seized on all the 
 Russian provinces bordering on the Baltic, and the 
 S c 4 Turku
 
 CC4 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 Turks occupied the shores of the Euxine. Archangel, 
 the only port of the empire, was in too rigorous a cli- 
 mate, and too far distant from all trading countries 
 ever to become an emporium of commerce, or a sta- 
 tion for fleets. Russia thus shut up in the north-east- 
 ern interior of Europe, was almost entirely excluded 
 from all maritime intercourse with the rest of the 
 world. The czar therefore formed the design of pro- 
 curing ports on the Euxine and the Baltic ; and both 
 these aims were at last accomplished. 
 
 The war with the Turks, which had been unsuc- 
 cessful under Galitzin, was not yet brought to a ter- 
 mination ; and Peter, placing no small confidence in 
 the new regulations introduced into the arm v. resolved 
 
 O * 7 
 
 to lender a vigorous effort to make himself master of 
 Asoph at the mouth of the Don, as the possession of 
 that place would open to Russia a communication with 
 the Euxine. In this war the czar gave an excellent 
 lesson to his nobility, in declining the chief command 
 of the army and serving as a simple volunteer. His 
 design in this was to shew that military talents are not 
 innate, but must be acquired. The first campaign, how- 
 ever, although not attended with any considerable 
 success, served in the course of its operations to dis- 
 play a variety of defects and mistakes, which Peter 
 learned to rectify. But the next year he was more 
 successful. He had constructed a fleet of small ves- 
 sels, which, co-operatiug with the army, enabled him 
 to terminate the campaign by the capture of Asoph ; 
 and in order to bestow a public and honourable re^ 
 ward on his soldiers, as well as to inspire his subjects 
 with a martial spirit, he appointed for his army a tri- 
 umphal entry- into Moscow, in imitation of the 
 triumphs of the ancient Romans. His next step was 
 
 to
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 663 
 
 to construct a fleet in the Euxine ; but his revenues 
 being insufficient for that purpose, he issued a procla- 
 mation requiring the clergy, nobility, 8cc. to manifest 
 their patriotism by a pecuniary contribution. As the 
 construction of this fleet could only be effected by 
 foreign workmen, Peter sent out several young Rus- 
 sians to Venice, Leghorn, and Holland, to learn the 
 art of ship-building, and others to Germany to study 
 the science of war in all its different branches. 
 
 The czar, however, thus putting his subjects in the 
 way of acquiring knowledge, could not be satisfied to 
 remain in ignorance himself, and therefore resolved on 
 a tour into foreign countries, in order to view their 
 different advantages, and to take the most effectual 
 
 O * 
 
 measures for introducing their arts, sciences, and 
 learning, into his empire. But Peter was not ex- 
 empted from the common lot of reformers, even in 
 more enlightened countries; and considering the state 
 of the Russians at that period, it cannot excite any 
 surprise that his conduct did not meet with general 
 approbation. A conspiracy was formed among the 
 strelitzes, of which the plan was to assassinate Peter, 
 to massacre the foreigners, and to place Sophia on the 
 throne; but this malignant design was happily de- 
 feated. The czar now set out on his journey, exhi- 
 biting the uncommon phenomenon of a great mo- 
 narch descending from his throne, and leaving for :t 
 time his dominions, to travel in foreign countries in 
 order to acquire knowledge, and propagate it among 
 his subjects. 
 
 The absence of Peter was considered by Sophia and 
 her adherents as affording her a fit opportunitv of 
 seizing on the throne. The strelitzes undertook to 
 effect this revolution, in which they were encouraged 
 
 "by
 
 66(5 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 by many of the ecclesiastics. Gordon at the head of 
 the troops stationed in the city and vicinity of Mos- 
 cow, attacked and defeated the rebels. The prisoners 
 were kept in custody till Peter's return, when dreadful 
 punishments were inflicted on the ringleaders. The 
 famous military corps of the strelitzes was totally 
 broken up, and those refractory soldiers were dispersed 
 among different regiments. Eudokia, the czar's con- 
 sort was banished to a cloister on suspicion of being 
 concerned in the conspiracy; and Peter's affection for 
 his son Alexis, from this period was observed to de- 
 cline. 
 
 " It would be inconsistent with the present design to 
 follow Peter in his peregrinations. He visited Hol- 
 land, England, Paris, Dresden, and Vienna, where he 
 diligently observed and examined every thing that was 
 curious and interesting; every operation of genius, 
 and every production of art, from which he could gain 
 instruction, or his people might derive improvement. 
 The dock-yards and shipping particularly attracted 
 his ^attention ; and the world has often heard of his 
 working with the carpenter's axe at Deptford and 
 Saardam. In his return homewards he had an inter- 
 view with Augustus, king of Poland, in which they 
 projected a war against Sweden. This war, which 
 soon after broke out, gave to the Russian empire 
 a different form, and a more intimate connection with 
 the rest of Europe. At the commencement of hosti- 
 lities Charles XII. entered Poland, and was constantly 
 victorious. Peter having concluded an armistice for 
 thirty years with i<the Turks, began to take an active 
 part in the war ; and in 1700, penetrating into Ingria, 
 laid siege to Narva. The Russian army, according to 
 some accounts, amounted to 80,000 men ; but this 
 
 statement
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 66? 
 
 statement is perhaps exaggerated. The disciplined 
 troops, however, did not amount to more than about 
 12,000.; and great dissenuons subsisted among the 
 commanders, whom Peter's presence alone could keep 
 under any kind of restraint. But on his departure for 
 the purpose of raising fresh levies in the territories of 
 Pscove and Novogorod, all union among them was 
 dissolved; and on the 30th of November, 1700, the 
 Swedish monarch, with only 8,000 men, mostly cavalry, 
 attacked and defeated the Russian army, so vastly su- 
 perior to his own. Charles had so great a contempt 
 for the Russian soldiers', that he dismissed all the pri- 
 vates who were taken, not thinking them worth de- 
 taining as prisoners. 
 
 Had the king of Sweden followed up this decisive 
 blow, he might perhaps have dictated the terms of 
 peace to Peter in Moscow ; but despising both the 
 Russians and their prince as enemies whom he could 
 at any time conquer, he directed all his efforts against 
 Poland. The czar, not dispirited by the late defeat, 
 immediately set about repairing his Joss, by recruiting 
 his armies and procuring artillery, 150 pieces of can- 
 non having fallen into the hands of the Swedes at the 
 battle of Narva, He caused the superfluous bells of 
 the churches and monasteries to be melted and cast 
 into cannon, a method which the French, in our days, 
 have adopted, but which the Russians considered as a 
 sacrilegious profanation. Peter, however, easily (re- 
 futed this notion. As the Russians believed that the 
 Swedes dealt in witchcraft, and gained battles by ma- 
 ffic, he declared that this holy metal was the oulv 
 
 O ' * *' 
 
 kind that could be of service against those magicians.* 
 
 * Tooke's Iliit. Russia, \v\. 1, p. 75, 76.
 
 ()58 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 In order also to recruit his army, he proclaimed free* 
 dom to all vassals who should enlist. 
 
 By these means he soon procured a numerous army 
 and a formidable artillery. Charles, in the meanwhile 
 advancing through Courland and Lithuania into Po- 
 land, dethroned King Augustus, and caused Stanislaus 
 Leschinski waiwode of Posen to be placed on the 
 throne. But while he was occupied in this expedition, 
 Peter was continually improving his troops in military 
 discipline. Many engagements took place on the 
 frontiers, in which the Swedes were generally victo- 
 rious ; but the Russians gained experience in the art 
 of war, and by repeated defeats at last learned to con- 
 quer. Charles, not considering that instead of an un- 
 disciplined multitude they were now becoming vete- 
 ran soldiers, erroneously supposed tnat they would be 
 erery where as easily beaten as at Narva ; and Peter 
 deriving the most important advantages from the con- 
 tempt in which he was held by his enemy, at length 
 made himself master of most of the provinces border- 
 ing on the Gulph of Finland, and gained possession of 
 the mouth of the Neva. On this occasion another 
 triumphal entry into Moscow rewarded the bravery of 
 his troops. Charles, however, in the mean time, was 
 preparing to enter Russia, and to march straight to 
 the capital. But instead of advancing from Lithua- 
 nia by the way of Smolensk, he was induced by Ma- 
 zeppa Hetman of the Cossacks, to take the circuitous 
 route of the Ukraine. Mazeppa had promised to join 
 him with the whole collective force of his nation, 
 which would have been a formidable accession of 
 strength to the Swedes, besides affording them an 
 ample supply of provisions. The scheme, however, 
 
 was
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 669 
 
 was totally frustrated : the Cossacks remaining firm in 
 their allegiance to Russia, rejected the proposal of 
 their prince, who, with only a small number of follow- 
 ers, joined the Swedish army rather as a fugitive than 
 as an ally. Charles also experienced another misfor- 
 tune, not less distressing. General Lavenhaupt's di- 
 vision, consisting of about 15,000 men, having under 
 convoy a great quantity of ammunition and provi- 
 sions for the grand army, was totally defeated by the 
 Russians. In this engagement the Swedes lost about 
 9,000 men killed and made prisoners ; and all the 
 stores fell into the hands of the enemy. The situation 
 of Charles became now exceedingly critical ; his army 
 rapidly wasted away through the rigour of the season 
 and the scarcity of provisions. As soon, however, as 
 the inclemency of the weather had subsided, he opened 
 the campaign with the siege of Pultowa, where the 
 Russians had vast magazines. Peter, who having 
 now acquired experience in the science of war, com- 
 manded in person, acted, in every respect, the part of 
 a consummate general, and displayed great prudence 
 as well as intrepidity. He had diligently watched the 
 motions of the enemy, put the frontiers of his empire 
 and the road to Moscow in a good state of defence ; 
 and arriving at Pultowa, obtained over Charles one of 
 the most complete victories recorded in military his- 
 tory. This battle, fought the 8th of July, 1709, in 
 which the whole Swedish army were killed or made 
 prisoners, except a very small number that escaped 
 with the king into Turkey, was one of the most deci- 
 sive that Europe had witnessed during some centuries. 
 On its issue depended the fate of Peter, Charles, and 
 Augustus, and the future greatness of Russia. Ano- 
 ther triumph, in the highest style of magnificence, 
 *!' honoured
 
 670 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 honoured the entrance of .the victors into Moscow, 
 and on no former occasion had Russia so great cause 
 to rejoice.* Peter's new acquisitions on the Baltic 
 were now secured, and although the building of 
 Petersburg had commenced in 1703, it was only at 
 the battle of Pultowa that, according to the czar's 
 own expression, the foundation stone was completely 
 laid. This victory also replaced Augustus on the 
 throne of Poland, and expelled Stanislaus from that 
 elevated station. 
 
 But the fortune of war is precarious, and success is 
 often followed by misfortune. The king of Sweden, 
 now a fugitive in Turkey, succeeded in forming a 
 party in the Divan; and the Porte, still discontented 
 at the surrender of Asoph, after some hesitation re- 
 solved on a rupture with the czar. Hostilities accord- 
 ingly commenced, but in advancing against the 
 Turks, Peter fell into the same errors that had caused 
 the disaster of Charles at Pultowa. Despising the 
 Turks as Charles had despised the Russians, 'and 
 allured by the promises of Cantemir, hospodar of 
 Moldavia, as he had been by those of Mazeppa, Peter 
 marched too far into the enemy's country. Here he 
 soon experienced the want of provisions, and on the 
 banks of the Pruth, not far from Yassy in Moldavia, 
 saw himself completely surrounded by the Turkish and 
 Tartar army of 200,000 men. The Russians amount- 
 ing to little more than 20,000, thus closely besieged, 
 without a possibility of obtaining supplies, had only 
 three objects of choice, either to surrender or perish 
 with hunger, or else to cut. their passage through an 
 army *o vastly superior in strength. Peter in a state 
 of desperation sat in his lent, revolving in his mind 
 
 * Volt lire Ilussiu, cli. 19. Tuuke's Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. ?,9. 
 
 the
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 671 
 
 the disasterous consequences of his situation, and 
 representing to himself all his labours destroyed and 
 his hopes defeated. At this dangerous crisis, Cathe- 
 rine, his consort, who was with him in the camp, 
 suggested the propriety of opening a negotiation with 
 the Vizir, and of accompanying a flag of (ruce with 
 considerable presents, in order to procure a favorable 
 reception. This expedient succeeded so well, that 
 the czar obtained a peace, in which the conditions 
 were, that he should surrender Asoph, demolish his 
 newly erected fort of Tagaurok, and evacuate Poland. 
 Charles, who arrived in the Turkish camp soon after 
 the treaty was signed, stormed and raved like a mad- 
 man, but all his endeavours could not excite a new 
 rupture.* By an article in this treaty, however, 
 Peter engaged to grant Charles a safe passage home 
 to his dominions. The war with Sweden still con- 
 tinued, in which the Russians were almost invariably 
 successful: and in 1721 a peace was concluded, which 
 confirmed to Peter all his conquests on the eastern 
 shores of the Baltic, and the Gulph of Finland. 1 ^ On 
 this occasion great festivities were appointed through- 
 out Russia, and Peter received from the Senate the 
 title of emperor and autocrator of all the Russias, and 
 the still more glorious appellation of father of his 
 country. Four years previous to this peace, the un- 
 fortunate Alexis, only son of the czar, had been con- 
 demned to death for a conspiracy against his father, 
 . of which, however, no clear proofs ever appeared to 
 the world. 
 
 * Voltaire Hist. Charles XII, liv. 5. On the autlierit}* of Fouiatow.ski 
 who was present. 
 
 t Livonia, Esthoniu, and Ingria, with [cut of Karelia, and pir. t ol' 
 Finland. Voltaire Ilit. of Russ. Eiup. liv. 'J. Tookr'* Hi-l. l'u.<ia, 
 
 vol. 2. 
 
 Tile
 
 C~2 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 The great progress which Peter made in the civili- 
 zation of his empire, has more than his conquests 
 immortalized his name to posterity. It would here 
 be in vain to attempt to follow him in bis various 
 plans of reform, which have so often been the subject 
 of more detailed accounts. In a summary view it 
 suffices to observe, that in the introduction of arts, 
 sciences, and learning, the advancement of naviga- 
 tion and commerce, the improvement of the army, 
 and the whole organization of the empire, he did all 
 that in the existing circumstances could possibly be 
 performed. The complete civilization of a vast em- 
 pire, is too complicated a work to be completed in 
 one reign, or by one man. He succeeded, however, 
 in eradicating a variety of illiberal prejudices, the 
 offspring of ignorance, particularly the aversion of the 
 Russians against the persons, the manners, and reli- 
 <rion of foreigners, and the universal toleration which 
 
 o , o / 
 
 he established, has produced in Russia a liberality of 
 sentiment not to be met with in several highly polished 
 countries. Objections have been made against his 
 choice of Petersburg for the imperial residence, but 
 these are refuted by a view of its advantages.* From 
 its rigorous climate, its sterile environs, and the fre- 
 quent inundations caused by the swelling of the Neva, 
 it is certainlv a less agreeable residence than Moscow. 
 
 i- O 
 
 But Peter's great design of civilizing his empire, and 
 extending its commerce, could be carried into effect 
 only by a closer connection with Europe, which was 
 by this circumstance effected. 
 
 Peter, with all his laudable qualities, was not with- 
 out great defects. He sometimes drank to -excess, 
 and was at all times prone to violent paroxysms of 
 
 * Scorch's Picture of Petersburg, vol. 2. 
 
 aneer.
 
 HISTORICAL VJEW. 
 
 anger. His government was extremely despotic, and 
 his disposition was certainly cruel and unfeeling, of 
 which his reign affords a multitude of examples. 
 Many of these defects ought undoubtedly to be as- 
 cribed to education, to the circumstances of his reign, 
 and the difficulties which he found in the execution of 
 his projects. But his genius was vast, and his views 
 were extensive. The distinguishing features of his 
 character, were the dauntless intrepidity and persever 
 ing energy with which he prosecuted all his designs, 
 in spite of every obstacle that opposed their execution. 
 Impartial history must declare, that to Peter the 
 Great, Russia is indebted for the rank that she holds 
 in the political, moral, and intellectual scale. 
 
 In casting a glance on the progress of society in 
 Russia, during the long period which had elapsed be- 
 fore the reign of Peter the Great, the events of her 
 history plainly indicate the causes of her barbarism. 
 The division of the empire into numerous principali- 
 ties, produced the same disorders which circumstances 
 nearly similar excited in France under the latter kings 
 of the Carlovingian race, and to which the feudal 
 system, with some variations, gave rise in the middle 
 ages in most parts of Europe. While the other Euro- 
 pean nations were gradually emerging from the depths 
 of Gothic ignorance, Russia was bending under the 
 yoke of the unenlightened Tartars ; and it is no wonder 
 that such a state of depression, with all its concomitant 
 disorders, should extinguish the mental energy of the 
 people. Even after the revival of letters, about the 
 commencement of the sixteenth century, when the 
 full blaze of knowledge began to burst upon the 
 nations of western Europe, this empire was rent with 
 intestine commotions, as dreadful a* any on historical 
 
 VOL. ui . 2 x record,
 
 (37$ EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 latter, where she served as housemaid and nurse to 
 the children, and as it is said married a Swedish 
 soldier. The most current particulars of her history 
 are, that after the capture of Marienhurg, she fell 
 into the hands of the Russians, and became the pro- 
 perty of General Scheremetof ; that Prince Menzikof 
 having had a sight of her, appropriated the fair prize 
 to himself, and was in his turn obliged to resign her 
 to Peter. She was then baptised into the Russo- 
 Greek church, and made it so much her business to 
 study the character of the czar, that she became 
 entirely the mistress of his affections. In 1721 he 
 caused her coronation to be celebrated with the most 
 pompous solemnity, and placed with his own hands 
 the crown upon her head. As Peter died without a 
 will, Catharine was, by the dextrous management of 
 Prince Menzikof, raised to the throne of the czars, 
 and reigned sole empress and autocratrix of all the 
 Russias. During her reign, which was short, as she 
 died in 1727, the empire enjoyed the blessings of 
 peace : but neither the army nor the navy was neg- 
 lected, the former being augmented to 150,000 men, 
 while the latter consisted of 6 ships of the line, 
 besides frigates, gallies, &c. Catharine, although 
 'she could neither write nor read, possessed a good 
 / natural understanding, sound judgment, and great 
 prudence, as well as an amiable and merciful disposi- 
 tion ; and her numerous good qualities completely 
 compensated the obscurity of her origin. 
 
 Peter II, son of the unfortunate Czarowitz Alexis, 
 was, by Catharine's will, declared her successor. 
 The daughter of Menzikof was betrothed to the 
 vounsj monarch, and that favorite of fortune, who 
 from crying pyes about the street? of Moscow, had 
 
 bee a
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 077 
 
 been advanced to the second station of the empire, 
 had successfully outstood the boisterous temper of 
 Peter, and been all powerful under Catharine, now 
 enjoyed the prospect of seeing his greatness esta- 
 blished beyond the control of events.* But all his 
 flattering hopes were frustrated in a moment. The 
 family of Dolgoruky supplanted him in the favor of 
 his sovereign. Catharine Dolgoruky was raised to 
 the honor of consort to the czar. Prince Menzikof, 
 with all his family, not excepting his daughter, who 
 had imagined herself ready to ascend the czarian 
 throne, was banished to Siberia: and his immense 
 riches, consisting of 9,000,000 of rubles in bank notes, 
 &c. 1,000,000 in cash, 105 Ib. of gold, and 420 Ib. of 
 silver plate, with jewels to the amount of 1,000,000, 
 besides his vast estates, were all confiscated. Thus 
 was all his grandeur at once annihilated, and his im- 
 mense treasures returned to the imperial coffers from 
 whence they had originally flowed.f He died in his 
 exile at Biresof in 172Q. 
 
 Peter II. was beloved by the nation, and discovered 
 a capacity far above the ordinary level. Under his 
 short reign of little more than two years, Russia was 
 ( happy and prosperous. No war wasted her men or 
 her money. But amidst the enjoyment of public 
 tranquillity abroad and at home, the empire saw its 
 fairest expectations defeated, by being deprived of 
 this promising prince, who died of the small pox at 
 Moscow, in the month of January 1730, universally 
 regretted by the nation. Moscow, in particular, had 
 
 * If Meruikof was not a pye boy, as historians generally assert, it it 
 certain that he was at first one of the lowest menial servants about the 
 czarian court. Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 187. 
 
 t Tooke'i Hist. Ruisia, vol. 2, p. 198. 
 
 2x3 formed
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 latter, where she served as housemaid and nurse to 
 the children, and as it is said married a Swedish 
 soldier. The most current particulars of her history 
 are, that after the capture of Marienhurg, she fell 
 into the hands of the Russians, and became the pro- 
 perty of General Scheremetof ; that Prince Menzikof 
 having had a sight of her, appropriated the fair prize 
 to himself, and was in his turn obliged to resign her 
 to Peter. She was then baptised into the Russo- 
 Greek church, and made it so much her business to 
 study the character of the czar, that she became 
 entirely the mistress of his affections. In 1721 he 
 caused her coronation to be celebrated with the most 
 pompous solemnity, and placed with his own hands 
 the crown upon her head. As Peter died without a 
 will, Catharine was, by the dextrous management of 
 Prince Menzikof, raised to the throne of the czars, 
 and reigned sole empress and autocratrix of all the 
 Russias. During her reign, which was short, as she 
 died in 1727, the empire enjoyed the blessings of 
 peace: but neither the army nor the navy was neg- 
 lected, the former being augmented to 150,000 men, 
 while the latter consisted of 26 ships of the line, 
 besides frigates, gallies, &c. Catharine, although 
 (she could neither write nor read, possessed a good 
 ;' natural understanding, sound judgment, and great 
 prudence, as well as an amiable and merciful disposi- 
 tion ; and her numerous good qualities completely 
 compensated the obscurity of her origin. 
 
 Peter II, son of the unfortunate Czarowitz Alexis, 
 was, by Catharine's will, declared her successor. 
 The daughter of Menzikof was betrothed to the 
 vounir monarch, and that favorite of fortune, who 
 
 * O 
 
 from crying pyes about the streets of Moscow, had 
 
 been
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 677 
 
 been advanced to the second station of the empire, 
 had successfully outstood the boisterous temper of 
 Peter, and been all powerful under Catharine, now 
 enjoyed the prospect of seeing his greatness esta- 
 blished beyond the control of events.* But all his 
 flattering hopes were frustrated in a moment. The 
 family of Dolgoruky supplanted him in the favor of 
 his sovereign. Catharine Dolgoruky was raised to 
 the honor of consort to the czar. Prince Menzikof, 
 with all his family, not excepting his daughter, who 
 had imagined herself ready to ascend the czarian 
 throne, was banished to Siberia: and his immense 
 riches, consisting of 9,000,000 of rubles in bank notes, 
 &c. 1,000,000 in cash, 105 Ib. of gold, and 420 Ib. of 
 silver plate, with jewels to the amount of 1,000,000, 
 besides his vast estates, were all confiscated. Thus 
 was all his grandeur at once annihilated, and his im- 
 mense treasures returned to the imperial coffers from 
 whence they had originally flowed.f He died in his 
 exile at Biresof in 172Q. 
 
 Peter II. was beloved by the nation, and discovered 
 
 i a capacity far above the ordinary level. Under his 
 
 j short reign of little more than two years, Russia was 
 
 ( happy and prosperous. No war wasted her men or 
 
 s her money. But amidst the enjoyment of public 
 
 tranquillity abroad and at home, the empire saw its 
 
 fairest expectations defeated, by being deprived of 
 
 this promising prince, who died of the small pox at 
 
 Moscow, in the month of January 1730, universally 
 
 regretted by the nation. Moscow, in particular, had 
 
 * If Menzikof was not a pye boy, as historians generally assert, it it 
 certain that he was at first one of the lowest menial servants about the 
 czarian court. Tooke's Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 187. 
 
 t Tooke' Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 198. 
 
 2x3 formed
 
 6?8 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 formed great expectations from this prince, who being 
 delighted with its situation, shewed a decided pre- 
 dilection for that capital, and a perfect indifference 
 i for Petersburg. This circumstance might, perhaps, 
 j if his reign had been long, have proved detrimental 
 ; to the commercial and maritime importance of Russia, 
 j and have operated as a check to the rising greatness 
 pf that empire. 
 
 After much cabal and intrigue, which it would here 
 "be of little importance to examine or develope, Anne, 
 duchess of Courlaml, daughter of Czar Ivan, half 
 brother of Peter the Great, >vas elected empress, but 
 under such restrictions, that the sovereign of Russia 
 was reduced to a simple executor of the resolves of 
 the high council; and the empire was converted into 
 an oligarchy. This oligarchical constitution, how^ 
 ever, being highly displeasing to those great families 
 who had no relation tp the council, Anne soon re- 
 ceived a petition from several hundreds of the nobles, 
 requesting her to take upon her the government, on 
 the same terms as the former sovereigns of Russia. 
 Anne gladly acquiesced with this petition, which so 
 exactly coincided with her own wish to free -herself 
 from the control of the council. She read the capitu- 
 lation in presence of the nobles, making a pause at 
 the end of each article, and asking if such were the 
 wish of the nation. Being answered in the negative 
 by all who were not members of the council, she tore 
 in pieces the obnoxious instrument, in presence of 
 the whole assembly. Thus the Empress Anne render- 
 ed her throne as despotic as that of any of her pre- 
 decessors. 
 
 One of the principal events of her reign, was the 
 which she undertook, in conjunction with Austria, 
 
 against
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 1)79 
 
 against the Turks, with a view to the recovery of 
 Asoph. But although the Russian arms, under the 
 celebrated Count Munich, were every where victorious, 
 the Austrians performed little, and were .at length 
 obliged to conclude a separate peace. The war be- 
 tween the Porte and Russia terminated with the de- 
 molition of Asoph; and although the conditions of 
 peace allowed the latter power to construct a fortress 
 on the Don, she could not obtain the privilege of 
 keeping a fleet in the Euxine. It was also stipulated 
 that the Russian merchants should carry on their 
 commerce in that sea, only in Turkish bottoms. The 
 reign of Anne, however, upon the whole, was pros- 
 perous, and under her the Russian empire increased 
 in strength,, , and extended its commerce. She carried 
 into execution several of the plans formed by Peter 
 the Great, ,and particularly tb.at of making discoveries 
 in the eastern Archipelago, .adjacent to the coast of 
 Kamtschatka. But her subjects would huve been 
 muqh happier, and her .memory more honored, had 
 she not reposed too much confidence in her favorite,, 
 John Ernest Biron, who exercised so horrible a ty- 
 ranny that 20,000 persons are said to have been exiled 
 to Siberia during her reign.* This remarkable per- 
 sonage was the son of a gamekeeper in Courland, and 
 having studied atKonigsberg and returned to Mittau, 
 was presented to the J)ucb.ess Anne, who made him. 
 her secretary, and shortly after, her chamberlain. 
 After her accession to the thrpne of Russia, he still 
 continued to be the all powerful minion. The duke 
 of Courland dying in 1737, without a male heir, 
 Biron took his measures so well as to induce the no- 
 bility to elect him to that dignity. Notwithstanding, 
 
 * Tooke's Hist. Russ. marginpl note; -vol. 2, p..&38. 
 
 2 x '! however,
 
 fijBO EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 however, his election to the duchy of Courland, he 
 constantly resided at Petersburg, where he displayed 
 a haughtiness and despotism, that would appear in- 
 credible, were it not so notorious. 
 
 The Empress Anne had, in her testament, declared 
 Ivan, ,the son of her niece the Duchess of Mechlen-* 
 burg, to be her successor. The young prince being 
 only two years old, Biron was appointed administra*- 
 tor of the empire during his minority. This arrange- 
 ment, however, was highly disagreeable, not only to 
 the young emperor's parents, but also to the Russian 
 nobility. A party was therefore formed, in order to 
 overthrow his power, which he had so grossly abused 
 during the preceding reign. In the night of the 19th 
 November, tb,e regent Biron, with his consort, his 
 family, and his firmest partizans, were suddenly ar- 
 rested. He was afterwards condemned to exile in 
 Siberia, whither he had before sent such a number of 
 victims to his tyranny. 
 
 Under the administration of the Princess Anne of 
 Meehlenburg, and Duke Ellrick of Brunswick, her 
 consort, Count Munich was all powerful. But in 
 1742 a revolution took place, which subverted the 
 system of the court, and the order of succession to the 
 Russian throne. A party was formed in favor of the 
 Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great and 
 Catharine I. his consort, which, suddenly raised her 
 to the sovereignty. The young emperor and his 
 parents, together with Osterman and Munich, the 
 two chief promoters of Ivan's succession, were all 
 carried off in one night, without noise and without 
 opposition. Osterman and Munich were exiled to 
 Siberia. The duke and duchess of Meehlenburg, with 
 their son the infant emperor, were confined in the 
 
 citadel
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 681 
 
 citadel of Riga. In 1743 they were removed to 
 Dunamond, and from this fortress to Kelmogory, an 
 island at the mouth of the Dwina, fifty miles from 
 Archangel, where the Duchess Anne died in child 
 bed, a prey to grief and melancholy. The duke sur- 
 vived till 1775, when he also terminated in prison his 
 calamitous career. 
 
 The infant emperor, the innocent and unconscious 
 victim of court politics, was taken from his parents, 
 and shut up in a monastery at Oranienburg, where 
 he was kept in such a state of seclusion, as left his 
 mind totally unemployed. A monk of the convent 
 having formed the project of carrying off this unfor- 
 tunate prince, the attempt proved fatal to himself, 
 and added new horrors to the doleful situation of Ivan. 
 Being taken at Smolensk, the unfortunate prince 
 dearly expiated an offence, in which he had been 
 entirely passive. A dungeon in the castle of Schlus- 
 selburg was assigned for his dreary abode, where 
 being almost literally buried alive, he seldom knew 
 whether it was day or night, and was wholly secluded 
 from conversation with mankind, all discourse with 
 him being forbidden to the officers and soldiers on 
 guard at the fortress. In this state of total inaction, 
 with no other light than that of a gloomy lamp, and 
 seldom allowed to breath the free air in the inclosed 
 court of bis prison, his mind gradually lost all its 
 active powers, and the Empress Catharine, who paid 
 him a visit with the benevolent intention of alleviating 
 his condition, found him in a state of deplorable 
 idiotcy, incapable of any other enjoyments than those 
 of mere animal appetite. The empress, however, 
 gave orders for supplying him with all the comforts 
 and conveniencies of which his conditiou was sus- 
 9 ceptible.
 
 1582 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 ccptible. Shortly after, however, the unhappy prince 
 was, in conformity to the orders given to his keepers 
 how to act in such an extremity, assassinated in a 
 tumult excited by a rash attempt to carry him off, and 
 thus terminated a life which had been a continued 
 scene of calamity for about the space of twenty-three 
 years, without any mixture of satisfaction or comfort. 
 How happy would it have been for this unfortunate 
 prince, how happy for his parents, had be never been 
 called to a throne.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the severity of the empress Eliza- 
 beth against the deposed monarch, with the duke and 
 duchess his parents, and the chiefs of the late ad- 
 ministration, she exercised her lenity in recalling many 
 thousands, whom the former regency had sent to pine 
 out their days in the dreary regions of Siberia. She 
 brought to a successful termination the war with 
 Sweden, which had been undertaken by the late re- 
 gency. Every cue knows the part that she took 
 against Prussia in the famous seven years war, when 
 in conjunction with Austria she reduced Frederick the 
 Great to the lasi degree of distress. Many bloody 
 battles were fought, and fertile countries desolated ; 
 but wars, which operate BO important change in the 
 condition of nations, ought to occupy only a small 
 space in history. It will be more consistent with our 
 plan to cast a glance at Elizabeth's internal govern- 
 ment, and at the progress of the Russian empire under 
 her administration. She herself, indeed, meddled but 
 little with the affairs of government. Her regulations 
 were planned, and her decrees mostly dictated by her 
 ministers. Her character was mild, and tinctured 
 
 * For a. detailed account of the misfortunes and death of this prince, 
 sec Took's Hist. Russia, Coae's Travels in Russia, &c, 
 
 with.
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 683 
 
 with a kind of- delicate sensibility. It is said that she 
 used to shed tears when she received intelligence of 
 
 O 
 
 the victories gained by her generals at the expence of 
 so much human blood. From the same kind of weak 
 sensibility, she adopted the culpable measure of en- 
 tirely abolishing capital punishments, and immediately 
 on her accession to the throne, she made a vow never 
 to affix her signature to anv sentence of death. This 
 
 */ 
 
 resolution, to which she inviolably adhered, was greatly 
 to the detriment of the empire, as the number of male- 
 factors daily increased ; and the clergy, although in 
 vain, requested her to retract her vow. At the best 
 this was only a semblance of lenity ; for the tearing 
 out of the tongue by the roots, the tearing away of the 
 nostrils with red-hot pincers, the dislocation of the 
 arms, with imprisonment or slavery added to those 
 shocking mutilations, were punishments worse than 
 death, without being equally effectual to the preven- 
 tion of crimes. 
 
 During the reign of Elizabeth, however, it must be 
 confessed, that Russia continued to make a progres- 
 sive improvement in manufactures and commerce, in 
 arts and literature. She augmented the sum appointed 
 by Peter the Great to the academy of sciences ; and 
 in 1758 she instituted that of painting and sculpture 
 at Petersburg. She was a great admirer and patroness 
 of arcbiteciurc, and adorned the residence with many 
 elegant structures. The drama was not less indebted 
 to^ her munificent patronage, and she first laid the 
 foundation of a Russian theatre in Petersburg, where 
 none but French and Italian pieces had hitherto been 
 performed. The splendor of the court had considerably 
 increased during the reign of the Empress Anne ; and 
 under that of Elizabeth it was not. diminished; but 
 
 this,
 
 681 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 this, with the Prussian war, considerably exhausted 
 the treasury. In regard to the army, it was augmented, 
 but not greatly improved. The greatest blemish of 
 Elizabeth's reign, was the institution of a political _in- 
 quisition, under the name of a secret state chancery. 
 This court being impowered to examine all such 
 charges as related to the expression of any kind of 
 disapprobation of the measures of government, opened 
 a, wide field of exertion to spies and informers, and 
 might be considered as one of the most formidable 
 engines of despotism. This princess is universally 
 reported to have indulged, towards the end of her 
 reign, in the most unbounded sensuality and intem- 
 perance.* 
 
 Elizabeth died the 25th of December, 1761 ; and 
 Peter II [, her declared successor, peaceably ascended 
 the throne. This prince was grandson of Peter the 
 Great, and Catharine I, by the Princess Anne, their 
 eldest daughter, married to Charles Frederick, duke of 
 Holsteih. Elizabeth had called him into Russia, and 
 acknowledged him as her successor. 
 
 Peter no sooner ascended the Russian throne, than 
 a peace was concluded between the courts of Peters- 
 burg and Berlin, by which all the Russian conquests 
 in Prussia were restored ; and an alliance between 
 Peter and Frederick immediately took place. These 
 changes, particularly the restitutions that were made, 
 were far from conciliatins; the affections of the Rus- 
 
 o 
 
 sians to their new sovereign : the abolition of the se- 
 cret state chancery, and the recall of those victims 
 to the passions of rulers, or to the intrigues of minis- 
 ters, who had been exiled to Siberia under the former 
 
 * Toole'a Hiit. Russia, vol. 2, p. 339. 
 
 administrations,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 68? 
 
 administrations, were measures far better calculated to 
 procure him some degree of popularity.* 
 
 Peter enacted several new laws, and established a 
 number of salutary regulations, but being a German, 
 he could not conceal his predilection for his country- 
 men, and his contempt of the Russians. He had con- 
 formed to the Greek church, but manifestly shewed 
 his attachment to Protestantism ; and as he expressed 
 a desire of making some alterations in the Russian 
 worship, it is no wonder that he converted the sacred 
 order into a formidable host of enemies. His intro- 
 duction of the Prussian exercise and uniform, gave 
 scarcely less offence to the military, while his disband- 
 ing of the Preobragenskoi guards, and the substitution 
 of Holstein soldiers in their place, completed their 
 dissatisfaction. The disagreement in sentiment, cha- 
 racter, and manners between him and his consort, also 
 contributed, in no small degree, to his ruin. This dis- 
 union, from whatever cause it originated, had at last 
 proceeded almost to an open rupture; and Peter 
 ceased to shew any indulgence to his spouse, or to 
 treat her with common decorum. He even talked 
 openly of repudiating her, and disinheriting her son. 
 His enemies represented all this to the empress, and 
 no doubt with the most odious colouring, in order to 
 
 O ' 
 
 prepare her mind for those vigorous measures which 
 she afterwards adopted. 
 
 The emperor being now surrounded with enemies, 
 and almost without a friend, was dethroned without 
 opposition. A conspiracy was formed for that pur- 
 pose by the two brothers, Count* Orloffs, Count Ra- 
 zumofskoy, Count Pauin, and the Princess Dashkor'; 
 
 * Among others, Biron, Mnniel:, and I.estoccj, were !ib< rated, Tooke's 
 Hist. Russia, vol. 2, p. 346. 
 
 anJ
 
 686 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 and it afterwards was supposed that the empress 
 privy to the design.* Peter was repeatedly warned 
 of his danger, by the Prussian and English ambassa- 
 dors, as well as by letters from Frederick the Great ; 
 but, by an unaccountable negligence, he slighted 
 every caution, and seemed perfectly confident that no 
 danger existed* Those also who surrounded him and 
 pretended to be his friends, endeavoured to encourage 
 his careless security; and by this means prevented 
 him from adopting any precautionary measures. 
 
 On the 9th of July, I7t>2, the conspirators confi- 
 dently and successfully carried their design into exe- 
 cution : Peter was at his favorite ( seat, the country 
 palace of Oricnbaum, and his consort was at Peter- 
 hoff. From this place Catharine, attended by Counl 
 Gregory Orloff, commander of the Ismailofski guards, 
 repaired early in the morning to Petersburg. Not 
 only this regiment, which had already been gained 
 over, but the other troops also acknowledged her as 
 empress ; and this acknowledgment of the soldiery 
 was immediately followed by that of the greater part 
 of the nobility of Petersburg, and of the public in ge- 
 neral. At ten o'clock in the forenoon, Catharine took 
 the oath of accession in the church of the Holy Vir- 
 gin of Kazan, binding herself to defend the liberties 
 and religion of the empire. The nobility, the soldiery, 
 and the people, then did homage, and swore fealty to 
 Catharine, as empress and autocratrix of all the Kus- 
 sias, and Te Deum was sung by the archbishop of No- 
 vogorod, to give a greater appearance of sanctity to 
 the transaction. In one morning, in the space of a 
 few hours, this important revolution, like several others 
 f a similar yature at Petersburg, v>as effected. 
 
 * Tuokc's Hibt. Rut-sin, vol-. C 2, p. jo.'i. 
 
 S Peter
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 687 
 
 Peter soon received, at Orienbaum, intelligence of 
 what was passing in the capital ; but he still remained 
 incredulous, and instead of thanking the faithful officer 
 who first brought the important information, put him 
 under arrest. He was not long, however, before he 
 received a dreadful confirmation of the truth. He then 
 dispatched messengers to bring him an accurate ac- 
 count of all that had happened ; but none of them 
 returned. The unfortunate emperor at last began to 
 open his eyes to his situation. His Holstein troops 
 were zealously attached to his person, and offered to 
 support him to the last man; and he had with him 
 Marshal Munich, from whom much might have been 
 expected. But the irresolution of Peter prevented any 
 thing from being done. Having rejected the proposal 
 of his faithful Germans, an escape to Sweden or Prus- 
 sia was suggested, and might have been easily effected; 
 but Peter, irresolute, and wavering amidst a multipli- 
 city of plans and projects, determined on nothing. 
 Catharine, in the meanwhile, with her partizans and 
 guards, was marching against him, in order to put a 
 finishing hand to the revolution. Peter then, instead 
 of thinking either of resistance or escape, adopted the 
 measure, which, to a dethroned sovereign is, of all 
 others, the most dangerous. He began a negotiation, 
 with a formal offer of abdicating the throne. But the 
 conductors of the revolution not considering his abdi- 
 cation as affording them sufficient security against the 
 uncertainty of events, required him to come imme- 
 diately to Petersburg. With this fatal requisition the 
 unfortunate monarch complied, and met the fate 
 which he might have expected. He could not obtain 
 an audience of his wife, whom he never saw any more, 
 was immediately seized by Count Panin as a pri- 
 soner.
 
 688 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 toner. A paper was delivered him containing the 
 orders of the empress ; and Peter subscribed the act 
 of renunciation. He was then conducted to Ropscha; 
 and about eight days after, his death was announced. 
 In order to stifle the various conjectures and reports, 
 to which his sudden decease in such circumstances 
 would naturally give rise, a manifesto was published, 
 stating the cause of his death to have been an hemor- 
 rhoidal colic, to which he had sometimes been subject. 
 The body was deposited, without funeral pomp, in th 
 monastery of St. Alexander Newski. Peter III. was en- 
 dowed with great activity and ardour of mind; he was 
 not deficient in genius, though his consort far excelled 
 him in intellectual powers. But his whole conduct 
 shews that he wanted prudence. He was too much 
 of the foreigner and too little of the Russian to conci- 
 liate the affections of his subjects, unless he had been 
 sufficiently master of the art of dissimulation, to have 
 concealed his sentiments and predilections. 
 
 Catharine, as well Peter, was a German, and had 
 received a German education; but, by her conde- 
 scending behaviour, she gained the hearts of the Rus- 
 sians as easily as Peter, by his negligence and con- 
 temptuous indifference, had lost, them.* No sovereign 
 of Russia since Peter the ^Great, was so attentive to 
 the improvement of the empire, and so successful in 
 carrying on that great design ; but while she laboured 
 to reform, she never affected to despise the national 
 prejudices ; and thus many innovations became easy 
 to her, which her consort had found impracticable. 
 
 * The original name of Catharine II. was Augusta Sophia Frederics, a 
 princess of Anhalt Zerbst. Sbe came into Russia in 1744, at the age of 
 about .sixteen ; and on being baptized into the Greek church, received th 
 name of Ekatarina Alexiewna, She was married 10 Peter, September 1, 
 1745. 
 
 The
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. C89 
 
 The foreign politics of Catharine related chiefly to 
 Poland and Turkey; and the chief political and mili- 
 tary events of her reign originated in her transac- 
 tions with those countries. The throne of Poland 
 being vacant, and the flames of civil war raging in the 
 country, Catharine sent thither a hody of troops, and 
 by her influence Count Stanislaus Poniatovvski was 
 elected king. Poland thus became dependent on Rus- 
 sia. She also interposed, in order to secure to the 
 Greek and Protestant Poles, the rights which had 
 been given them by the treaty of Oiiva. But the 
 umbrage which the residence of the Russian armies in 
 Poland gave to the Catholic party, exacerbated the 
 rage of civil war, and produced confederacies and 
 commotions that deluged the country with blood, and 
 rendered it a scene of anarchy. The confederates at 
 length invoked the protection of the Turks ; and the 
 conduct of the empress, in regard to Poland, gave so 
 much offence to the Ottoman Porte, that the grand. 
 Seignor declared war against Russia. In 17ft) hostili- 
 ties commenced between the two empires. The khan 
 of the Tartars, at the head of a great body of his peo- 
 ple, supported by 10,000 Spahh;, penetrated into the 
 Kussian territories, where he burned many towns and 
 villages, and carried about 4,000 families into capti- 
 vity. This disaster, however, was soon after revenged 
 by the Russian army under Prince Galitzin. This 
 commander having under him General Stoilien and 
 Prince Doluroruki, forced the Turkish intrenchinent. 
 
 O * 
 
 near Choczim; and shortly after defeated them again 
 in that neighbourhood, after an obstinate engagement. 
 The Russians then invested Choc/im, but were obliged 
 at last to retreat, after the siege of that place, and the 
 battles fought iu its vicinity, had cost them upward* 
 VOL. in. 2 v
 
 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 of 20,000 men. General Romunzof also defeated a 
 Turkish detachment, and committed dreadful devasta- 
 tions on the borders of Bender and in the environs of 
 Ockzakow. On the 9th of September, Prince Ga- 
 litzin gained, near the banks of the Neister, a com- 
 plete victory, in which the Turks had about 7,000 men 
 killed, besides wounded and prisoners, and great num- 
 bers that were drowned in their retreat. This victory 
 was followed by a second on the banks of the same 
 river, after a desperate engagement, in which the 
 slaughter of the Turks was almost incredible. Not 
 only the field of battle, but also the river, was for seve- 
 ral miles covered with dead bodies. The Russians 
 took sixty-four pieces of cannon ; and the Turks aban- 
 doning the strong fortress of Choczim, with its maga- 
 zines and numerous artillery, retreated tumultuously 
 towards the Danube. The Turks were exasperated at 
 the ill conduct of their commander, the Vizier Mol- 
 dwani Ali Pacha, a man of courage, but deficient in 
 prudence and unskilful in war. A fatal spirit of licen- 
 tiousness and insubordination now broke out in their 
 armies. They had, within little more than a fortnight, 
 lost almost 30,000 of their best troops, and nearly 
 oO,OOO more deserted in their tumultuous retreat. 
 About this time Prince Galitzin resigned the com- 
 
 O 
 
 mand of the army to General Count Romanzof, and 
 returned to Petersburg crowned with laurels. Roman- 
 zof carried on the war with successes equal to those of 
 his predecessor; and on the 18th of July and the 2d 
 of August, 1770, gained two important victories. In 
 the latter, the Turks are said to have left above 7,000 
 killed on the field of buttle. Some thousands of car- 
 riages loaded with provisions, avast quantity of am 
 munition, and 143 pieces of brass cannon fell into the 
 9 hands
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 
 
 hands of the Russians. General Elmo also took pos- 
 session of Yassi and of the whole province of Molda- 
 via. The inhabitants of that province and of Walla- 
 chia, who were mostly Greeks, and had privately 
 favoured the Russians, now openly declared them- 
 selves, and acknowledged the empress for their sove- 
 reign. 
 
 Europe has seldom seen a war carried on with 
 greater vigour and success than this of Russia against 
 the Ottoman Empire. A considerable fleet sailed 
 from Cronstadt by the Straits of Gibraltar into the 
 Mediterranean ; and proceeding to the coasts of 
 Greece, and into the Archipelago, harrassed the Turks 
 on every side. The Greeks every where joined the 
 Russians. The whole Morea, and several other parts 
 of Greece, were quickly in motion ; and the revolted 
 Greeks invested Nopoli di Romania, Corinth, and the 
 castle of Patras. But an army of 30,000 men, chiefly 
 Albanians and Epirotes, commanded by the pacha of 
 Bosnia, entering the Morea, recovered the northern 
 part of the peninsula; and all the Greeks that were 
 found in arms, or absent from their villages, were in- 
 stantly put to the sword. The Russians were now 
 obliged to fly for safety to their ships. Their fleet, 
 which had been separated, several of their vessels 
 having put into ihe ports of Italy, was now collected, 
 and reinforced by a small squadron under old Elphin- 
 stone, an English commander. The Turkish fleet 
 now appeared, consisting of sixteen ships of the line 
 of from sixty to ninety guns, besides a number of 
 xebecs and gallies; while Count Orloff had only ten 
 sail of the line and five frigates. An obstinate engage- 
 ment took place in the channel which separates the 
 island of Scio from Asia Minor. Spiritof, a Russian 
 2 Y 2 admiral,
 
 692 
 
 admiral, engaging the capitan-pacha, in the Sultafrva 
 of ninety guns, the two ships ran so close, that they 
 fastened themselves togetlver with grappling-irons. In 
 this situation the Russians, throwing their hand-gre- 
 nades from the tops, set the Sultana on fire ; and as 
 the two ships could not be disentangled, both were 
 immediately in flames. Thus dreadfully circumstanced, 
 without a possibility of receiving any succour, their 
 fate was inevitable. The commanders and most of the 
 principal officers, on both sides, were saved; but the 
 crews, for the most part, perished with the ships, which 
 blew up both together with a tremendous explosion. 
 The engagement continued without any material ad- 
 vantage on either side, until night, when the Turkish 
 ships cut their cables and ran into the Bay of Tschesme, 
 on the coast of Asia Minor. Here they were imme- 
 diately blockaded by the Russians; and in the night, 
 Lieutenant Dugdale, an Englishman in the Russian 
 service, with great difficulty and danger, ran some 
 fire-ships into the harbour. In this hazardous attempt 
 Dugdale displayed an uncommon intrepidity, direct- 
 ing the operation of the fire-ships himself when aban- 
 doned by his crew ; and so effectually succeeded, 
 that in five hours the whole Turkish fleet, except one 
 ship of the line and a few gallies, which were towed off 
 by the Russians, was totally destroyed. The Russians 
 then entering the bay, commenced a heavy cannon- 
 ade and bombardment against the town and the cas- 
 tle, which were both totally destroyed by the blowing 
 up of a powder magazine. At nine o'clock in the 
 morning scarcely a vestige remained of the fleet, the 
 castle, or the town : the whole was buried in one tre- 
 mendous scene of destruction. 
 
 After this decisive action, the war was carried on 
 
 with
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 693 
 
 with almost uninterrupted success, on the side of the 
 Russians. The Turks were reduced to the greatest 
 extremity : when one of those singular events, by 
 which Providence using the meanest instruments, of- 
 ten throws unexpected obstacles in the way of human 
 designs, contributed to prevent the downfal of their 
 tottering empire. A Cossack appeared in Kazan, as- 
 suming the name and character of the late emperor 
 Peter the Third, and pretending to have escaped 
 from assassination by an extraordinary dispensation of 
 the Divine Providence. He declared that the report of 
 his death was only a fiction invented by the court, and 
 gave special reasons for his long concealment. This 
 impostor, whose name was PugatshefT, is said to have 
 borne a striking resemblance to the late emperor, a 
 circumstance which had undoubtedly prompted him 
 to engage in this romantic and desperate enterprise. 
 His courage and address procured him a great number 
 of followers; and having by the seizure of several for- 
 tresses and magazines provided himself with arms, 
 ammunition, and artillery, he stood several engage- 
 ments against large bodies of the empress's troops, 
 commanded by able generals. This rebel was for 
 some time so successful, and became at last so formi- 
 dable, that he at one time marched directly to Mos- 
 cow, which was then ripe for insurrection ; the conse- 
 quences might have been extremely dangerous to the 
 existing government. These circumstances turned the 
 
 O O 
 
 attention of Russia towards a pacification with the 
 Porte, fn July 1774, a treaty was concluded, by 
 which the Russians obtained the free navigation of 
 the Euxine, and an unlimited trade with all the ports 
 of the Ottoman empire. The termination of the 
 Turkish- war left Catharine at liberty to direct all her 
 2 Y 3 efforts
 
 6<)4 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 efforts against the impostor, who was threatening to 
 hurl her from the throne of the Czars. After the con- 
 clusion of the peace with Turkey, his career was soon 
 terminated. Being defeated and taken prisoner, he 
 was brought in a cage to Moscow, and executed on 
 the 21st of January, 1775. Catharine here signalized 
 her humanity, in not permitting any tortures to be 
 inflicted on this audacious rebel who had endangered 
 her throne, and suffered him to expiate his crimes by 
 decapitation.* 
 
 In \*n\)> a new war was near breaking out between 
 Russia and Turkey, although the peace concluded five 
 years before was then indispensably necessary to the 
 immediate preservation of the Ottoman empire. The 
 independence of the Crimea, affording to the Russians 
 an opening into the Turkish dominions, and so many 
 opportunities of interference, was a source of perpe- 
 tual discord. The divan, from a sense of the disabi- 
 lity of the empire to support a second contest, ac- 
 ceded to the claims of Russia, in regard to the esta- 
 blishment of consuls in Wallachia, Moldavia, and 
 Bessarabia. Disputes, however, constantly arising, 
 and Russia continually extending her pretensions, 
 both sides began in 1783 to prepare for war. But in 
 the midst of th'eir hostile preparations, a treaty was 
 concluded the following year, in which the full sove- 
 reignty of the Crimea, with the isle of Taman, and 
 part of Cuban, was ceded to Russia. 
 
 The journey of the empress to Cherson, in 1787, 
 displayed to the eyes of the world an extraordinary 
 spectacle, and gave a great, but, according to an 
 eminent writer, a groundless alarm to the principal 
 
 * L'Evesquc erroneously asserts that this rebel died on the rack. 
 J/ Eresque, TO!. T. p. 143, 
 
 powers
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. G95 
 
 powers of Europe.* The splendor of the czarina's 
 progress surpassed all that the most luxuriant imagi- 
 nation is able to conceive. She was escorted by an 
 army, and preceded by pioneers, who levelled the 
 roads, which were illuminated for the space of five 
 hundred leagues. At the end of each day's journey, 
 she found a temporary palace erected for her recep- 
 tion, and furnished with all the accommodations and 
 luxuries that Petersburg or Moscow could afford. A 
 
 o 
 
 new creation every where rose up before her; and the 
 fictions of oriental romance seemed to be realized. 
 Curiosity attracted numerous crowds of spectators, 
 and gave the countries, through which she passed, an 
 air of great population. All the towns, by balls and 
 illuminations, exhibited marks of happiness and joy : 
 and her progress was a continuation of pleasures and 
 festivity. In the train of her followers, were the Eng- 
 lish, French, and Austrian ambassadors. At Kiof, 
 the splendor of her court was heightened by the con- 
 course of foreigners, who arrived there from all parts 
 of Europe to witness her magnificence, and to adorn 
 her triumph. From that place she descended the 
 Borysthenes, with a fleet, as superb as that in which 
 Cleopatra paraded down the Cydnus. On her way 
 she was met by the king of Poland, who had caused 
 the right bank of the river to be illuminated ; and 
 afterwards by the emperor Joseph, who, arriving some 
 days before at Cherson, proceeded up the river to 
 honor her arrival.^ This journey of the czarina, and 
 her interview with the emperor, gave considerable 
 alarm not only to the Ottoman Porte, but also to 
 England, Prussia, France, and Spain. The Turks, 
 
 * Segur's Hist, ol Fred Will. Ill, vol. i. p. JO. 
 t Ibid. 
 
 instigated
 
 696 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 instigated by the suggestions of Prussia, resolved to 
 put Oczakow in a state of defence, and to assemble 
 an anny of 150,000 men ou the banks of the Danube. 
 So great were the apprehensions of the Divan, that 
 every preparation was made as for an unavoidable rup- 
 ture, and the dread of a war proved the cause of that 
 calamity. 
 
 Whatever was the case in those intricate affairs, it 
 is well known that the return of the empress from 
 Cherson was immediately followed by a declaration of 
 war on the part of the Ottoman Porte. The emperor 
 Joseph declared himself for Russia, and hostilities im- 
 mediately commenced. The combined Austrian and 
 Russian forces, under the Prince of Saze Cobourg, 
 laid siege to Choczim, which surrendered after a long 
 and obstinate resistance. But the principal opera- 
 tions of the Russians were directed against Ockzakow, 
 which, after a protracted siege and desperate defence, 
 was taken by assault on the 17th of December, 1788. 
 During the progress of these hostilities with the Turks, 
 Catharine found herself suddenly involved in an unex-r 
 peeled war with Sweden. Gustavus III. thinking this 
 a favorable opportunity of checking the exorbitant 
 power of Russia, and lessening her influence over his 
 kingdom, marched into Finland, and commenced 
 hostilities immediately on his arrival. But the princi- 
 pal action of this war, was the naval engagement oft' 
 Hoogland, in the Gulph of Finland, in which the 
 victory was claimed by both sides, a proof that neither 
 could boast of any decisive advantages. The Russian 
 fleet was commanded by Admiral Greig, and that of 
 Sweden, by the king's brother, the duke of Suderma- 
 nia. The forces were nearly equal. The engagement 
 was during five hours obstinate and bloody. Both the 
 
 Russians
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 697 
 
 Russians and Swedes displayed considerable skill and 
 consummate bravery ; and the two commanders dis- 
 tinguished themselves by their conduct and courage. 
 After some other actions of no great importance, and 
 attended with various success, a pacification took place 
 on the 14th of August, between those two northern 
 powers. 
 
 The peace with Sweden again left Russia at liberty 
 to carry on with vigour the war against the Porte, in 
 which her operations were an almost uninterrupted 
 series of successes. Before the close of the year 
 1790, Catharine had the satisfaction to see her con- 
 quests extended beyond the Danube, while Constan- 
 tinople trembled at the advances of the enemy. The 
 capture of Ismail by storm, was the last important 
 event of this war, and will for ever tarnish its annals. 
 After eight successive assaults, in which the Russians 
 were repulsed with great slaughter, it was carried at 
 the ninth, on the 22d of December, 1790. The siege 
 and assault were computed to have cost the Russians 
 not less than 10,000 men. Marshal Suwarrof, who 
 commanded at this siege, led on his troops in person 
 at the last assault, and climbing up the wall, planted 
 the Russian standard on the rampart, displaying a 
 dauntless courage that would have gained him immor- 
 tal renown, had not his subsequent cruelty consigned 
 his name to the abhorrence of civilized warriors. The 
 garrison, whose bravery a generous enemy would have 
 treated with respect, was put to the sword by the mer- 
 ciless troops of the savage conqueror, and an indiscri- 
 minate massacre of the inhabitants added to the hor- 
 rors of the scene. No age, sex, or condition, was 
 spared, and Suwurrof s soldiers behaving like a horde 
 
 of
 
 EUROPEAN i: i ssi -i 
 
 of cannibals rather than the troops of a civilized na- 
 tion, tarnished for ever the glory of their victories, 
 
 The uninterrupted successes of Russia, and the ex- 
 tension of her conquests, which now began to threaten 
 the total subversion of the Ottoman empire, roused at 
 last the attention of Europe. England and Prussia 
 began to arm in order to prevent a revolution, of 
 which it was difficult to calculate the consequences. 
 Spain and Denmark also interfered, although in a less 
 decided manner. At last, however, a peace was con- 
 cluded the llth of August, 1 79-, and the empress 
 obtained all her demands- Oczakow, and all the 
 country between the Bog and the Niester, were ceded 
 to Russia, and the latter river was made the boundary 
 between the Russian and Ottoman empires. 
 
 Catharine It. during the long period of her reign, 
 had never for a moment withdrawn her attention from 
 Poland. Her first interference in the affairs of that 
 kingdom, and the elevation of Poniatowski to its 
 throne, have already been mentioned. The course of 
 events obliging us, for the sake of a more luminous 
 arrangement, to follow the connected series of the 
 transactions between Russia and Turkey, it will here 
 be necessary to return to that aera. It may likewise 
 not be amiss to cast a retrospective glance on the an- 
 cient state of that kingdom, which, although divided 
 between Rustria, Aussia, and Prussia,* and thus ex- 
 punged from the list of nations, was once respectable 
 and powerful, and at different times swayed the desti- 
 nies of the three partitioning powers, to whom its m- 
 testine divisions have caused it to become a prey. 
 
 J By the peace of Tihit, Prussia is divested of her Polish territories, 
 which are ceded to the kingdom of Saxony. 
 
 Russia
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 699 
 
 Russia, no longer since than the beginning of the six- 
 teenth century, saw her capital and her throne in the 
 possession of the Poles, and her soldiers unable to 
 face their armed battalions. Austria, so late as 1083, 
 was indebted to Poland, and its king, the famous 
 John Sobieski, for her preservation, when Vienna 
 was besieged by the most powerful army ever sent by 
 the Ottoman Porte against Christendom, and Prus- 
 sia was, during several ages, no more than a vassal to 
 Poland. Such is the fluctuating state of kingdoms 
 and empires. ^ 
 
 The Polish nation is originally Slavonian ; and it is 
 generally supposed that colonies of these people settled 
 in Poland at the same time as in Russia. It would 
 now be an useless labour to attempt a developement 
 of its ancient history, which is equally obscure and 
 uninteresting, presenting, as far as it is known, only 
 the same aspect as the other European countries, 
 during the darkness of the middle ages, and amidst 
 the confusion of the feudal system. It was, in an- 
 cient as well as in later times, divided into a number 
 of petty principalities, owning only a nominal allegi- 
 ance to the paramount prince, like Russia after the 
 death of Vladimir, and France at the accession of 
 the Capetine dynasty. Cracus, one of its dukes, is 
 said to have founded the city of Cracow. In the year 
 830, a peasant, named Piastas, was elected to the 
 ducal dignity, and after a long and prosperous reio-n, 
 died at the age of 120 years. The sovereign had only 
 the title of duke till 999, when Boleslaus I. assumed 
 that of king. He conquered Prussia, Moravia, and 
 Bohemia 5 and Bolislaus II. in the eleventh century, 
 
 * Annal. de 1'Empire, torn. ii. Vide Hist. Russ. aud France in this 
 work. 
 
 extended
 
 700 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 extended his dominions from the Oder to the Borys- 
 thenes. The monarchy, exceedingly limited, and al- 
 ways considered as elective, was preserved in the fa- 
 mily of the Piastes, and afterwards] of the Jagellons, 
 until they became successively extinct. During this 
 period, Poland having its whole political strength con- 
 centrated under a regular, though limited government, 
 beld a place in the first rank of European powers. 
 The country was populous, the towns rich, and the na- 
 tion formidable. From the fifteenth to the seventeenth 
 century, Poland was eminent in letters, in science, and 
 in arms r Kremen, in history ; Sorbieurski, Kocha- 
 nowski and Zimorovviez, in poetry ; Gorniki, in poli- 
 tics. ; and several other writers of eminence, in differ- 
 ent departments of literature, have acquired a merited 
 celebrity. Copernicus has conferred honour on his 
 country. Sobieski, and in our days Kosciusko, heroes 
 worthy of Greece and Rome, in their most brilliant 
 periods, have rendered their names, and that of their 
 nation, immortal. 
 
 After the death of Sigismund Augustus, the last 
 male of the house of Jagellon, A. D. 1572, it became 
 necessary to elect a king from another family. The 
 nobles seized this opportunity of assuming new pow- 
 ers and prerogatives, which in time converted Poland 
 into a complete aristocracy, and reduced the king to 
 a mere president of the senate, composed of a num- 
 ber of ecclesiastical dignitaries, the palatines, or go- 
 vernors of provinces, and the castellans, their lieu- 
 tenants. The government by degrees degenerated to 
 anarchy ; the nobles extorted additional privileges at 
 every election: Every king sought to conciliate their 
 favour, in order to transmit the crown to his son. A 
 system of aristocratical tyranny pervaded the king- 
 dom,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 701 
 
 dotn, the towns 'were oppressed, and the great mass 
 of the people reduced to the most abject slavery. 
 The liberum veto, an absurd institution, which by giv- 
 ing to a single voice the power of annulling every act, 
 paralized all the assemblies, was at last introduced and 
 completed the anarchy. The foreign affairs, as well 
 as the internal state of the nation, during a long space 
 of time, exhibit a scene of confusion and turbulence. 
 Wars against Turkey and Russia, sometimes success- 
 ful, but often disastrous, constitute its history. In 
 the reign of Michael Wiesnowiski, Poland was ren- 
 dered tributary to the Sultan. But John Sobieski, the 
 crown general, retrieved the glory of th Polish arms, 
 and gave the Turks several signal defeats. He was 
 elected king in KJ7S, and about three years after- 
 wards was so successful as to free his country from the 
 Turkish tribute. In 1683 he came to the relief of 
 Vienna, then invested by a Turkish army of almost 
 300,000 men, commanded by the Grand Vizir, whom 
 he compelled to raise the siege, and to evacuate 
 Austria and Hungary. The army of the Polish mo- 
 narch was greatly inferior in number to that of the 
 enemy, and he gained immortal glory in this expedi- 
 tion. Sobieski died in 1696, after a victorious reign; 
 but after his death the former anarchy returned, and 
 the election of a new sovereign was often attended 
 with violent commotions. 
 
 From this aera, to the period at which the influence 
 of Russia had placed the late King Stanislaus Ponia- 
 towski on the throne, the history of Poland afford* 
 little that can be interesting to the reader, although 
 the elections of its sovereigns frequently rilled the 
 kingdom with di.ssentions, and all Europe with in- 
 trigues. At the epoch now under consideration, the 
 1 intervention
 
 702 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 intervention of the Russians gave great disgust to all 
 parties. The Catholic clergy were extremely active 
 in opposing the demands of the dissidents,* whose 
 petition had been favorably received at the diet. The 
 whole nation was divided into hostile confederacies, 
 and this unfortunate country became the ensanguined 
 theatre of civil, religious, and foreign war. This 
 complicated scene of confusion and devastation, con- 
 tinued during the years 1769, 1770, and 1771. The 
 whole country was nearly laid waste, and many of the 
 principal families retired into foreign states with their 
 effects. In addition to these calamities, the plap^e 
 spreading from the frontiers of Turkey, into the 
 southern provinces of Poland, swept off, according to 
 the common accounts, 200,000 people. In 1771, on 
 the 3d of September, the desperate enterprize of 
 carrying off the king of Poland was attempted, and 
 partly executed. Being attacked and wounded, he 
 was conveyed into a wood, where he was left under 
 the care of Korinski, one of the assassins, who being 
 prevailed on by the king to favor his escape, received 
 a pension and retired imo Italy. The same year the 
 king of Prussia's troops entered Poland, and carried 
 off about 12,000 families, in order to increase the 
 population of his own dominions. They also levied 
 immense contributions, and treated the Poles in every 
 /respect as a conquered people. The next year Russia, 
 Prussia, and Austria, announced their intention of 
 dismembering the kingdom. These three allied powers 
 acting in concert, formally exhibited their claims, 
 and declared the legality of their rights to those dis- 
 tricts which they had allotted to each other. They 
 
 * The diasidents were a numerous body, chiefly composed of Protest- 
 ants and Greeks. 
 
 forced
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 7Q3 
 
 forced the Poles to call a diet, menacing the whole 
 kingdom with military execution, in case of a refusal 
 to sign a treaty for the cession of the territories to 
 which they- laid claim. The Polish nobility remons- 
 trated, but were forced to yield. By this partition, 
 almost all the south-east parts of Poland, bordering 
 on Hungary, were allotted to Austria; a large tract 
 of country, on the banks of the Dnieper, was ceded 
 to Russia; and his Prussian majesty obtained Polish 
 Prussia, and some districts the nearest to Branden- 
 burg. Several courts remonstrated against these 
 transactions, but proceeded no farther ; and the Euro- 
 pean nations at last stood tranquil spectators of the 
 dismemberment of an ancient and once powerful 
 kingdom. 
 
 At the partition a new constitution was framed for 
 the rest of the kingdom, under the guarantee and 
 dictation of Russia. But the object of this power 
 being only to increase the weakness and dependence 
 of Poland, tb.e alterations extended merely to forms, 
 without any radical change. All the grand defects 
 of the old constitution were retained ; the crown re- 
 mained elective, and the anarchy of the diets, and 
 the tyranny of the nobles, still subsisted. The long 
 series of misfortunes under which the country had 
 laboured, at last convinced every enlightened person in 
 the kingdom of the defects of this anarchical govern- 
 ment, and of the necessity of reforming abuses which, 
 notwithstanding the great natm*il resources of Poland. 
 and the valour of the people, rendered the nation a 
 slave to its neighbours. The year 1'ritf, seemed to 
 present to the Poles a favorable opportunity of free- 
 ing themselves from foreign influence, the two impe- 
 rial courts being engaged 111 a war v.iih the Porte. 
 
 Th e
 
 704 EtUOPE'AN RUSSIA. 
 
 The Polish diet assembled at Grodno, and the const!-* 
 tution of the 3d of May, 171)1, was the result of its 
 deliberations. The throne was made hereditary in 
 the family of the elector of Saxony, on the decease 
 of the reigning monarch. The nobles made laudable 
 sacrifices in subjecting themselves to taxation, from 
 which they had always been exempted, and in open- 
 ing to the middle classes an avenue to all employ- 
 ments; and all ranks contributed towards supporting 
 an army, and providing artillery. The empress of 
 Russia resolving to overturn this constitution, was 
 not long in finding a plausible pretext. Some nobles, 
 dissatisfied at seeing themselves deprived of the chance 
 of succession, by reason of the crown being rendered 
 hereditary, and perceiving their authority in every 
 respect diminished, assembled at Targovitz, where, 
 they formed a league against -the new constitution, 
 and implored her assistance. 
 
 The king of Prussia, willing to add to the embarrass- 
 ments of Austria and Russia, had at first encouraged 
 the Poles in their proceedings, and seemed to favor 
 their new constitution. But the alarms of the French 
 revolution, and the dread of a war with Russia while 
 his arms were employed against France, had induced 
 him to change his system. Catharine having con- 
 cluded a peace with the Ottoman Porte, and no 
 longer fearing any opposition from Prussia, entered 
 in May, 1792, on the execution of her plans, by 
 marching an army into Poland. King Stanislaus, 
 instead of seconding the heroic ardour of his subjects, 
 lost time in fruitless negotiations. Hoping to bring 
 matters to an amicable conclusion, he arrested the 
 impetuosity of the nation, and by retarding the march 
 of the troops, paralized the efforts of the brave Kosci- 
 
 usko,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 705 
 
 tisko, who was forced to retreat before the enemy. 
 The Russians, with the Polish mal-con tents, advanced 
 towards Warsaw, and Stanislaus Augustus, allured by 
 promises and terrified by menaces, patriotic in his 
 principles, but wavering and irresolute in his measures, 
 received as allies the enemies of his country and his 
 crown. The empress, resolving to annex to Russia 
 another portion of the Polish territory, prevented the 
 opposition of Prussia by the proposal of a second par- 
 tition.* On the 25th of March, 1793, the Prussian 
 monarch published a manifesto, to justify the entrance 
 of his troops into Poland, and soon after took posses- 
 sion of Thorn, Dantzick, and the province called 
 Great Poland. On the remonstrance of the confeder- 
 ates of Targovitz, the Russian ambassador declared 
 his ignorance of the designs of Prussia ; and the 
 empress, unwilling as yet to develope the plan, ad- 
 vised the Poles to adopt defensive measures. The 
 confederates, who had betrayed their country by call- 
 ing in the Russians, but who had not foreseen the 
 fatal project of dismemberment, lavished panegyrics 
 on Catharine, and dispersed circular letters inviting 
 the Polish nation to rise in arms, and expel the 
 Prnssiau invaders. 
 
 Catharine and Frederick now thought it no longer 
 of use to temporize, and announced their intention of 
 making a second partition. They published a declara- 
 tion, in which they complained of the anarchy which 
 prevailed in the. kingdom, and asserted the impossi- 
 bility of extinguishing so dangerous a volcano, by 
 any other means than by confiningt Polnnd within 
 
 * Scaur's Fred. Willi;irn, vol. fJ, p. 3J5. 
 
 t Declaration of the Russian and Prussian ministers to the confedera- 
 tion of Poland, bearing date 9th April, 17'.'". 
 
 VOL. in, 2 z mirrowrv
 
 706 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 narrower limits, and by taking possession of the pro- 
 vinces contiguous to their own dominions. A diet 
 was corivoked at Grodno, in order to sign the cession 
 of the provinces required; and the castle, where the 
 members assembled, was surrounded by two battalions 
 of grenadiers, with some pieces of cannon, for secur- 
 ing the tranquillity of their debates. The king at the 
 same time published a declaration, expressing, that 
 " compelled by circumstances, having in vain solicited 
 the support of foreign powers, and not enjoying the 
 free exercise of his will, he submitted to the dismem- 
 berment of his country." The people, exasperated at 
 the repeated acts of violence committed by the Rus- 
 sian troops, were now ready for a general insurrec- 
 tion, and the patriotic leaders sending a committee 
 to Warsaw, formed a confederacy, which soon spread 
 its ramifications throughout Poland. A chief for this 
 grand enterprize was all that was wanted. The king 
 had lost the public confidence. The troops unani- 
 mously chose the brave Kosciusko for their com- 
 mander, and refused to march unless he were placed at 
 their head. This general was of a noble family, and 
 united in his character all the qualities that dignify 
 human nature. Intrepid, indefatigable, and incor- 
 ruptible, cool in the midst of danger, humane, just, 
 and generous, resolute in his projects, and rapid in 
 his operations ; he was the idol of the soldiery and the 
 nation, of which he directed the energy to his sole 
 object, the emancipation of Poland. After some 
 time spent in organizing an army, in May, 1794, 
 General Madalinski erected the standard of revolt, 
 and penetrated into the palatinate of Cracovia; and 
 Kosciusko arriving at the same time, all the citizens 
 of Cracow assembled and signed the act of insurrec- 
 t tion,
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 707 
 
 tion. Kosciusko was elected their chief, declared 
 generalissimo of the national forces, and vested with 
 dictatorial powers ; implicit confidence in his virtue 
 prevented the imposition of any restraint on his autho- 
 rity, and this confidence he never abused. By this 
 act the Poles declared war against the usurpers of 
 their rights and the invaders of their country, sacri- 
 ficed ancient prejudices, abolished the feudal slavery,* 
 and bestowed on all the inhabitants an equal enjoy- 
 ment of civil liberty. Had such measures been adopt- 
 ed at an earlier period, Poland might, at this day, 
 have ranked among the most potent and flourishing 
 kingdoms of Europe; but it was now too late to hope 
 for success. The kingdom had already lost a consider- 
 able portion of its resources by its dismemberment, 
 and suffered a great depopulation from the civil and 
 foreign wars, with whicli it had been so long con- 
 vulsed. Poland could not, at this time, collect above 
 the half of its former strength. 
 
 Soon after the proclamation of the insurrectional 
 act, Kosciusko having learned that a body of 12,000 
 Russians were advancing against Cracow, he marched 
 
 * Some enlightened Polish nebles had already adopted the judicious 
 measure of emancipating their peasants. Zeraobki, formerly great chan- 
 cellor, was the first who made the experiment. In 1760, he enfranchized 
 the peasants of six Tillages, and afterwards those on all his estates. The 
 eveut had shewn the plan to have been no less judicious than humane, 
 equally conducive to the interest of the nobles, and to the happiness of the 
 peasants ; for in those districts where this new arrangement has been in- 
 troduced, not only the population of the villages was much increased, but 
 the value of the estates had been augmented in a three-fold proportion. 
 Trince Stanislaus, nephew to the late king, had imitated the example of 
 Zemoiski, and derived from it the same advantage ; and, indeed, many 
 other noblemen, in countries where the feudal system yet subsists, begin 
 to discover that their true interest consists in the emancipation of they- 
 vassal?- 
 
 2 z 2 from
 
 708 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 from that city with only 4,000 men, of whom the 
 greater part were armed only with scythes and pikes, 
 and without artillery. With these he attacked and 
 defeated the Russians, who on this occasion lost 3,000 
 men-and 12 pieces of cannon. -Such was the enthu- 
 siasm of the Poles, that a corps of peasants, armed 
 with scythes, took possession of a battery of cannon, 
 and their desperate ardour proved an over match for 
 the numbers and tactics of their enemies.* 
 
 The insurrection now became general, and Baron 
 d'Inglestroin, the Russian commander at Warsaw, 
 dreading the fermentation which manifested itself in 
 that city, demanded possession of the arsenal. This 
 occasioned a general revolt. This Russian military 
 ambassador had long governed Warsaw in the name 
 of the king and the permanent council; but Stanis- 
 laus, by his irresolution and submission to foreign in- 
 fluence, had totally lost the public confidence, ami 
 no regard was any longer paid to his nominal autho- 
 rity. The Russians had about 15,000 men quartered 
 in the city and its environs ; but despair now took 
 place of terror, and the inhabitants having procured 
 arms from the arsenal, attacked the enemy in every 
 quarter. The contest in the streets of Warsaw con- 
 tinued near forty-eight hours. The Poles were- at last 
 victorious, and the Russians having lost 6000 killed, 
 and 3000 prisoners, with 150 pieces of cannon, were 
 completely driven out of the capital. The next mea- 
 sure of the citizens was to repair the fortifications, 
 and history affords no example of any undertaking 
 pursued with greater ardour. Men and women, old 
 and young, nobles and plebeians, put their hands to 
 the work. Kosciusko arriving at Warsaw immeclr- 
 
 * Segur's Fred. William, vol. S, p. 150. 
 
 ately
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. . 709 
 
 artely after this grand movement, convened the coun- 
 cils, and having adopted the most judicious and reso- 
 lute measures for the preservation of civil order, amidst 
 these great military commotions, marched to intercept 
 the progress of the king of Prussia, who, on receiving 
 intelligence of the insurrection, was advancing towards 
 Warsaw at the head of 40,000 men. To this formid- 
 able force, Kosciusko could only oppose a body of 
 12,000, and these not completely armed. A battle 
 was fought, in which superiority of numbers decided 
 the victory in favor of the Prussians, and the Polish 
 general retreated to the entrenched camp which cover- 
 ed Warsaw. The Prussian monarch, availing himself 
 of this advantage, marched to Cracow, and took pos- 
 session of that place. The people of Warsaw, in the 
 mean while, transported with fury at the news of these 
 disasters, and excited by agitators, spread horror and 
 confusion throughout the city. On the 28th of June, 
 gibbets were erected in the streets, the prisons forced 
 open, and the prisoners accused of connivance with 
 the enemies of the state, immediately executed. 
 
 The empress of Russia now ordered an army of 
 40,000 men from the Ukraine, and another of 16,000 
 from Livonia, to advance into Poland. Austria could 
 not behold with indifference the aggrandizement of 
 her already formidable neighbours, Russia and Prussia; 
 and Kosciusko had not only sedulously avoided all 
 cause of dispute with the emperor, but had sometimes 
 flattered himself that the court of Vienna would not 
 suffer Poland to fall .a .prey to the two invading powers. 
 .Circumstances, however, soon proved, that a second 
 Division of the kingdom was determined, in which 
 Austria fully coincided and expected to partake. 
 About the end of June, the Austrian troops began to 
 2x3 enter
 
 710 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 enter Poland, and a manifesto was published by the 
 emperor on the occasion. Every invasion, indeed, 
 of this unfortunate country, was preceded, accom- 
 panied, or followed, by manifestos and declarations, 
 indicating the rectitude of design, and benevolent 
 motives by which the invaders were actuated. 
 
 The king of Prussia having now joined the Russians, 
 their combined army laid siege to Warsaw. Kosci- 
 usko had previously thrown himself into the city, and 
 every preparation was made for a vigorous defence. 
 On the Slst of June, the Prussians began the attack 
 by a heavy cannonade and bombardment. From the 
 city a dreadful fire was kept up night and day on the 
 besiegers. The king and the prince royal of Prussia, 
 displayed great bravery, and were often in imminent 
 danger. His Prussian majesty at last attempted to 
 make himself master of the city by negotiation, and 
 addressing himself both to King Stanislaus, to the 
 citizens, and to the soldiery, after having employed 
 all the means of force for its reduction, used all the 
 arts of policy, in order to acquire possession. To 
 the inhabitants he promised protection, on condition 
 of surrender, and menaced them with total destruc- 
 tion in case of resistance. To the Polish officers he 
 promised, that they should retain in his army, the 
 same rank which they held in that of the insurgents. 
 The citizens replied, that they would share the fate of 
 the army, and the military men declared that they 
 would conquer or die with their general. As to the 
 king, although he was treated with respect, permitted 
 to retain his guards, and to enjoy the honours appro- 
 priated to his rank, he possessed no authority. After 
 the expulsion of the Russians from Warsaw, he was 
 desirous, of joining the insurgents; but they had too 
 
 often
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 711 
 
 often experienced the weakness and indecision of his 
 character, to entrust him with the management of 
 such important affairs. The king of Prussia, now 
 baffled at every point, received intelligence of a dread- 
 ful insurrection in his newly acquired possessions ; 
 and apprehending that his retreat might be inter- 
 cepted, he raised the siege of Warsaw on the Sth of 
 September with precipitation, leaving behind him his 
 sick and wounded, with an immense quantity of war- 
 like stores. In this fruitless siege, of nearly tw~o 
 months, the combined Russian and Prussian army 
 was greatly weakened by disease and desertion, as well 
 as by repeated assaults.* 
 
 Notwithstanding the general ardour which animated 
 the Poles, the necessity of leaving many hands for the 
 carrying on of agriculture, circumscribed the extent 
 of their military levies ; and the small number of their 
 forces shews how much the national resources had 
 been diminished by their long continued civil wars, 
 and the dismemberments of the kingdom. The dif- 
 ferent armies of the insurgents did not amount col- 
 lectively to much more than 46,000 men, beside a 
 number of peasants badly armed, while those of the 
 Auslrians, Russians, and Prussians, constantly accu- 
 mulating, were at last augmented to 107,000. What 
 might have been the result of this contest between 
 forces so disproportionate in numbers, and whether 
 the enthusiasm of the Poles would not have triumphed 
 over a coalition, which opposition of interests might 
 have soon dissolved, or the jealousies and dissensions 
 of commanders have rendered ineffectual, is beyond 
 the reach of tactical calculation. But treachery, or 
 gross mistake, prevented this point from being brought 
 * Scgur's Fred. William, vol. 3, j>. 155. 
 
 2 z 4 to
 
 712 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 to a fair decision, and baffled all the efforts of Polish 
 valour. 
 
 Several bloody engagements took place with various 
 success. In one of these Poland suffered an irrepara- 
 ble misfortune, in the loss of the gallant Kosciusko.* 
 That general made a rapid march to prevent the 
 junction of Fersen's army with that of Suwarrof ; and 
 Poninski having been sent to dispute the passage 
 of the river, after having delivered up his post to 
 the Russians, neglected to obey the orders which he 
 had received, to rejoin the army with his detachment. 
 The generalissimo thus deserted by one division of his 
 army, was attacked by General .Fersen. The Poles, 
 although not equal in number to one-third of the Rus- 
 sian army, maintained, during almost a whole day, an 
 obstinate and bloody contest, in which Kosciusko, 
 displaying all the talents of a general, and all the cou- 
 Tage of a soldier, flying from rank to rank, and ex- 
 posing his person to every danger, signalized himself 
 by prodigies of valour. The hero of Poland at last 
 fell, covered with wounds; and his troops being' dis- 
 persed, he was left in the power of the Russians. In 
 this situation, preferring death to captivity, he im- 
 plored his enemies to put a period to his existence. 
 But even the barbarous Cossacks, into whose hands he 
 fell, testified their admiration of his courage, and their 
 pity for his misfortune; and the Russian commanders 
 treated him with all the respect due to so illustrious a 
 character. The best medical assistance was afforded 
 him, and every attention was paid to his recovery. As 
 soon as he was able to travel, he was sent to Peters- 
 burg, where the empress would probably have aspired 
 to the glory of granting him his liberty ; but while 
 
 * Segur's Fred. William, vol. 3, p. 158. 
 
 Poland
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 713 
 
 Poland was not yet completely subdued, political rea- 
 sons prevented her from exercising such an act of ge- 
 nerosity towards an enemy so distinguished by his 
 talents, his courage, and his patriotism, and so much 
 idolised by the Polish nation. Policy, therefore, com- 
 pelled the empress to keep Kosciusko a close pri- 
 soner.* 
 
 The Poles learned, with the deepest regret, the loss 
 of their commander, and manifested the most enthu- 
 siastic admiration of his abilities and virtues. Misfor- 
 tune, however, did not abate their courage. The na- 
 tional council appointed. Wawrzecky generalissimo, 
 and adopted the most vigorous measures for continu- 
 ing the war. But although their courage continued 
 the same, the genius of Kosciusko no longer directed 
 their operations ; and his downfall seems to have de- 
 termined the fate of his country. A corps of the Po- 
 lish army was defeated at Chelm, and Suwarrof, the 
 conqueror of Ismail, having gained, after an obstinate 
 contest, a complete victory over another division at 
 Bresesk, advanced towards Warsaw. The shattered 
 remains of the Polish forces retreated into the suburbs 
 of that capital, in order to make their last stand within 
 their fortifications. After the junction of the different 
 Russian corps, under the Generals Dernisof, Derne- 
 feldt, Fersen, and Suwarrof, the city was summoned to 
 surrender. On its refusal, the Russians resolved on 
 
 * Kosciusko had, from his youth, distinguished himself by his assiduity 
 in acquiring military knowledge. Becoming enamoured of a young lady, 
 whose friends opposed their passion, his mortification at seeing her mar- 
 ried to Prince Ltibomyrski, carried him far from his country; and he en- 
 deavoured to console himself for the disappointments of love by the ac- 
 quisition of military glory. He served in America under the command of 
 Gats and Washington, who bestowed just praise on his courage and ta- 
 Jcuts. Segur's Fred. \Villiam, vol. 3, p. 147. 
 
 8 assaulting
 
 714 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 assaulting the suburb of Praga, separated from War- 
 saw by the Vistula, and defended by more tban 100 
 pieces of artillery. But the Polish forces, the misera- 
 ble remnant of the insurrectional army, not amounting 
 to above 10,000 effective men, were unable to with- 
 stand a regular and vigorous attack from 50,000 of the 
 -veteran troops of Russia. After a murderous assault 
 of more than eight hours, Suwarrof at last became mas- 
 ter of the suburb. About 9,000 Poles fell in this ac- 
 tion, which was contested with an obstinacy equal to 
 any example recorded in history. But the carnage 
 that followed was still more shocking. The sanguinary 
 Suwarrof renewed at Praga all the horrors of the cap- 
 ture of Ismail, and 30,000 of the inhabitants are said 
 to have fallen victims to the ferocity of his soldiers. 
 This suburb being reduced, and its gallant defenders 
 slain, the citizens of Warsaw attempted in vain to 
 capitulate: their proposal was rejected, and the city 
 was obliged to yield itself up to the mercy of the em- 
 press. The remainder of the Polish troops, who had 
 survived the assault of the suburb, refusing to submit, 
 attempted to effect a retreat from the place ; but being 
 attacked on every side by the enemy, some were killed, 
 others dispersed, and some were compelled to surren- 
 der. General Madalinski, with a determined band, 
 fled into Gallicia. On the 9th of November, 1794, 
 the Russian general made his triumphal entry into 
 Warsaw. To complete the scene, he appointed the 
 1st of December as a day of solemn thanksgiving; and 
 Te Deurn was sung for a triumph, of which the glory 
 was tarnished by the most horrible and unnecessary 
 slaughter. King Stanislaus soon after received an 
 order to repair to Grodno, from whence he was removed 
 to Petersburg, where he had a pension and a palace 
 
 assigned
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 715 
 
 assigned him, and died A.D. 1798. He was a prince 
 of elegant accomplishments, of a mild and benevolent 
 disposition, a sincere but moderate patriot : he was 
 anxious for the happiness of tyis country, and desirous 
 of sparing the blood of his subjects. While a private 
 nobleman, he had resided some time in London, and 
 was a fellow of the Royal Society. He lost the affec- 
 tions of the Poles by his deference for Russia, and his 
 tame acquiescence with her requisitions; but his ob- 
 ject was to prevent the effusion of blood, and to pre- 
 serve the tranquillity of his kingdom. 
 
 The courts of Petersburg, Berlin, and Vienna, had 
 now nothing further to do, than to divide the con- 
 quered kingdom. Warsaw fell under the dominion of 
 Prussia. The Vistula was made the boundary between 
 Prussia and Austria. The Bog marked the limits of 
 the Austrian and Russian dominions. The Niemen. 
 determined those of Russia and Prussia. One half of 
 the city of Grodno was allotted to the king of Prussia^ 
 and the other to the empress. Bresesk was made the 
 central point of the frontiers of the three co-partition- 
 ing states. Thus the once powerful kingdom of Po- 
 land, not inferior to I'rance in extent and fertility, and 
 naturally capable of maintaining, under a judicious 
 political system, as great a number of people, was at 
 Jast struck out of the catalogue of nations, and entirely 
 divided between Russia, Austria, and Prussia. By 
 this extraordinary transaction a grand breach was 
 made in the European system. 
 
 The subjugation of Poland was the last important 
 effect of the foreign politics of Catharine II. The 
 French revolution appeared to excite her attention as 
 well as that of the other European powers; and she 
 was considered as a member of the grand coalition.
 
 716 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 Bnt she never seemed willing to take any active part 
 in the war against France. She amused the world 
 with manifestos, but beheld with unconcern the 
 greatest powers of Europe exhausting their strength 
 and their treasure, while perfectly secure from their 
 interference, she was making substantial acquisitions 
 in [Poland. This empress also annexed to Russia the 
 fertile and populous country of Courland ; but its duke, 
 who was not in a condition to refuse his acquiescence, 
 received considerable presents in compensation for 
 his loss. Incessantly anxious to extend her domi- 
 nions, she turned her arms against Persia, under the 
 pretext of supporting Ali Khan, one of the descend- 
 ants of the Soph is. Her general, Zoubof, at the head 
 of a formidable army, penetrated into the province of 
 Daghestan, and took the city of Derbent. He after- 
 wards attacked Aga Mahommed, who was advancing 
 to the relief of that place, when he heard of its cap- 
 ture. But victory, on this occasion, declared for the 
 Persians; and Zoubof was obliged to retreat into Der- 
 bent ; in consequence of which a strong body of Rus- 
 sians was ordered to reinforce his army. While Ca- 
 tharine was thus forming plans of aggrandizement, 
 and making preparations for carrying them into exe- 
 cution, the hand of death arrested her progress. She 
 expired of an apoplexy on the 9th of November, 1796, 
 in the sixty-eighth year of her age and the thirty-fifth 
 of her reign, which was one of the most distinguished 
 in modern history.* 
 
 * In the morning she had appeared very cheerful, and had taken her 
 coffee as usual, but afterwards retiring to her closet, and continuing there 
 longer than ordinary, her attendants began to be alarmed, and opened 
 the door. She was found on the floor in a state of insensibility. Her 
 first physician was called ; but medical assistance was in vain : she ex- 
 pired about ten in the evening. 
 
 The
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 717 
 
 v 
 
 The .name of Catharine II. will ever stand conspi- 
 cuous in the chronicles of Europe. Historians will 
 fill many of their pages with the transactions of her 
 court and the operations of her armies; but to the eye 
 of the philosophical observer, her conquests will ap- 
 pear less resplendent than her peaceful labours for the 
 improvement of her people. Peter the Great had laid 
 the foundation of Russian improvement and grandeur : 
 successive monarchs had employed themselves in 
 raising the superstructure ; but Catharine II. contri- 
 buted more towards the accomplishment of his de- 
 signs than all her predecessors since his time. Amidst 
 the intrigues and the splendor of her court, the solici- 
 tudes of war and the acclamations of conquest, she 
 did not overlook the more placid occupations of peace. 
 She was the munificent patroness of literature and the 
 arts; and from the commencement to the termination 
 of her reign, she laboured with as great assiduity and 
 success to extend the commerce of her empire, as to 
 increase its power and political consequence. As a 
 legislator, when the circumstances of her country are 
 considered, she stands almost unrivalled. Her new 
 code of laws, framed under her inspection, and in a 
 great measure by her instructions, discovers a just 
 judgment of an enlightened understanding, and will 
 greatly contribute to mitigate the rigour of despo- 
 tism.* Her abolition of the torture does honour to 
 her feelings, and confers a blessing on humanity. The 
 many and important regulations which she effected, in 
 the interior police, and the various reforms which she 
 introduced into the courts of justice, shewed her not 
 
 * The manuscript copy, written mostly in French with her own liand, is 
 kept in the library of the academy of science* at Petersburg. StorCh's 
 Picture of Petersburg, p. 316.
 
 718 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 less attentive to the happiness than to the greatness of 
 her empire. Our limits do not permit us to trace the 
 history of Russian civilization through the reign of 
 Catharine II, nor even to give the most concise de- 
 scription of her numerous and beneficial institutions 
 for its promotion.* Several of the magnificent struc- 
 tures with which she adorned Petersburg and its envi- 
 rons, have been already concisely described ; and who- 
 ever views the academies for the promotion of arts, 
 sciences, and letters, and the hospitals for the comfort 
 of suffering humanity, which owe to her their origin 
 or their enlargement, will not refuse her the just tri< 
 bute of merited applause. Guided by her steady and 
 fostering hand, the mass of useful knowledge was not 
 confined to Petersburg alone, but distributed in thou- 
 sands of channels into every part of the country. The 
 number of pupils educated at the expence of govern- 
 ment, in the public academies and schools of Peters- 
 burg, have already been mentioned; but here it is 
 necessary to observe, that no fewer than 3,00 of 
 these, including both sexes, were the children of the 
 common people, instructed in the normal schools, a 
 noble and useful foundation of the immortal Catha- 
 rine, who, in the vast and beneficent plan, which she 
 formed for the regeneration of her empire, applied a 
 maternal and appropriate care to the great business of 
 popular education, which too many princes and states 
 have overlooked as an object of trifling iinportance."f- 
 These popular schools were not confined to the resi- 
 dence alone, but were established in all the provinces 
 of the empire. 
 
 * Thosa may be seen at large in Tooke's View of the Russian Eropir* 
 under Catharine II ; and also in Storch's Picture of Petersburg, chap. 7 
 and 8 ; as also in many other authors. 
 
 t Storch's Picture of Petersburg, p. 2S9. 
 
 In
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW. 710 
 
 la reflecting on the expensive wars in which Ca- 
 tharine, during a considerable part of her reign, was 
 engaged, the magnificent edifices which she erected, 
 the extraordinary splendor of her court,* the munifi- 
 cence with which she rewarded her generals, and the 
 multiplicity of her institutions, the political calculator 
 is astonished, and naturally excited to enquire how she 
 became possessed of the means of accomplishing pro- 
 jects so vast and so various. But it is here to be ob- 
 served, that the low price of provisions and labo.ur, at 
 Petersburg and Moscow, renders great undertakings 
 practicable at an expence far below any computations 
 which an inhabitant of London, or of several other 
 capitals, can accustom himself to make. This cir- 
 cumstance, with the unlimited will of a Russian 
 sovereign, give possibility to the boldest and most 
 extraordinary projects. 
 
 The means by which she ascended the throne, and 
 her extinction of Polish independency, are not com- 
 memorated to her honour. The first can admit of no 
 apology, except the extreme difficulty of the situation 
 in which she was placed ; but in regard to the latter, 
 it is evident that the Poles themselves were the ori<n- 
 
 o 
 
 iial cause of their own destruction : the subsequent 
 conduct of Catharine and her allies, was only that 
 which is common among politicians. After all, it is 
 difficult to determine, whether the partition of Poland 
 was a real injury to liberty, and a real misfortune to 
 humanity : to the partitioning powers it was certainly 
 a vast acquisition. Her private life is a subject which 
 it is not our province to scrutinize : it has been treated 
 by a great number of writers. She is here viewed 
 
 * Mr. Coxe remarks with astonishment lln; magnificence of the court 
 cf CaLariu* II. TrnvcU, \u\. ii. p. VfSy. 
 
 enlv
 
 720 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 only as a sovereign and a legislator. In both these 
 characters, she will ever stand in the first rank oi 
 honorable distinction. 
 
 Catharine II. was succeeded by her. son, Paul I, 
 whose measures, in several respects, were in opposi- 
 tion to those of his imperial parent and predecessor. 
 Immediately on his accession, he caused hostilities to 
 cease between Russia and Persia, and a peace was 
 soon after concluded. During the first years of his 
 reign, he seemed to interest himself very little in the 
 coalition against France : butt he was afterwards in- 
 duced to take a more active part ; and the events 
 produced by the co-operation of the Russian army 
 under General Suwarrof, with that of the Austrians, 
 have already been noticed. A misunderstanding, how- 
 ever, arising between the courts of Petersburg and 
 Vienna, occasioned a dissolution of their alliance, and 
 the emperor soon after adopted the impolitic measure 
 of resolving on a war with England, which seems to 
 have been prevented only by his death/* In his 
 youth, Paul had given indubitable marks of genius 
 and of an elegant turn of mind. His enemies allow, 
 that although the hastiness "of his temper sometimes 
 carried him to extremes, he was not destitute of vir- 
 tues ; and even those who had experienced the effects 
 of his severit5 T , admit that he possessed genuine good^ 
 ness of heart. f lie distinguished his reign by several 
 acts of generosity, which future ages will bear in ho^ 
 norable remembrance. He gave liberty to the cele* 
 brated Kosciusko, generalissimo of the Polish patriots, 
 with permission either to reside in his dominions, or 
 
 * Tlie exit of Paul is related according to the current reports in Carr's 
 Travels round the Baltic. 
 
 t KotzcLiuc. 
 
 to
 
 HISTORICAL VIEW 721 
 
 to retire to America.* He restored to their estates a 
 great number of Polish emigrants, and fugitives, and 
 behaved with an honorable liberality to the deposed 
 king Stanislaus. The death of this emperor happened 
 A. D. 1801, in the fifth of his reign. He was suc- 
 ceeded by his son Alexander, who is universally re- 
 presented as a prince of the most amiable disposition, 
 of the most pleasing accomplishments, and a pattern 
 of almost every virtue. Thus the flower planted by 
 Catharine soon withered, only to shoot forth a stem 
 of peculiar brilliancy. 
 
 The reign of the emperor Alexander has already been 
 sufficiently eventful to afford copious materials for 
 military history. Bat as the wars which he has sus- 
 tained against France are related in treating of the 
 affairs of that country, a repetition is unnecessary. 
 In consequence of the peace concluded with France 
 at Tilsit, a total change took place in the politics of 
 Russia; and on the 31st of October his imperial 
 majesty published a manifesto, declaring all commu- 
 nication to be broken off between that empire and 
 Great Britain. The war between Russia and Eng- 
 land, has, however, hitherto been little more than a 
 suspension of political and commercial intercourse. 
 
 * Kosciusko retired to America, and visited London in bis way, where 
 he was treated with the respect due to his well-known merit. He has 
 ince left America, and taken up his residence in France. 
 
 HI- 
 
 3 A CHAP.
 
 722 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 Religion Government Lawy Array Navy Revenues Commerce 
 Manufactures Population Political Importance Language Li- 
 terature Polite Arts EducationManners and Customs National 
 Character. 
 
 Religion.] THE national religion of Russia is that 
 of the Greek church, of which, since the fall of Con- 
 stantinople under the Mahometan power, this em- 
 pire may be considered as the focus. The public 
 worship of the Greek church is exceedingly splendid 
 and pompous. They have a great veneration for the 
 pictures of saints, with which their churches are am- 
 ply furnished, while they reject images with abhor- 
 rence, a truly singular distinction, which, however 
 consecrated by theology, would certainly puzzle a 
 philosopher. 
 
 Hierarchy.] The hierachy of the Greek is nearly 
 the same as that of the Roman church; and the pa- 
 triarchs of Moscow had at one period assumed an au- 
 thority almost equal to that of the pope ; but Peter 
 the Great abolished their exhorbitant powers. The 
 clergy enjoy considerable privileges, particularly an 
 exemption from taxes. Their number, secular and 
 regular, has beeu estimated at about ()7,OOO. There 
 are about thirty episcopal sees, and )8,350 churches, 
 including the cathedrals. The monasteries are com- 
 puted at 480 ; the nunneries at 74. The number of 
 monks is supposed to be about 730O, and that 
 ef the nuns about 3000. The Greek church permits 
 
 the
 
 GOVERNMENT LAWS. 
 
 the marrige of the secular clergy.* In Russia, the 
 most liberal and enlightened toleration prevails; and 
 no one is, on account of his religion, excluded from 
 any office or dignity. 
 
 Government.'] The government of Russia appears 
 to have been in all ages despotic. During the periods 
 of anarchy, which the history of this empire exhibits, 
 the power of the monarch was reduced to an empty 
 name ; but we do not find that any legislative authority, 
 distinct from that of the sovereign, ever existed. In 
 times of confusion, when every thing was carried by 
 superior force, instances have frequently occurred of 
 the monarchical power, being supported or opposed by 
 factions of the nobles, or by the tumultuous violence 
 of the people ; but no vestige appears in Russian his- 
 tory, of any legitimate national council, parliament, 
 or state of the empire. Here we see a striking mark 
 of distinction between the Slavonian Russians and the 
 ancient Gothic nations, that overturned the Roman 
 empire. The whole extent of European and Asiatic 
 Russia is divided into forty vice-royalties, or govern- 
 ments, of which thirty-four may be assigned to Eu- 
 rope. The whole frame of the government of this 
 vast empire may be considered as military. 
 
 Lazcs.~\ From the difference already observed be- 
 tween the Gothic and Slavonic systems, die latter 
 were many centuries behind the former in legis- 
 lature. The Goths, from the earliest periods of which 
 we have any accounts, transacted all public affairs 
 in their national assemblies.f The Slavonians, on 
 the contrary, except those of Novogorocl, seem 
 
 * Coxc says, that the secular clergy are obliged to be married, vul. 
 3. p. 1<U. 
 
 f Tacitus de mor. Germ. 'cap. 18. Csesmr Comra. d Bel, Gal lib. 
 6.. . Aiiiiiiian Marcell. lib. 31. 
 
 3 A 2 tw
 
 724 EUROPEAN RUSSIA, 
 
 to have been entirely dependent on the will of their 
 chiefs. The Gothic tribes, immediately after their 
 settlement in the Roman provinces, began sedu- 
 lously to collect and promulgate their peculiar codes 
 of laws. But no regular Slavonic code appears till the 
 sixteenth century. Among the Poles, a Slavonic na- 
 tion more early civilized than the Russians, the first 
 appearance of legislation is discovered in a few edict* 
 ofCasimirthe Great, in the fifteenth century; but 
 before the middle of the sixteenth, nothing like a 
 regular code existed. The history of Russia also pre- 
 sents scattered edicts of particular czars ; but the first 
 regular Russian code, compiled from ancient statutes, 
 appears in the reign of Ivan Vassillievitch II. about 
 A. D. 1542. 
 
 The legislative code of Catharine II. a lasting mo^- 
 nument of her talents for government, and of her 
 attention to the happiness of her people, has already 
 been mentioned. It must here be observed, as a 
 natural consequence of the radical difference between 
 the Gothic and Slavonic systems, that the Goths 
 enacted their laws in their national councils ; while 
 among the Slavonians, except those of JSovogorod, 
 all legislation emanated from the will of the sovereign. 
 This is the case at this day in Russia. The senate i 
 the supreme court of judicature. 
 
 Army.~\ The military strength of Russia is a subject 
 that merits peculiar attention, as on its direction 
 the destinies of Europe and Asia in a great measure 
 depend. In the present circumstances of Europe, thi* 
 subejct becomes more peculiarly interesting, as Russia 
 appears to be the only power that is capable, if so dis- 
 posed, of maintaining on the continent the balance 
 against France. A late intelligent writer gives,, from a 
 8 list
 
 NAVY. 724 
 
 list of indisputable authenticity, published by a high 
 imprial college, a very accurate statement of the Rus- 
 sian armies. From this account, it appears that the 
 whole number of troops upon the lists amounts to about 
 6()0 ; 000 ; of these, about 500,000 may be deemed 
 effective. Not less than 150,000 are supposed to be 
 necessary in the numerous garrisons of this extensive 
 empire. From these calculations it appears, that the 
 whole disposable force of Russia may be estimated at 
 350,000 men, in which number about 30,000 cos- 
 sacks are included.* The soldiers are implicitly obe- 
 dient to their commanders, and capable of support- 
 ing incredible hardships. But the Russians are more 
 distinguished by their valour in open combat, than 
 by their dexterity in the grand manoeuvres of war. 
 Their armies, however, have performed great achieve- 
 ments. 
 
 Navy.] The navy of Russia is an object of much 
 less importance than her armies. It consists of seve- 
 ral detached fleets in the seas on which the empire 
 touches at its different extremities. The principal 
 fleet is that of the Baltic, consisting of about thirty- six 
 ships of the line. That of the Euxine, in the harbours 
 of Cherson and Sebastopol, was lately about twelve 
 ships of the line, but not of a high rate, as that sea 
 affords no great depth of water ; but there is a great 
 
 * For a distinct statement, vide Tooke's View Russ. Emp. vol. 2. p. 
 241 to 2.51. The pay of a Russian soldier does not amount to more than 
 lix or seven rubles per annum, not sixpence sterling per week, and his 
 allowance of flour or grits. Out of thi, besides all other provisions, he 
 must buy many article* of clothing. He has every year two shirts of 
 cheap linen, witb a pair of shoes, and forty-five copecks,, about one 
 shilling and sixpence sterling, allowed him for a pair of boots: he must 
 purchase what he wants besides, and pay for every button, &c. that he 
 happens to loe from hii uniform. Tooke'g View. Rus. Emp. vol. 2. 
 p. 232. 
 
 3 A '$ number
 
 726 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 number of frigates, galHes, xebeques, and gun-boats. 
 In 1789, the fleet of gallies in the Baltic was com- 
 puted at about 1 10. From the small extent of its sea- 
 coasts, the paucity of its ports, and the little inclina- 
 tion which the Russians sceln to have for a sea-faring 
 life, there is scarcely any prospect of this empire ever 
 attaining to a high rank among maritime powers. 
 
 Revenue,] The revenues of the Russian empire are 
 extremely disproportionate to its extent, amounting 
 only to about 46,000,000 or 48,000 000 of rubles, 
 a sum which, reckoning the ruble at par, amounts 
 to 9,750,000/. sterling.* The national debt does not 
 exceed 6,600,000 rubles, or 1,320,000*. sterling. It 
 will not here be amiss to make some observations, to 
 which the reader will find it necessary to refer, in all 
 estimates of national revenue and expenditure.'!' These 
 must not be calculated by the positive siims> from 
 which alone no just inference can be made, but by 
 their effective value in different countries ; and, con- 
 sequently, the price of the necessaries of life, and the 
 customary wages of labour, must be taken into the 
 account. If the state of these things in Russia be 
 considered ; if the small pay of the soldiers and sea- 
 men, with the various and great savings arising from 
 the nature of the government, and the habits of the 
 people, as well as the trifling interest of the national 
 debt, be taken into the calculation, a striking differ- 
 ence will be found between the public expenditure of 
 this empire, and that of other European states. On 
 this basis of calculation, it is evident that the reve- 
 nues of Russia, though not amounting to a great no- 
 
 * Tooke's View of the Russ. Emp. vol. 2. p. 326. 
 t Idem. vol. 2. p. 332, on the authority of the manifesto of the em- 
 press 96th of June, 1736. 
 
 minal
 
 COMMERCE. 727 
 
 minal sum, far exceed those of most other countries 
 in Europe.* 
 
 Commerce.'] The commerce of Russia is important 
 and ancient. It has already been observed, that the 
 genius of the Russians, even in their first stages of 
 civilization, was commercial. f Of this their trade 
 with the Byzantine empire, and the connections of 
 the Hanse Towns with Novogorod, during the barba- 
 rism of the middle ages, afford irrefragable proofs; 
 and the name of Kataigorod, or Chinese city, given 
 to one of the quarters of Moscow, and probably coe- 
 val with that capital, shews that a trade had been 
 carried on overland to China at an early period. But 
 the Russian commerce was never so various, so exten- 
 sive, and so important, as it has become since the 
 accession of Catharine II. who made its prosperity 
 one of the grand objects of her attention. The wide 
 extent of the empire now enables it to carry on a 
 very remote trade. The Caspian Sea facilitates its in- 
 tercourse with Persia and China, while the Euxine 
 and the Baltic afford an opening to its commerce with 
 all Europe, and indeed with all parts of the globe. 
 Before Peter the Great became master of the banks of 
 the Neva, and founded the city of Petersburg, Arch- 
 angel was the only port that could traffic with Europe. 
 Since that sera, it has become of much less import- 
 ance, but still has some trade.J The imports of Pe- 
 tersburg in 1797, were computed at about (20,000,000 
 of rubles, or, reckoning the exchange at par, 4,000,OOO/. 
 sterling. In general, the exports of Uuisitt by the 
 
 * Tooke's View of RHSS. Emp. vol. '.'. p. 3^7, 3J!i 
 
 t Sec preceding chapter. 
 
 f Tooke's View of Kuss. Enip. vol. 3. p. Ij'JS. 
 
 .' A 4 Baltic.
 
 728 EUROBEAN 
 
 Baltic, , exceed the imports by one third; but .a great 
 part of this trade is carried on in foreign bottoms. 
 
 The commerce of the Euxine, or Black Sea, once 
 enriched Taurida, and the. adjacent provinces,* and no 
 one who is acquainted with history can be ignorant 
 of its flourishing state during the prosperous ages of 
 the Eastern empire. After along extinction, the con- 
 quests of Catharine II. have occasioned its. revival; 
 but it is yet in its infancy, and of far less importance 
 than that of the Baltic. The principal exports are 
 furs, salt beef, butter, cordage, corn, iron, hemp, &c. ; 
 the most considerable imports are wines, coffee, rice, 
 silks, and various other kinds of Turkish merchandise. 
 The commerce of the Caspian, is also of an ancient 
 date, and in the fourteenth century was carried on to 
 advantage by the Venetians and the Genoese, but 
 especially the latter, who, by the permission of the 
 Consiantinopolitan emperors, had formed a settle- 
 ment in Taurida. Astrachan was then, as it is now, 
 the principal mart of the .Caspian trade. From 
 that port, the Indian, Persian, and Arabian com- 
 modities were carried up the Volga, then overland to 
 the Don, and afterwards clown that river to Asoph. 
 The .northern parts of Europe were furnished with the 
 same Asiatic commodities, carried from Astrachan up 
 the Volga, and then overland through the interior of 
 Russia, a trade, yv^hich during the anarchical state of 
 that country, must have been very precarious, and 
 have met with many interruptions. The devastations 
 occasioned by Timur, or Tamerlane, towards the close 
 of the fourteenth century, caused the transfer of this 
 trade from Astrachan, to Aleppo and Smyrna. These 
 ports retained the Arabian trade, for wbich they were 
 
 * Huet Hist, du Commerce et He la Navigation des Anciens, ch. 44. 
 
 more
 
 COMMERCE. 729 
 
 more conveniently situated, but a great part of that 
 of Persia returned to its former channel.* The trade 
 of Astrachan with Persia, extends through that me- 
 dium to Kandahar and India, from whence the Hindoo 
 merchants sometimes bring gold and precious stones 
 to that Russian market. The trade of the Caspian is 
 estimated at 1,000,000 of rubles, or 200,000/. sterling 
 per annum. From Astrachan are exported great 
 quantities of European manufactures; the imports 
 consist chiefly of raw silk, dried fruits, rice, and spices. 
 In the trade with China, the exports and imports are 
 nearly on a par, each country transmitting to the 
 other to the value of about 2,000,000 of rubles. In 
 this branch of her commerce, Russia exchanges her 
 Siberian furs for tea, silk, and nankeen .f 
 
 The internal commerce of Russia has, from early 
 times, been very considerable. The commerce of 
 Novogorod, once the great emporium of Russia, and 
 the centre of the trade of the northern nations with 
 Constantinople and Astrachan, was carried on through 
 the interior of this extensive empire. An important 
 internal commerce is also now carried on, not only 
 between the southern and northern provinces, but also 
 with the neighbouring countries. The circulating 
 cash of Russia is estimated by Mr. Tooke at 130,000,000 
 of rubles, or at par 2G,000,000/. sterling, and as he 
 asserts that the quantity is constantly increasing at 
 the rate of about .5,000,000 of rubles every year, we 
 may, according to this calculation, reckoning from 
 the middle of the year 1?9L), compute the increase 
 at 40,000,000 of rubles, or 8,000,000/. sterling, which 
 
 * Tooke's View Rubs. Emp. vol. 3, p. 442. 
 
 t Ibid, vol.:?, p. 4(]0. For a curious und detailed account of the 
 Riuiiau trade with China, vide Cose, vol. 1, p. 181. 
 
 will
 
 7.10 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 will give an amount of 34,000,0007. sterling for the 
 lowest estimate of the present circulating specie of 
 this empire. The same author supposes a currency of 
 about 20,000,000/. sterling in paper money.* 
 
 Manufactures,'] Russia possesses a variety of manu- 
 factures. Those of oil and soap at Petersburg are 
 very considerable, and contribute in no small degree 
 to its exports. There are also in various parts, manu- 
 factures of paper and also of tobacco, which the 
 southern provinces produce in abundance. Iron 
 founderies every where abound. The art of casting 
 cannon was introduced into Russia by Aristotle of 
 Bologna, an Italian, in the reign of Ivan Vassillie- 
 vitch I.f Artillery was first used by the Russians 
 against the town of Felling in Livonia, A.D. 1482, 
 .thirteen years before it was employed by the Swedes4 
 There is a very large foundery of cannon at Peters- 
 burg, under the direction of the artillery corps. At 
 Tula there is a vast manufactory of fire and side arms, 
 in which, so early as the reign of Peter the Great, 
 '20,000 musquets and 10,000 pair -of pistols were 
 annually fabricated. In 178'2, new works were erected 
 by Catharine II, at an expence of 77,600/. sterling. 
 This imperial manufactory now delivers every year 
 arms for 15,000 men, and employs upwards of 4,000 
 workmen . There are also vast manufactories of arms 
 at Sestrabek, at Orel, and at Petrozavodsk, in the 
 government of Olonetz. Linen is manufactured in 
 abundance, especially in the government of Arch- 
 
 * Tooke's View Russ. Einp. vol. 3, p. 476. 
 t See proceeding chapter, 
 t Levesque Hist, de Russic, toui. 2, p. 538. 
 
 Tooke's View of Russ. Einp. vol. 3, p. 423, who quotes Suyefs 
 Travels, torn. 2, fortbe number of workmen. 
 
 9 aigel.
 
 POPULATION. 731 
 
 angel. Leather has long been a staple commodity. 
 Russia produces vast quantities of bees wax, which, 
 however, is exported unbleached. There are also 
 several manufactories of porcelaine, and of different 
 kinds of earthen ware. Those of isinglass and kaviar, 
 the first a preparation of the sound or air bladder of 
 the sturgeon, and the other of the salted roes of large 
 fish, flourish on the banks of the Volga.* Several of 
 the Russian manufactures are carried on with con- 
 siderable spirit. The manufacturing system, how- 
 ever, is of much less advantage to a country like 
 Russia, where the number of hands is so inadequate 
 to the demands of agriculture, than to England, 
 France, &c., which are crowded with a numerous 
 population. But her manufactures attract into the 
 country great numbers of foreigners, who here find 
 employment, and by whom the natives are gradually 
 instructed. This circumstance greatly contributes to 
 the civilization of the empire, and creates a constant 
 addition to the number of its inhabitants. And when- 
 ever the period shall arrive, in which the population 
 of this immense empire shall, by its numbers and in- 
 dustry be adequate to the culture of the vast extent 
 of its surface, Russia will derive incalculable benefits 
 from the progress which she is now making in her 
 manufacturing system. 
 
 Population.] Of the population of Russia we have 
 had only vague estimates, .until Mr. Tookc elucidated 
 the subject, on the most rational grounds of calcula- 
 tion, supported by original documents of the highest 
 authenticity. According to his account, which he 
 says was drawn up with the greatest accuracy, and 
 alter the nicest examination of each particular, the 
 
 * bee the descripiion of Asfracl/an. 
 
 population
 
 732 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 population of this empire amounted in 1799 to 
 36,000,000,* of which number Mr. Tooke assigns only 
 3,500,000 to the Asiatic part. Of this prodigious 
 mass of population, Russia has acquired nearly 
 1,000,000 during the reign of Catharine II, by her 
 conquests from Turkey, and the dismemberment of 
 Poland. The different partitions of the latter country, 
 brought an accession of above 6,500,000 of new sub- 
 jects to her empire. 
 
 Political importance and relations.] The political 
 importance and relations of Russia, constitute a sub- 
 ject that merits every degree of attention. With so 
 vast a population, so formidable a military force, and 
 so ample a revenue, with immense resources of every 
 kind, it is no wonder that her influence should be 
 predominant in Europe and Asia. Sweden and Den- 
 mark must be considered as within the vortex of her 
 power, and under her control. She alone, among 
 the continental powers, has nothing to fear from the 
 exorbitant aggrandizement of France. But the atten- 
 tion of Russia, during the reign of Catharine II, was 
 turned towards Constantinople rather than Paris; and 
 the Ottoman Porte, together with Poland, felt the 
 tremendous effects of her arms, which were but feebly 
 directed against France. The exertions of the last 
 and the present emperors have been distinguished by 
 greater vigour, although not by the desired success. 
 
 But the numerous population of Russia, diffused 
 over so vast an extent of country, and comprehending 
 a number of barbarous tribes, is a less- effective sup- 
 port of military enterprise than a concentrated mass 
 of people, not superior in number, but crowded within 
 a narrower territory, forming its levies with greater 
 
 * Tooke's ViewRuss. Emp. vol. 1, p. 517 521. 
 
 rapidity,
 
 LANGUAGE. 733 
 
 .rapidity, and directing more expeditiously its force 
 towards any requisite point. Such are the compara- 
 tive circumstances of Russia and France. The Euro* 
 pean part of the empire, indeed, contains the principal 
 mass of Russian population, not less than 32,500,000, 
 or perhaps 33,000,000, if \ve include Perm, which, 
 although reckoned one of the Siberian governments, 
 is on the European side of the Uralian mountains. 
 After all, it must be acknowledged, that Russia has 
 much more to expect in the east, than in the west of 
 Europe, and the Ottoman Porte has every thing to 
 apprehend from her continually increasing power. 
 The Christians of Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria, are 
 secretly attached to Russia, and certain combinations 
 of political circumstances may produce in that quarter 
 great and sudden revolutions. If we extend our views 
 into futurity, and imagine a period when Russia shall 
 attain to that complete population which she is endea- 
 vouring by a multiplicity of means to acquire, and to 
 which, according to the most authentic documents, 
 and the evidence of visible circumstances, she is con- 
 tinually approximating in an ascending ratio, this 
 immense empire presents a distant and dazzling pros- 
 pect, which opens a wide field both for political and 
 moral speculation. Such a period, whenever it shall 
 arrive, whether we suppose the continued union or 
 the division of the empire, cannot but be productive 
 of extraordinary revolutions both in Europe and Asia. 
 Russia in an united state, with a complete population, 
 must sway the destinies of these two quarters of the 
 globe. What the consequences may be in regard to 
 India, is a question too remote for present examina- 
 tion. 
 
 Language.] The beauty, the copiousness, and 
 
 enerr
 
 734 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 energy of the Russian language, are acknowledged by 
 eminent philologists, who are competent judges of the 
 subject. It has been much cultivated of late ; a va- 
 riety of grammars and dictionaries have been com- 
 piled, numerous translations into it are continually 
 appearing, and the Russian academy is indefatigable 
 in reducing it to a standard of purity. The pronun- 
 ciation is extremely difficult to foreigners. The 
 Russian grammarians themselves are not agreed con- 
 cerning the number of letters in their alphabet. Some 
 admit forty-one, some limit them to thirty-one, while 
 others, with greater propriety, fix their number at 
 thirty-eight. The sounds of some of them are seldom 
 properly learned by foreigners ; and the numerous 
 irregularities of the declensions, the peculiarities and 
 the variations of the accent, are still more perplexing. 
 But the conjugations are superlatively difficult, almost 
 every verb having many peculiarities that render it 
 irregular.* These difficulties are all increased by the 
 want of a grammar, calculated for the use of foreigners. 
 There is none compiled for their use by natives, and 
 those made by foreigners are very imperfect. 
 
 Literature.'] The literature of Russia is yet in its 
 infancy. Those countries which had once been under 
 the dominion of the Romans, had imbibed the learn- 
 ing and arts of that people: and amidst the darkness 
 of the Gothic ages, some remnants were preserved 
 among the monastic orders. But Russia had been 
 destitute of this advantage. At the time of Vladimir's 
 conversion, the empire had not emerged from bar- 
 barism. Literature, as in other countries, immedi- 
 ately succeeded the introduction of Christianity, but 
 its transient light was soon extinguished amidst the 
 scenes of internal division and of Tartarian oppres- 
 
 * Tooke's View. Runs. Einp. vol. 3, p. ,572 575, 
 
 sion
 
 LITERATURE. 735 
 
 sion, which afterwards followed. The circumstances 
 which retarded the progress of the Russians in learn- 
 ing and arts, have already been investigated.* At 
 present it suffices to say, that the modern literature 
 of Russia must be considered as the work of the last 
 century, and especially of the reign of the late em- 
 press. Like other nations, indeed, Russia has long 
 had her fabricators of legends, her compilers of mar- 
 tyrologies, and some writers of annals. Among these, 
 Nestor, a monk of Kioff, who flourished about the 
 close of the eleventh century, is the most ancient of 
 all their h'istorians, and is distinguished by a simpli- 
 city of style still not wholly destitute of eloquence. 
 But Russian literature is a barren subject, till the 
 auspicious reign of Catharine, who by her example 
 and patronage greatly encouraged its cultivation. 
 But even during that period most of the principal 
 writers, as Pallas, Muller, Sec. being foreigners, have 
 used the German language, so that the sphere of 
 Russian literature is yet very contracted, although all 
 possible means have lately been employed to promote 
 its extension. Russian authors, however, have ap- 
 peared, whose works have acquired a deseived ce- 
 lebrity, and exhibit sufficient proofs of the national 
 genius. Among these, Lomonuf, Sumarokof, Khe- 
 rashkof, and the Chevalier Derschavin, in the elegant 
 walks of poetry, have displayed a sublimity of senti- 
 ment, and a splendor of diction, that would do honor 
 to the most enlightened age and nation. f Illustrious 
 names might be added in various departments of lite- 
 rary composition, which, like every thing in Russia, 
 
 * Vide preceding chapter. 
 
 1 Storch'i Pitt of Petersburg, ch. 10. Tooke's Hilt. Russia, vol. ?, 
 y 4)8. 
 
 ii
 
 7.36 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 is in a state of progressive advancement. Periodical 
 publications, however, have hitherto met with little 
 success. It may here be observed, that foreign learn- 
 ing is more cultivated at Petersburg than in any other 
 part of the empire. But Moscow is the principal seat 
 of Russian literature, and produces the best works in 
 the national language.* 
 
 The polite arts, as well as science and letters, afe 
 yet in their infant slate. Most of the eminent 
 artists are foreigners ; but Russia can boast of some 
 native names. The various institutions for the ad- 
 vancement of arts, sciences, and literature, both in the 
 residence and in the ancient capital, have already been 
 mentioned in general terms ; but, for a more distinct 
 view of this subject, the reader must be referred to 
 Storch's Picture of Petersburg, Coxe's Travels, and 
 Mr. Tooke's descriptions of Petersburg and Moscow, 
 in the first and second volumes of his History of Rus- 
 sia. The general sketch here presented suffices to 
 shew, that no nation, of the ancient or modern world, 
 has surpassed Russia in the greatness of its recent 
 efforts for improvement. 
 
 Education.'] Of the state of education in Russia, 
 vague and erroneous opinions have been entertained 
 by foreigners. Besides the numerous institutions for 
 the education of the higher ranks, the normal schools, 
 already mentioned, exhibit a proof that few govern- 
 ments ever paid greater attention to popular instruc- 
 tion, and that no monarch ever expended more money 
 for the diffusion of knowledge among all classes of 
 people than Catharine II. The liberal scale on which 
 private tuition is carried on, shews that the subjects, 
 as well as the sovereign, were convinced of the vast 
 
 * Storch'i Pict. ef Petersburg, ch. 10, p. 295. 
 
 importance
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 737 
 
 importance of intellectual culture. " In Moscow as 
 well as throughout all Russia," says Mr. Tooke, " edu- 
 cation-is treated with all the importance that it de- 
 serves. Persons of opulence and distinction are not 
 sparing of expence, in order to give their children 
 a good education ; not only paying the domestic 
 tutor a salary of 1,000 rubles and upwards, but like- 
 wise having the best masters for music, dancing, 
 drawing, &c." This writer, however, considers the 
 fashionable plan of this domestic education as very 
 defective, being confined almost solely to the knotv- 
 ledge of languages, and to exterior accomplishments. 
 
 Manners and customs.] Every description of the 
 manners and customs of a vast empire, composed of a 
 variety of nations, totally distinct in religion, language, 
 and habits of life, must be extremely defective, even 
 although volumes should be written on the subject. 
 Russia exhibits every condition of society, and every 
 shade of the human character, from the extreme of 
 barbarism to the highest degree of polished life ; from 
 the almost savage state of the Laplanders, the Sa- 
 moiedes, and the Nomadic tribes, to the civilization of 
 Petersburg and Moscow. The chief national distinc- 
 tions in the European part, to which the present sketch 
 is restricted, are the Laplanders and the Fins, in the 
 north; the Cossacks, with the Tartars of Taurida and 
 the adjacent parts, in the south ; and the great Slavo- 
 nic mass in the middle. These tribes are distinguished 
 by physical, as well as moral, peculiarities. The Lap- 
 landers are a diminutive race, generally from four to 
 five feet high, strong built, active, and healthful, with 
 flat faces, a thin beard, and a sallow complexion ; their 
 persons are far removed from the standard of beauty, 
 and their mode of living from that of physical purity 4 
 
 TOL. in, SB but
 
 738 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 but the inoffensive simplicity of their manners is 
 very remarkable. The northern Fins are also of a low 
 stature, although taller than the Laplanders, whom 
 they somewhat resemble ; but the southern Fins are 
 of a more graceful appearance. The Tartars are well 
 known to differ in stature, complexion, and feature 
 from the Europeans. A stature somewhat below what 
 we call the middle size ; a strong frame of body, a flat 
 face, high cheek-bones, hollow eyes, mostly black and 
 lively, and tolerably fair complexion, are, in a greater 
 or less degree, the general characteristics of all the 
 Tartar nations. All these tribes are but little removed 
 from the savage state ; and their manners are such as 
 are generally observed in the first stage of civilization. 
 The Slavonic Russians, of which the great mass of 
 the population consists, are a moderately sized, vigo- 
 rous, and durable race. Mr. Tooke considers them as 
 inferior to the English or the Spaniards in bodily 
 strength ; but says, that in the endurance of hard- 
 ships, such as hunger, thirst, and want of repose, they 
 are superior to every other nation ; that the lower class 
 are remarkable for a healthy old age and longevity, 
 which would still be more common if such numbers 
 did not shorten their days with brandy. The same 
 author considers the Russian as distinguishable, by 
 his exterior form, from other Europeans; but acknow- 
 ledges that the distinctions are not very striking : a 
 small mouth, thin lips, white teeth, little eyes, a low 
 forehead, and the nose, although of different forms, 
 most frequently small and turned upwards, are what he 
 esteems the most characteristical features.* A fair 
 skin and ruddy cheeks are, among the ladies, the first 
 requisites of beauty ; but they destroy their naturally 
 
 * Tooke's View of Russ. Erap. vol. 2, p. 5 and 6. 
 
 fine
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 739 
 
 fine complexions with paint, which even the lowest 
 classes lay on with profusion. In this country, female 
 charms bloom at an early period, and soon decay ; a 
 circumstance which Mr. Tooke ascribes to the frequent 
 use of the hot-bath. The manners of the higher classes 
 
 O 
 
 have been briefly mentioned in speaking of Peters- 
 burg and Moscow. They arc in general distinguished by 
 magnificence, sociability, and hospitality. A strong 
 propensity for keeping numerous retinues and bril- 
 liant equipages is everywhere prevalent; and splendid 
 entertainments, with gaming, are very much in fashion. 
 It seems to be the general wish of all descriptions of 
 citizens in Moscow and Petersburg, to avoid all visi- 
 ble marks of poverty, and to keep up, as much as pos- 
 sible, an imposing exterior shew. In many respects 
 the opulent Russians form a curious junction of Euro- 
 ropean and Asiatic manners. The common people, 
 in the different parts of this extensive empire, have 
 various peculiarities in their customs, their amuse-* 
 ments, and their dress ; but every one knows that the 
 beard is the grand bodily ornament, which neither 
 laws, taxes, nor the examples of their superiors, could 
 ever make them lay aside. The native Russian dress, 
 when composed of good materials, has a graceful ap- 
 pearance. The poor wrap themselves up with a sheep- 
 skin in winter. The lower classes have no beds, but 
 sleep on the floor, or on a platform of boards; and in 
 summer very often in the open air. They are puncti- 
 lious in their devotions. They are also liberal in their 
 entertainments, according to the extent of their abili- 
 ties : copious potations are common ; and intoxica- 
 tion is not disgraceful, even among ladies of tolerable 
 condition. Marriages are, in general, mere pecuniary 
 3 u 2 contracts.
 
 740 EUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 contracts.* The behaviour of husbaads, if estimated 
 by the standard of European manners, will appear 
 somewhat harsh, as they oblige their wives to labour 
 hard often to support them in their intemperance ; but 
 to this the women are so accustomed, that they sel- 
 dom murmur under their tyrannical treatment. In 
 the large towns, however, the ladies are in a quite dif- 
 ferent predicament, and meet with great indulgence. 
 Holidays are kept in idleness and wanton merriment. 
 
 It is impossible, in a work of this general nature, to 
 describe, or even to enumerate their national amuse- 
 ments, which are extremely diversified. No nation 
 is so fond of vocal music as the Russians. " On the 
 whole globe," says Mr. Tooke, " we shall scarcely 
 meet with a country where the song is more jovial and 
 universal than in Russia. They all sing, from the 
 child to the hoary head of age, and on all occasions, 
 The country roads re-echo with the songs of the drU 
 vers ; the village streets with the merry voices of the 
 girls, and the drinking-houses are never without a 
 concert.''^ The most complete vocal music is that 
 which is heard in the churches on Sundays and holU 
 days, and which gives great satisfaction, even to per- 
 sons of taste. But the Russo-Greek church does not 
 allow any instrumental music to be used in Divine 
 worship. J The singers, who are mostly natives of the 
 Ukraine, are carefully instructed for the purpose of 
 performing in the principal churches. Among the 
 common people various musical instrument?, of a rude 
 
 * Tooke's View of Russ. Emp. vol. 2, p. 5f. 
 
 t Ibid. p. 58. The same observation is made by Mr. Cose in his Tra- 
 vels ; \>j Siorcli, iu his Picture of Petersburg ; and by all others who have 
 travelled jn Russia. Coxe's Trav. voL 2, p, 209. 
 
 $ Coxe, vol. 3, ch. 8, p. 455. 
 
 construction,?
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 741 
 
 construction, are in use ; as also the harpsichord, &c. 
 among the higher classes. But next to singing, 
 dancing is the most general amusement. Even the 
 common people, who are not grown stiff with labour, 
 dance with admirable agility, and, for the most part, 
 to vocal music. The ringing of bells is also an amuse- 
 ment in which they take great delight. The Russians, 
 of all ranks, are much attached to gymnastic diver- 
 sions. In severe winter nights the ladies make sledge 
 parties on the ice, which are always accompanied with 
 loud and almost incessant singing. The populace is 
 not a little addicted to superstition ; but this offspring 
 of ignorance is common among the lower classes in 
 all countries. They have a number of superstitious 
 observances for the purpose of knowing their future 
 destinies : they believe the existence of witches, and 
 the reality of witchcraft; and have their demovois as 
 he Welsh and Irish have their faries. 
 
 Of all the Russian customs, none merits greater at- 
 tention than the universal use of the hot vapour-bath- 
 This oriental custom, first introduced for the sake of 
 cleanliness, but afterwards converted to the purposes 
 of luxury, gave rise among the ancients to some of 
 the most magnificent works of architecture. Imperial 
 Rome could once boast of above 800 baths ; many of 
 which, in point of magnificence and taste, might be 
 considered as master-pieces of art. The stupendous 
 ruins of the Roman baths have excited the admiration 
 of posterity, as the magnificence of those of the Per- 
 sians astonished their Grecian conquerors. But in 
 Russia their simple construction is conformable to 
 their primitive destination : the Russians generally USQ 
 them at least once a week, and oftener on several par- 
 ticular occasions, such as returning from a journey, 8cc, 
 t A detail
 
 ?42 SUROPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 A detail of the whole procedure of bathing will not 
 here be expected : it is enough to observe, that after 
 remaining several hours in the bath, sweating at every 
 pore, they frequently plunge themselves into cold wa- 
 ter without experiencing the least injury ; a, practice 
 which inures them to sudden transitions from heat to 
 cold, and seasons them against the effects of those ex- 
 tremes.* They consider these baths as a remedy or a 
 preventive against almost every disease; and most 
 writers ascribe to the frequent use of the bath, the 
 uninterrupted health which the Russians generally 
 enjoy. This custom, which, from time immemorial* 
 has universally prevailed in Russia, and which makes 
 an essential part of the system of living, from the ear- 
 liest infancy to the latest period of life, among all 
 ranks and conditions of people, on all occasions, and 
 in all circumstances, must, indeed, create an impor- 
 tant physical distinction between the Russians and 
 every other nation of Europe.f 
 
 The general state of society, in regard to civil right, 
 exhibits, among the Russians, a picture not very plea- 
 sing to the eye of an Englishman accustomed to the 
 blessings of freedom. The feudal system prevails 
 throughout the whole empire. There are, however, 
 numerous classes of free men ; and the various means 
 of acquiring freedom afforded by the laws, greatly mi- 
 tigate the rigours of slavery. For the sake of avoiding 
 repetition, the reader must be referred to what is said 
 
 * See Tooke on this subject ;. View of Russ. Emp. vol. 2, p. 10, 11, as 
 well as a multitude of other travellers. 
 
 ^ t The use of the hot bath is still continued among the Hungarians, but 
 is'not general as in Russia; Townsend's Trav. In Russia the use of the 
 hot bath begins to be less general among persons of an elevated rank 
 ince th prevalence of foreign manners. Tooke's View of Russ. Emp. 
 TO!. 9, p. 8. 
 
 of
 
 *'' V'l: 
 
 MANNERS AND CUSTOMS. 743 
 
 of the feudal system in different parts of this work. 
 But in order to be fully acquainted with its modifica- 
 tions in the Russian empire, and with the rights and 
 privileges of the different classes of the inhabitants, 
 which are too various and numerous to be here parti- 
 cularized, it is necessary to consult the accurate and 
 well informed Mr. Tboke, who has exhibited a distinct 
 view of the subject. He says, that " the miserable si- 
 tuation of the Russian boors has been greatly exagge- 
 rated^ that on some estates they live happily, and 
 grow rich ; but he allows, at the same time, that their 
 condition depends on the humour or caprice of their 
 lord ; and that although they acquire wealth, they con- 
 sider the possession of it as so insecure, that they often 
 bury it in the ground.* Such a state of insecurity and 
 oppression, certainly affords no favorable idea of the 
 happiness of the Russian peasantry .Catharine II, in the 
 ninety-second section of her instructions for a code of 
 laws, expressed her dissatisfaction at the oppressive 
 treatment experienced by this inferior class of her sub- 
 jects, and unequivocally declares it to be her wish, 
 that the feudal system should be entirely abolished ; 
 or, if the measure should be found impracticable, that 
 the condition of vassallage should be ameliorated, and 
 its oppressive abuses removed. The free ceconomical 
 society of Petersburg proposed the important ques- 
 tion, whether it would be expedient to abolish vassal- 
 lage in Russia, with a prize for the most satisfactory 
 answer. It was, however, finally decided in the nega- 
 tive. But by the unwearied attention of the empress 
 to the welfare of the peasantry, the feudal system was 
 not only divested of much of its rigour, but a fouudu- 
 
 ' Tooke' View Iluss. Emp. vol. 2, p. 51 14'J. Coxe> Trar. vol. 3, 
 p, 103. 
 
 tion
 
 744 EtfnOPEAN RUSSIA. 
 
 tion was laid for its gradual extinction. Perhaps its 
 immediate abolition might be dangerous and detri- 
 mental, in a country where the great mass of the peo- 
 ple have as yet no idea of liberty abstracted from li- 
 centiousness. Rational liberty must be the gradual 
 production of a more generally diffused civilization, 
 which, in Russia, must yet be a work of time, notwith- 
 standing all the means which her enlightened sove- 
 reigns employ for promoting that beneficial design. 
 Before the feudal system can be safely abolished by 
 royal or imperial edicts, as in Hungary and Bohemia, 
 previous circumstances must have prepared a Way for 
 the change. In England its extinction was the pro- 
 gressive work of several centuries. 
 
 From the remarks already made, it is easy to con- 
 clude, that little can be said relative to the national 
 character; a term at all times sufficiently vague, but 
 peculiarly so in regard to the Russians, a people so 
 numerous, composed of different tribes, and spread over 
 a vast extent of country, situated under different cli- 
 mates. They are resolute, bold, and enterprising, in 
 the same degree as most of the other European na- 
 tions, and inferior, perhaps, to none in quickness of 
 comprehension and promptitude of execution. They 
 have a strong propensity to commerce, and are much, 
 addicted to sensuality. But the most distinguishing 
 national characteristic of the Russians is, that exces- 
 sive cheerfulness and gaiety of disposition, in which the 
 lower classes surpass every other people of Europe, 
 without excepting even the French. 
 
 END OF VOL. III. 
 
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