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Russia. The largest of these are united either naturally or by canals, with the navigable rivers, and thus, when the progress of the country has covered these countless channels with steamboats, and when that system of railways, already begun on an enlightened scale, shall be completed, Russia will posssess more abundant means for intercourse and exchange, for the diffusion of one national life, and the preservation of national unity than any other country on earth enjoys unless it be our own. With a Pacific railway crossing Siberia, in addition to her natural advantages, and her system of roads in Europe already projected and partly finished she may extend her limits almost indefinitely, and yet not peril the unity of her government on account of her magnitude. Her position will be widely different from that of England, with possessions in the four quarters of the globe, that admit of no union; she, will be one compact and living national body, growing and sustained by the power of one central life.

CHAPTER XX.

RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.

Before entering upon this subject, it is well to remind the American reader of the utter worthlessness of many of the most popular accounts which have been given of the resources of Russia, and the character of her military defenses. The statements which travelers have made concerning the Empire of the Czars are only to be matched in absurdity or wanton misrepresentation by those which have emanated from similar quarters concerning the United States. Either a vitiated public sentiment, or a settled design to injure, has given rise to a systematic course of ridicule and misrepresentations, forming a distorted literary medium through which both countries have been seen only in caricature. Through this, western Europe has sneered at America and the Yankees, and through this also Americans have been greatly deluded in regard to Russia. Oliphant, whose opininions are quoted as reliable authority in this country, and whose statements were transfered to an elaborate American work, and sent forth to mold public opinion concerning Russia, with the remark that they are valuable because the result of recent observation, writes thus concerning Sebastopol, from personal survey, no longer

ago than 1853, but a few months before the landing of the Allied army:

"Nothing can be more formidable than the appearance of Sebastopol from the seaward. Upon a future occasion we visited it in a steamer, and found that at one point we were commanded by twelve hundred pieces of artillery; fortunately for a hostile fleet, we afterwards heard, that they could not be discharged without bringing down the rotten batteries upon which they were placed, and which are so badly constructed that they look as if they had been done by contract. Four of these forts consist of three tiers of batteries. We were of course unable to do more than take a very general survey of these celebrated fortifications, and therefore can not vouch for the truth of the assertion, that the rooms in which the guns are worked are so narrow and ill-ventilated, that the artillerymen would be inevitably stifled in the attempt to discharge their guns and their duty; but of one fact there was no doubt, that however well fortified may be the approaches to Sebastopol by sea, there is nothing whatever to prevent any number of troops landing a few miles to the south of the town, in one of the six convenient bays with which the coast, as far as Cape Kherson, is indented, and marching down the main street, (provided they were strong enough to defeat any military force that might be opposed to them in the open field,) sack the town and burn the fleet."

Such absurdities as these are gravely sent forth from the English press, as the foundation of reliable opinions concerning Russia. Oliphant's work has gone through several London editions; it was republished in America, and its opinions were extracted and scattered abroad in American books. The siege of this fortification is a sufficient commentary upon the value of the book, and when the strength of a place that for months successfully resisted the most formidable attack which has been made in modern times is thus flippantly misre

ented, and when we remember that

such impressions concerning Russia are, or have been, almost universal, and have been derived from similar sources, it ought at least to induce the American people to examine with more care the testimony upon which they are asked to make up an opinion of the resources, character, and policy of the most formidable power in Europe. The Allied forces tested the character of the fortifications at Sebastopol, and the same science and skill have been employed upon the other defenses of the Empire. Especially should we expect that those in the west, by which the approaches to St. Petersburgh are protected, and which guard her great naval depots, are at least equal to those in the remote province of the Crimea. It is sufficient proof of their supposed strength, that the Baltic fleet did not venture within reach of their guns.

The principal outlet for the Russian empire, on the west, is the Gulf of Finland, and here also are three of her great naval stations. As this is the only point where she can be approached from the Atlantic by a hostile fleet, it is well to observe how her fleets, navy yards, military stores, and capital are protected. At the entrance of the Gulf of Finland are two of the naval stations where she equips, and where also she guards her ships. The most important is Sweaborg, in the Bay of Helsingfors. This immense fortification is constructed upon several small islands, or rather rocks of granite, out of which the works have to a great extent been blasted and hewn, after the manner of Gibraltar, to which it is scarcely inferior in strength, and is denominated the Gibraltar of the North. Eight hundred pieces of artillery frown from its impregnable walls, and command the entrance to a magnificent harbor, which, to use the words of a late traveler, is "filled with ships of the "line and frigates," and in which they may safely ride free from the visits of a foe, unless the rock sides of Sweaborg can be scaled in the teeth of eight hundred cannon, and in spite of fifteen thousand men who man them. Here, too, the walls of the formidable batteries, being of solid granite, will not be likely to tumble down when the guns

are fired, as was expected at Sebastopol. The fortress may be truly called impregnable. Within the harbor are not only the Russian fleets, but here, also, is one of the most extensive naval arsenals on the globe, and the chief recruiting station for the Emperor's navy. The province in which Sweaborg stands supplies the finest seamen of the Norththose who are inured to hardship, and who gain experience and skill in the fisheries and trade of the Baltic-and here, too, are exhaustless supplies of the finest timber for the construction or repair of ships, as well as of pitch, tar, rosin, and other naval stores. Finland is intersected by numerous bays and lakes, communicating with each other in a manner which affords great facilities for the transport of these heavy materials; while, even in this high latitude, its agricultural capacities procured for it the name of the granary of Sweden, to which government it formerly belonged. Here, safe from all hostile visits, and surrounded by materials for unlimited construction, Russia may increase her navy, and accumulate her stores, restricted only by her necessities or the condition of her treasury. It is impossible, moreover, to cut her off from her supplies, for they all reach this point by interior communications, which a foreign force can not touch.

On the opposite shore of the entrance to the Gulf of Finland is Revel, another station for the Russian navy. Like Sweaborg, it is defended by extensive fortifications, whose strength Sir Charles Napier did not think proper to test with a fleet which many supposed would be able to annihilate the Russian power in the Baltic. Its roadstead is among sheltering islands, and the town itself enjoys considerable trade. In the Aland Archipelago, a cluster of islands at the entrance of the Gulf of Bothnia, is another naval station. Several of these islands are strongly fortified, but the principal establishment is at Aland, which has a harbor capable of sheltering the whole fleet of Russia, and a citadel where sixty thousand troops may be quartered. Here is kept a numerous flotilla, which forms a good nursery for Russian seamen. The vicinity of these islands to the coast of Swe

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