er only safety lay
in becoming a patriotic Russian, and in seeking the support of Russian
sentiment and Russian opinion. Whilst Frederick the Great surrounded
himself with French advisers, and contemptuously refused even to speak
the German language; whilst he declared to the German scholar who
presented him with a copy of the "Nibelungen Lied" that this national
German epic was not worth a pipe of tobacco, Catherine the Great
systematically encouraged Russian literature. Whilst Frederick the
Great remained the consistent Atheist on the throne, Catherine the
Great professed the utmost zeal for Russian Orthodoxy. All through her
reign she avoided as far as possible a conflict with Frederick and his
successor. She divided with them the spoils of Poland, or, as
Frederick the Great put it in his edifying theological language, she
partook of the Eucharistic body of the Polish kingdom in unholy
communion with Prussia and Austria. But Catherine saw to it that
Russia secured the greater part of the spoils.

VI.

There is a curious and uncanny similarity between the character and
the reign of Peter III. and the character and reign of his son, Paul
I. Both reigns were brief, yet both reigns had an incalculable
influence on European affairs. Both rulers sacrificed national
interests to dynastic interests. Both rulers were insane, and both
rulers engaged in insane enterprises. Both father and son were
murdered with the complicity or connivance of their own family. The
Russian armies, on the advent of Peter III., had secured and achieved
a dramatic victory over Prussia, but the admiration of Peter III. for
Frederick the Great prevented the Russians from reaping the fruits of
victory. Suvoroff crossed the Alps and achieved an equally sensational
victory over France, but Paul I. was prevented from taking advantage
of his victories by his admiration for Napoleon.

VII.

The reign of Alexander I. once more strikingly illustrates the
enormous part which subterranean German influences have played in the
foreign policy of Russia. After the costly victories of Eylau and
Friedland, Napoleon I. had concluded with Alexander I. the Peace of
Tilsit. The treaty was fatal to Europe, for it divided the Continent
practically between the Russian and French Empires. But it was highly
advantageous to Russia, and enormously added to Russian power and
Russian prestige.

It was certainly in Russia's interest to maintain the Alliance. It was
br