have been united by common habits than by common descent, a people numerous and warlike, attacked the republic from the north. At the same time the Sclavonian tribes of the south saw their liberties endangered by the Khozares, who were advaneing from the shores of the Euxine. The citizens of Novgorod, being thus reduced to a state of danger and distress, voluntarily yielded up their liberties to foreign masters. A solemn deputation was sent to the sea-coast, and Riurick, or Rurik, with his two brothers and a large train of countrymen, came to rescue the Russian provinces from foreign invasion, and lay the foundations of an empire, which even yet does not seem to have reached its limits.

It was in 862, or more probably in 852, (for Russian chronology has little certainty before the year 879,*) that the Russian throne was established. The history of the kingdom of France dates from 843; but the reign of Hugh Capet dates only from 987. England was not united under one sovereign till 827. The glory of the house of Hapsburg reaches no farther than 1232; there was not even a duchy of Austria till 1156. The Prussian monarchy is but of yesterday. Thus it is apparent, that the foundation of the Russian throne, according to ancient chronicles, and the indirect evidence of the Greek historians, extends almost as far into the middle ages, as the establishment of the French kingdom, or the union of the Heptarchy of England; while it surpasses in antiquity almost every other existing government in Europe.†

With respect to the origin of the earliest Russian dynasty, it may be well to separate the doubtful from the certain. That a republic should invite three brothers to annihilate its liberties and reign with unmitigated sovereignty is improbable, though not absolutely without example. Nor can it be decided, nor is it of the least moment for the subsequent events in Russian history to decide, to what nation the family of Rurik originally belonged. Nestor says they came from the north. In that case they were from the country of the Normans, perhaps Swedes. That with Rurik two brothers should have come also, and established principalities, should have died within two years, and thus left Rurik lord of a vast and undivided territory, is not impossible, yet in itself not natural. That some nobles of his retinue should have gained of him permission to descend the Dnciper and attack Constantinople, and should have appeared before that city with two hundred vessels, is so inconsistent with the rest

The remark is that of Schlözer, who complains of the uncertainty of chro nology in the Russian annals.

Sweden may, perhaps, continue its history to an earlier period. But it hardly enjoyed a well established government, before the last years of the tenth century.

of the narration, that the inference is forced upon the inquirer, that the Roses of the Greeks were not the Russians of history.

The points on which reliance may be placed, are simple and sufficient. In the course of the ninth century the Sclavonian tribes in the heart of Russia were united under one sovereign; their dominion* gradually extended to Kiew; the name of Russians, which had long existed, became a general appellation; and finally the family, which traces its origin from Rurik, possessed the dominion of Russia for more than seven hundred years.

It seems to us, almost, as if Russia formed a connecting link between ancient and modern history. France, Spain, and England, were all conquered, and adopted the manners, the language, and the science of their conquerors. In the heart of Germany, the Teutonic race preserved itself free from the loss of its language and its nationality. Have not the nations of Teutonic descent, proved, by the results of their influence on human events and intelligence, that as a mercy and a benefit to the world, their name and nation were preserved unsubdued and unmixed? Have not some of the most valuable principles in learning, in philosophy, in religion, and, we may add, in the imaginative arts, been the results of their independence? Though it was long before they learned to unite the elegances of other times, with native dignity and the acquisitions of science, yet have they not at last shown themselves strong in the depth of sentiment, in earnest truth, and moral sublimity? And is it going too far to hope, that one branch of the great Sclavonic family is yet to develop an independent culture; that a nation, which has its unity and identity confirmed and endeared by a community of language, of religious faith, (and that faith a peculiar form of Christianity,) and of historical recollections, a nation placed on lands which join the Caspian and the White Sea, the Baltic, and the most important basin of the Mediterranean, a nation which is joined by an undivided interest, occupying a soil intersected by the largest rivers of Europe, and offering great and increasing facilities of navigation by canals, that unite its streams, a nation which reaches from the country of the vine and olive, to the latitudes of perpetual frost, and thus unites within itself all the conditions of national strength, commercial independence, and intellectual vigour-is it unreasonable confidence in an overruling Providence, to trust that the future course of such a nation is to be marked by results favourable to the best interests of humanity? That its copious and harmonious language is to become the voice of the muses, and the instrument of science? That intelligence is to find a way into its healthful and fertile valleys,

116.

Luden's Allgemeine Geschichte der Völker und Staaten. Dritter Theil, p.

and that religion and civil liberty are eventually to win new trophics in these immense regions of ancient darkness? The Russian empire, like the United States, if comparatively weak for purposes of foreign aggression, is invincible within itself. Its soil is capable of sustaining, without supposing an uncommon degree of culture, a population of a hundred and fifty millions; the most vigorous government may find enough to do in controlling the members of this vast body politic; the most ambitious can have within such limits more than abundant means of gratifying an unwearied activity. The empire already covers a vaster extent of territory than any which the annals of the world commemorated, except it be the short empire of the Zingis. Where every motive of philanthropy, and of the true passion for glory, impels to the diffusion of sciences and arts, the advancement of the purposes of peace and intelligence, the full display of the great and good qualities, which are in the ancient race that has held the north from immemorial ages, it seems not an unreasonable expectation, that the voice of humanity, of justice, and of reason, will be heard. It may be within the purposes of a controlling Providence, that the agency of the Russian empire shall spread respect for Christianity through the hearts of idolatrous nations. Its emissaries have already reared the temples of a purer religion among the Tartar states of Siberia, and planted the cross on the mountains of the remote Kamschatka. The traveller, as he wanders towards the pole, in latitudes where corn is ripened in a day, (a day that extends over weeks,) hears the sounds, and sees the character of a Christian worship; and monasteries are. established even in the remote isles of the White Sea: the shores of the Caspian have ceased to acknowledge a Mahomedan master, and the ancient fable of the prisoner of Mount Caucasus, the purest and most sublime invention of ancient mythology, has been but the faint image and shadowing forth of more glorious truths, which are making themselves felt and acknowledged in the very heart of the mysterious land of classic superstition.

But if, on the contrary, the form of autocratic government should prove incompatible with the diffusion of knowledge-and it certainly is unfavourable to it-and if the government of Russia should fail to become possessed of a character, insuring the free development of national energy, and the strict accountability of public servants, we may then anticipate in the worst result, a new emigration of the nations, a new subversion of the ancient order of things; perhaps another general plague, like the terrible devastations of the great destroyer of the middle ages. What force could the western nations oppose to the gradual advancement of Russian supremacy? The capital of Poland is nearly the centre of Europe, and it is in the hands of the Russians; Austria has provinces which are said to sigh for the yoke of Sclavonic

masters, rather than yield allegiance to the house of Hapsburg; Prussia holds the poris through which some weighty provinces of the mighty state must have their intercourse with the sea; and probably the prosperity of both parts would be promoted, by a union of the seaboard and the interior, under the stronger government. The Wallachians, the Moldavians, are they not of the same religious faith, and anxious to be permanently placed under the authority of a power which is able to extend over them the broad shield of sufficient protection? It is not many years since Europe shrieked at the aggressions on Poland; yet now a large part of the old Polish provinces rejoice in being reunited to their ancient brethren: the heart of the kingdom, the grand duchy of Warsaw, has not for centuries enjoyed such tranquillity, such security, or such general prosperity, as at present; the Polish provinces of Prussia lament their separation from their fellow-citizens of the old republic. Where, then, is the barrier against Russia on her frontiers? On the north she extends to the poles, and the conquest of Finland has made her inaccessible from the Scandinavian peninsula; on the east her limit is the Pacific, unless, indeed, we take into account her possessions in North America, and acknowledge her for our immediate neighbour, or as separated from us only by a disputed tract. On the south, she has not a neighbour to whom she is not herself most formidable. Caucasian countries and the keys of Persia are already hers; no vessels sail on the Caspian but by her permission; she holds more than half the shores of the Black sea; the Turkish power may yet shine forth in temporary lustre before it expires; but religious and national enthusiasm, and personal bravery, cannot resist the influence of causes which are constantly operating, and always increasing in power. Thus, Russia, inaccessible on the south, east, and north, stands in a menacing attitude towards the south-east and the west of Europe. Did not Peter the Great wish to become a state of the German empire? Has not a part of the Baltic coast belonging to Prussia been repeatedly grasped at? Did not Alexander, the wise, the temperate, the forbearing Alexander, accept from his suffering and prostrate ally, a portion of coveted territory in Galicia? Did he not, even after the peace of Tilsit, partake in the spoils of his unhappy associate in arms? The memory of these things has not perished: has the spirit which dictated them become purity? Has justice entrenched herself in firmer sanctuaries? Has the consciousness of moral obligation so far increased in force, that the appearance of a tyrant, on a powerful throne, would no longer perplex monarchs with a fear of change?

These are views which it is painful to pursue. The statesman that believes in human virtue, yet seeks for a guarantee of his rights in human interests and in sufficient strength to repel unjust aggressions. It is painful to suppose that the balance of power

in the north is so far destroyed, that the strongest hope of security lies in the wisdom of governments, the personal virtues of sovereigns, and the cordial union of the weaker nations.

But it is said, that the Russian empire is a large mass, which will of itself fall asunder. And why will it fall asunder? Is there not the tie of kindred in the great nucleus of the empire? Is not the whole mass well annealed and firmly joined? Is it not cut off and separated from the rest of Christendom by its peculiar church discipline? Is it not one and undivided by its descent? Is it not bound together in the closest bonds by having the same military heroes, the same saints, the same recollections, civil and sacred? Next to France, it is of all the states of Europe the one which is safest against division. How much more secure in its unity is Russia than Austria! Of the Poles, the Russians, the Hungarians, the Bohemians, the Germans, the Illyrians, and the Italians, which by their motley union constitute the ill-assorted mosaic of the great central sovereignty, how many at present dislike the Austrian supremacy! Will Hungary submit to be a dependency on a country of far less natural resources? Will the beautiful and fertile Bohemia consent to the annihilation of its language, its national laws and constitutions, its time-hallowed liberties? Will Russians prefer the sway of a foreign power when the glory of their kindred is the ruling star? Will Poles desire to remain divided from Poles? Yet we believe Austria secure, except from some general convulsion. Prussia, too, labours under infinitely greater danger of dismemberment than Russia. We believe the idea, that Russia will of itself break in pieces, to be unfounded in the history or the character of the component parts of that empire.

But still it is so vast, so unwieldly!—And is it more easy to tear a member from a leviathan than a fly? Are the component parts of a beast less firmly knit together, because they are large and massive? It is a clear lesson of history that large states hold together, even long after wisdom has departed from the councils of their governors. The Roman empire never fell, till it was shaken from abroad. The Greek empire lasted a thousand years longer, and would in all probability, have lasted to this day, had it not received an irresistible shock from a nation, which as yet had no home. Now the danger which is said to hang over Russia is solely from within itself.

What then is the conclusion of the whole argument? The history of the future cannot be read in the experience of the past. We can but trust in God that the new relations, which are rising in the world, will yet lead to a balance of power, dependent on the moral force of intelligence. We can but hope that a bright and peaceful futurity awaits a government, on which depends directly the happiness of sixty millions of men, a fifteenth part