down and study this national idea of territorial greatness. In extent and position, in variety and amount of resources, in every element of prosperity and power, such an empire would be foremost in all the history of earth thus far; and instead of its being a mere empty vision-a day-dream, to muse over-Europe awakes now, with a start, to find this whole scheme so nearly accomplished as to render it doubtful whether the combined strength of the Western nations can offer any effectual resistance. These vast regions she proposes to populate mainly with Russians, or at least Sclavonians, and to extend over it all the influence of a single race, and, if possible, a single religion. Lastly, by these means she intends to restore to its ancient channels the commerce of the East. These, it must be conceded by all, are vast conceptions, and they form together what may be regarded in general as the national idea of the great Northern Power-the scheme which shapes her policy. That she has been, or will be, scrupulous in the choice of means for the accomplishment of her purposes, will not be pretended; but, judged by the moral rules which have governed the policy of other nations, she will not be found a sinner beyond them all; and there is something truly ludicrous in the present position of England, which has never scrupled to seize and appropriate where she could, in all the regions of earth, priding herself now upon her spotless and irreproachable integrity for refusing an offer of the Czar, for the partition of Turkey, because it did not suit her interests, and after it had been virtually approved. She who has swallowed half of India, and still declares herself insatiate, is shocked and cut to the heart that Russia should enlarge her territory. Treachery, force, injustice, and oppression have marked the progress of every great nation of earth, Russia included, but her virtue is fully equal to that of those who are accusing her so loudly; and, of all nations, England is least fitted to teach others the commandment, "Thou shalt not steal.”

To work out this great idea, and produce the corresponding reality, is undoubtedly the main ambition of Russia.

To the acquisition of this territory, to establish this unity of race on the firm basis of a common religion, to direct toward herself the riches of the commerce of the enriching East, she bends her energies with a steadfastness and strength of will that would seem to be the earnest of success. It is not a policy which depends upon an individual or a party. It belongs to the nation, and Czars may be deposed, or assassinated, or die in the midst of their schemes, still the course of the empire is toward Constantinople and the East. It will be seen, therefore, that the real national idea of Russia is to become a great commercial state-the great commercial power of the world; and her military array, vast as it is, was never intended for conquest, but for self-protection, for an hour like this, when Papal hatred and commercial jealousy are seeking to cripple her power, to arrest her progress, and to prevent her from restoring the Eastern Empire and the Greek Christianity on the Sclavonic basis, to far more than their original power and splendor. The reader, perhaps, will now be prepared to study with increased interest, and more in detail, the means which Russia has chosen, and the facil ities which she possesses for executing her designs.

CHAPTER XXX.

RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.

ONE of the leading ideas of the policy of this government undoubtedly is to render itself independent, as far as possible, of all other nations, and hence its steady adherence, under great difficulties, to a system of self-culture and the endeavor to stretch its dominion over a territory which would afford within her own limits the means of independent support. Peter the Great undertook the impossible task of civilizing his country by forcing it into the mold of Europe. He put Russia into foreign costume, and declared that the nation was civilized. His successors perceived dimly the mistake, and did what in them lay, though little, to apply the remedy; but Nicholas first saw clearly that Russia could be made great only by being expanded from a national living center of her own, and that the individual Russian character must be the basis of the empire. He therefore adopted a thoroughly national system, too exclusive, doubtless, in some of its features, but intended to accomplish a purpose worthy of a great man and a great nation-the complete development of the resources of his empire. Much had been done, indeed, before his reign, but he alone had the comprehensive mind which enabled him to form the fragmentary designs of his predecessors into one compact and clearly-defined system, embracing all the great interests of his kingdom, stimulating, guiding, and protecting its industry, and opening up its hidden

resources. Ilis far-reaching sagacity foresaw the coming collision with the West, and he addressed himself to the task of rendering his country independent of others.

The sound statesmanship which dictated this policy is now abundantly evident to the world. Russia was not only able to bear the shock of Western Europe, but such was her financial condition, that, in the very midst of the conflict, the rates of exchange threatened to remove the bullion from the Bank of England to St. Petersburg, and against every effort made to prostrate her credit, it stood firm and unimpaired, and her stocks commanded a better price and market than any of our first-rate American securities, though we were at peace, and with no external causes to impede our prosperity. England, at the commencement of the Crimean War, took occasion to sneer at the weakness of Russia, occasioned, as she declared, by her "barbarous tariff," as she has now sneered at and raged over our Morrill tariff; but this same barbarous Russian system, by which home production and manufactures have been stimulated and improved, proved, in her hour of peril, the salvation of the empire. England and France might blockade every port of Russia for fifty years, and, instead of crippling her power or diminishing her resources, they would only exhaust themselves, while she grows strong within. They might, in this way, for a time, hinder her external progress, but she would thereby daily become more formidable from the concentration of her strength, from the increasing power of her central life, and, in the end, she would burst all barriers away, and sweep far and wide with resistless flow. Such is already the variety and extent of her resources and manufactures, that her progress would still be steady, even though it were possible to cut off altogether her European trade, for she could soon produce for herself whatever she purchases in the West, and she has an extensive Asiatic trade, which can not be interrupted. But her European trade can not be cut off by any blockade that would be tolerated by the rest of the world. After the Baltic fleets had blockaded the Russian ports through one season, it

was discovered that the exports of Russia were still as large as before. All articles had found their way to the markets of the world by having first been conveyed to neutral ports. Had the Czar been deluded with the policy of England, had he allowed Great Britain to become his merchant and manufacturer, suffering meanwhile his own resources to remain untouched, and using up the product of his Ural gold mines yearly to settle his account for English goods, he would have been completely at the mercy of the Western powers, compelled either to submit to their every demand, or to see himself humbled, crippled, exhausted even in a single campaign. England seems to have so far convinced herself, by her own false reasoning, concerning the doctrine of free-trade, as to be incapable of believing that Russia could make progress under her "barbarous tariff," and, at the beginning of the war, was really ignorant of the condition and strength of her foe.

As in our own revolutionary war England refused to believe that her soldiers, duly provided with "pig-tails," and each one properly "pipe-clayed," and understanding, too, all the mysteries of drill, could, by any possibility, be beaten by men in "tow frocks," who knew nothing of "pig-tail," or "pipe-clay," or "drill," so with England now it has been deemed a sufficient answer to all suggestions of the strength of Russia to say she is weak, even bankrupt, because of her "barbarous tariff." But when the Muscovite was found full of vigorous life, well-nigh or quite impregnable in his positions, England could no more solve the enigma than she could understand the battle of Bunker Hill, when the Americans knew no more of the proprieties of war than to slaughter and defeat regularly-drilled soldiers in "pipe-clay and pig-tails." The Czar was too barbarous to comprehend how his state would be enriched by digging and coining gold wherewith to purchase abroad what he had every facility of producing at home; and so he concluded to manufacture for himself what he needed, inasmuch as his people had both time and material, and then he would lay up the produce of