as obliged to recognize
the independence of the Crimea, and cede to Russia a considerable
amount of territory. In 1783, Russia gained the Crimea, and in
1793, by the last partition of Poland, a very large portion of that
country.

The subsequent events of the history are well known. Paul, who
succeeded Catherine, was assassinated in 1801. The reign of this
emperor has been made very familiar to Englishmen by the highly
coloured portrait given by the traveller Clarke, who laboured under
the most aggravated Russophobia. That Paul did many cruel and capricious
things does not admit of a doubt, but he was capable of generous
feelings, and sometimes surprised people as much by his liberality
as by his despotic conduct. Thus he set Kosciuscko at liberty as
soon as he had ascended the throne; and there was a fine revenge in
his compelling Orlov to follow the coffins of Peter and Catherine,
when by his order they were buried together in the Petropavlovski
church.

Alexander I., his son, added Finland to the Russian empire, and
saw his country invaded by Napoleon in 1812. The horrors of this
campaign have been well described by Segur, Wilson, and Labaume.
At his death in 1825, his brother Nicholas succeeded, not without
opposition, which led to bloodshed and the execution of the five
Dekabrists (conspirators of December). The schemes of these men
were impracticable; so little did the common people understand the
very rudiments of liberalism, that when the soldiers were ordered
to shout for Konstitoutzia (the constitution, a word the foreign
appearance of which shows how alien it was to the national spirit),
one of them naively asked, if that was the name of the wife of
the Grand Duke Constantine.

The policy of the Emperor Nicholas was one of complete isolation of
the country, and the prevention of his subjects as much as possible
from holding intercourse with the rest of Europe, hence permission
to travel was but sparingly given, nor were foreigners encouraged
to visit Russia. In 1826, war broke out with Persia, the result
of which was that the latter power was compelled to cede Erivan
and the country as far as the Araxes (or Aras). Russia also made
further additions to her territory by the treaty of Adrianople in
1829, after Diebich had crossed the Balkans. In 1830, the great
Polish rebellion broke out, which was crushed after much bloodshed
in Sept. 1831, by the capture of Warsaw. In 1849, the Russians
assisted Austria