CHAPTER XXV.

THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.

The Crimean war was declared by England and France to be a war of civilization against barbarism. The London Quarterly for April, 1854, holds the following language, in which is expressed the sentiment that England is industriously striving to spread abroad: "If this contest is to be "waged between the forces of civilization and liberty against "those of a semi-barbarous empire, aspiring to crush the inde"pendence of Europe, we neither doubt nor dread the issue "of the war in which England and France have been com"pelled to engage." How will this appear when impartial history shall show that Russia, so far from being aggressor in that war, was compelled by the meddling intrigues of French Jesuitism either to yield to the pretensions of Rome or defend her own equal rights by arms? How the charge of barbarism which rings out from the English Press, and which a portion of the American Press is disposed to echo, will stand by the side of facts which will soon be presented, the reader will judge.

The North British Review, for November, 1854, in describ ing what the consequences of success, then considered certain, would be, says: "Europe would be for generations, if not for centuries and forever, liberated from the dangers

of a semi-oriental barbarism, and England and France, differing in the forms, but yet harmonious in the tendencies of their civilization, might go to rest in each others arms. It seems indeed not unlikely that Protestant England will lie down in the arms of Catholic France, but whether she will awake and find herself still Protestant England admits at least of question. "Semi-oriental barbarism" is the phrase applied by this religious journal to Russia. "A war of "civilization against barbarism, of liberty against depot"ism," and on this ground an appeal was made by England and France to the sympathies of the world, and especially of Republican America.

That the Crimean war was in no sense a war of liberty against despotism will be made to appear, and we shall be enabled to judge of the barbarism of Russia, and of the spirit and tendency of her institutions, by a glance at her educational systems. We shall be able to decide from these whether Russia presents a stationary barbarism, without internal life or vigor, or whether she exhibits the spectacle of a nation rapidly assuming the forms of a superior civilization, and with vigorous step advancing in the career of solid improvement, aiming in all her institutions to cultivate and develope her own individual national life. We only deceive ourselves when we seize upon phrases such as liberty and despotism, civilization and barbarism, and use them in describing Russia, without a careful study of her position and character.

In studying even an imperfect sketch of the educational system of the empire of the Czar, it should be borne in mind that the popular conception seems to be, that whatever improvement has been made in Russia is due to foreigners alone. Her army, it is said, is officered by foreigners; by them her ships have been built, her fortifications have been constructed; by them her cannon have been cast, and by them her schools are taught. But another conception of this nation is of a people earnest, active, and capable of availing themselves freely of the world's science, experience and skill, to aid them in their work of national

elevation. It will be found that the latter idea alone can explain the character of her educational system. The military schools, as the most prominent, first demand attention. The exact condition of these schools now is not known, but insomuch as they have received the constant and most zealous attention of the government, it is to be presumed that the cause of education keeps pace with the improvements and discoveries of modern science, and that the number of pupils increases in proportion to the growth of the empire. Some years since, the number of pupils at the military schools was reported as follows:

Pupils at Military Schools under Grand Duke

The above are principally, if not entirely, from the best families of the empire, and are subjected to the most thorough scientific and military training, a course which, for completeness and finish, is not exceeded by any schools of the world. By common consent of all who know their character, they are admitted to have no superior. Some details will hereafter be given. These eleven thousand supply the officers for the army and navy. In addition to these there were at the same time in the schools under the direction of the Minister of War one hundred and sixty-nine thousand pupils, making in all nearly one hundred and eighty thousand of the very flower of the Russian youth, a number which, with the increase of the population, may now be reckoned at two hundred thousand, who are receiving at the hands of the government the most complete military education that the science of the world is capable of supplying.

This fact bears with great force upon the question of the military power of Russia, and might be profitably considered by those who insist that the army of the empire is incapable of becoming efficient. The world beside, exhibits no such spectacle, no such scientific preparation for war,

and the fortresses, the armament and gunnery, bear ample testimony to the proficiency of these scholars.

Although for convenience sake, reference has been made to the estimate made by the London Quarterly of the population of the Empire, yet the preponderance of evidence would seem to show that the number stated is too small, and that eighty millions is now nearer the truth. This indeed is the estimate of a writer lately quoted in another. English Review; while the calculations of Malte Brun would swell the present population beyond even this. But admitting the existence of eighty millions on Russian soil, having a formidable, active, united race, as the central life and power of the mighty mass, it is an important question, not for Europe alone, but for Americans to study, what is to be the influence of such a power upon the world's destiny, when directed by the flower of the Empire, with the most thorough military education? Let those who suppose that the power of this great empire is to be suddenly checked, or even ultimately repressed, until its national mission is accomplished, study the influence of the schools attentively, and they will find good cause to review their opinions.

Let Americans consider the effect which our one small military school has produced upon our army, and even upon the whole nation, and then estimate if they can, the power created by the constant education of ten or twelve thousand such young men for the control of the Russian armies, and of the regular training of one hundred thousand more in the acquisition of the arts of war. No system of detraction, however skillful or deliberate, or perseveringly maintained, will prevent such institutions from working out their legiti mate results; and France and England have been compelled reluctantly to admit that they met in the Crimea a military science, particularly in engineering, more excellent than their own. This skill, which baffled the allied armies before Sebastopol, and which devised and directed the terrible artillery that hurled defiance and death from its walls, has been acquired in these military schools; and when it is

remembered that many of these most efficient guns are taken from the ships in the harbor, it may awaken some reflections as to what the gunnery of the Russian navy may yet accomplish. Some idea of the completeness of the edu cation in these schools may be obtained from a few facts.

The system of Russian fortifications by which the empire is defended, is separated into ten distinct divisions. In the old Michaeloff palace, now the School of Engineers, in St. Petersburgh, a separate hall is allotted to each of these divisions, in which is collected whatever can illustrate the character of the district which the hall represents, and the fortifications which it contains. Here, for inspection and study, are plans general and in detail, of all the fortifications of the empire, arranged according to their territorial divisions, and not only of all the fortresses, but of all that have been projected and are yet unfinished, and each particular fortress has a department by itself, in which are collected specimens of the materials used or to be employed in its construction, including bricks and kinds of earth, and descriptions of stone which can be found in the neighborhood, so that each pupil has in this way a local education in addition to his general scientific training. Here also, as subjects for study, are accurate models in wood and clay of every fortification in Russia, presenting each with perfect exactness, so that not a single object, even to a tree, is omitted. By such means, the study of the defenses of each fortification, and the manner in which it might be attacked, may be conned on as perfectly as if on the spot, and every cadet, when he graduates, is prepared for any post in the country, understanding beforehand all the local characteristics of the station to which he is appointed.

It is strongly significant of the traditional policy and prevailing feelings of the nation, that here also is a perfect and most minute plan of the fortifications of Constanti nople; the castles of the Dardanelles, with every feature, are presented, together with the aspect and character of the Straits, so that every young Russian officer studies the nature of an attack on Constantinople in addition to his