EN GLISH AiND FRENCH NEUTRALITY
AND
THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE,
IN THEIR RELATIONS TO THE
UNITED STATES & RUSSIA,
INCLUDING
AN ACCOUNT OF THE LEADING POLICY OF FRANCE AND OF ENGLAND FOR
THE LAST TWO HUNDRED YEARS-THE ORIGIN AND AIMS OF THE
ALLIANCE-THE MEANING OF THE CRIMEAN WAR-AND
THE REASON OF THE HOSTILE ATTITUDE OF
THESE TWO POWERS TOWARDS
THE UNITED STATES,
AND OF THE MIOVEMENT ON MEXICO,
WITH A STATEMENT OF THE
GENERAL RESOURCES-THE ARMY AND NAVY OF ENGLAND AND FRANCERUSSIA AND AMERICA-SHOWING THE PRESENT STRENGTH AND
PROBABLE FUTURE OF THESE FOUR POWiERS.
BY  REV. C. B. BOYNTON, D. D.
CINCINNATI:
C. F. VENT & CO., 38 WEST FOURTH STREET.
CHICAGO: 112 DEARBORN STREET.
1864.




Entered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 186f, by
C.. BOYNT  ON
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the
Southern District of Ohio.




PREFACE.
"You have not come to the bottom of the conduct of
"Great Britain, until you have touched that delicate and
"real foundation cause, we are too large and strong a
" nation.
"This is in my judgment the right of the whole matter.
" A distinguished clergymen of London, personally kind,
"and friendly to me, said to me in these very words,' Mr.
"Beecher, you may just as well have it said to you, you
"have been growing so strong that we had got to take you
" down, and we were very glad when the job was taken out
"of our hands by your own people.' When Mr. Roebuck
"declared the same fact in Parliament, it was cheered
"immensely." —Mr. Beecher's Speech in Brooklyn.
In the same speech, Mr. Beecher analyses English society,
and states what he believes to be the spirit of the different
classes in regard to this country. His conclusions, in
substance, are as follows:
"The great commercial class is against us. The influen" tial clergymen and laymen of both the Established Church
"and the Dissenters are, as a body, against us. The nobility,
" as a class, are against us.
"Parliament, in sympathy and wishes, is five to one
"against us.
" The conservative intelligence of Great Britain is
"' against us, and all there is on the surface of society repre



4                    PREF ACE.
"senting its dignities, its power, its intelligence, is anti" American."
The force of these statements, as fully sustaining the tone
and purpose of this book, will be felt, when we consider
that they are made by one, who, more than any other of
our public men, seems anxious to place England in the
most favorable light before his countrymen, and would lead
us to expect, that in the future, Great Britain may become
our friend.
He relies, as others do, upon the assumed fact, that the
nonvoting, and in a sense, uninfluential laboring classes
are in favor of the North. That a majority of them are
thus friendly may be admitted, but few probably are ready
to believe, that in spite of all the great forces arrayed
against us, these nonvoting laborers of England have power
to shape her policy.
There is no such enthusiastic love of America or
Americans even among the people of England, as would
lead them to band themselves together as our champions,
against the Government and the Church, the army and
navy, the nobility, the literary power, and the commercial
interests of the kingdom.
The people have, it is hoped, exerted some influence in
the change which has been lately wrought in British policy,
but the main causes are to be sought in the sudden exhibition which we have made of military power, in the strength
of our army, the formidable character of our navy, the
superiority of our new cannon, and the waning of the
power of the rebellion.
The central purpose in the American policy of France is
declared by the Emperor himself to be, to restore the
ascendancy of the Latin race in the New World, and this
necessarily involves the supremacy of the Papal power, and




PREFACE.                      5
the repressing, if possible, the growth of free Protestant
institutions. This, with its consequences, is the settled
design of France.
The purpose of Napoleon in proposing a Congress of
nations is not yet fully revealed, but nothing is hazarded in
believing that his intention is to make France more completely than ever the mistress of Europe, to strengthen himself by new alliances with the Latin Powers, so as to compel
England to follow his lead, or expose herself to a formidable
attack-in short, to render France so powerful that she can
dictate terms and policy to England, Russia, and America.
That these are the intentions of the French Emperor, no
one who has studied his past course, will be likely to doubt,
and for these new European combinations, it would be well
to prepare in season.
It is then evident, that the Great Rebellion will introduce
a new era, not only for our own country, but for Europe
and the world.
It will change the political relations of European States
to each other, and to us, and will improve the condition and
prospects of the people in all lands.
The late movements here and in PRussia, by which the
proper rights of millions of laboring men have been acknowledged and secured, form a new starting point in
human history.
Under the pressure of this war "' The United States" have
become an American Nation, and this new-born nation has
been brought, by a combined home and foreign conspiracy,
within the circle of European relations, has been compelled
to take its place a Power among the Powers, and henceforth
its policy and its ability to attack or defend, will form an
important element in the councils of the nations.
A new-born Russia has also presented itself to the world.




6                    PREFACE.
The old military despotism is gone, and in its stead there
comes a Constitutional Monarchy, proposing to use its vast
powers only for the protection and elevation of humanity.
Hand in hand, Russia and America are crossing the
threshold of the new era, the Great Powers of the future,
while Western Europe is plotting against both, and threatens
and fears them. This book has been written, in the hope
that it may help to explain the policy of France and England, and what we have to hope or fear from them, to set
forth the resources and mission of that great nation, which
alone has remained our friend, and to show the probable
future of this New, Free, Christian American Nation.




AUTHORITIES CONSULTED IN PREPARING THE WORK.
BARON HAXTHAUSEN'S NOTES ON RUSSIA.
EHERMAN'S TRAVELS IN RUSSIA.
OLIPHANT'S SHORES OF THE BLACK SEA.
ALLISON'S HISTORY OF EUROPE.
RUSSEL'S MODERN EUROPE.
BANOROFT'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.
PRESCOTT'S PHILIP II.
KINGLAKE'S INVASION OF THE CRIMEA.
STANLEY'S GREEK CHURCH.
KAY'S SOCIAL CONDITION OF ENGLAND.
HUNT'S MERCHANT'S MAGAZINE.
LONDON QUARTERLY.
FOREIGN QUARTERLY.
EDINBURGH REVIEW.
NORTH BRITISH REVIEW.
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN.
NATIONAL ALMANAC, 1863 AND 1864.
UNITED STATES SERVICE MAGAZINE.
REPORTS OF THE NAVY DEPARTMENT.
REPORTS OF THE ORDINANCE BUREAU.
OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS OF THE AMERICAN AND ENGLISH GOVERNMENTS
HON. CHARLES SUMNER'S SPEECH ON OUR FOREIGN RELATIONS.








TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Free Institutions placed on Trial before the World..............   13
CHAPTER II.
English and French Neutrality..................................... 18
CHAPTER III.
This Neutrality Illustrated by their Acts........................... 22
CHAPTER IV.
The Remoter Causes which have Shaped the Policy of these
Pow ers....................................................................  30
CHAPTER V.
The Foreign and Domestic Policy of England.................... 47
CHAPTER VI.
England and the Eastern Question...................................  51
CHAPTER VII.
Remoter Causes of the present Policy of France.................. 68
CHAPTER VIII.
Condition of England, France, Russia and America, when
the Anglo-French Alliance was Framed......................... 84
CHAPTER IX.
The Crimean War begun by France —In Origin a Religious
War-An Attempt of the Papacy to Regain its Ascendancy
both East and West........................................ 103




10                        CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
The Religious Aspect of the Eastern War..........................119
CHAPTER XI.
The Papacy in its Connection with the Eastern Question......134
CHAP TER  XII.
England's. Policy Towards Russia in the Crimean War, and
in Regard to the Eastern Question.................................141
CHAPTER XIII.
Had the Allies fully succeeded in the attack they would have
held Turkey as a Colonial Dependency, as England holds
India, and as France intends to deal with Mexico.............155
CHAPTER XIV.
The Future Movements of the Great Powers......................168
CHAPTER XV.
There Should be an American Opinion of Russia................173
CHAPTER XVI.
The Elements of National Power..................................... 177
CHAPTER XVII.
The Territory of Russia....................................... 183
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Relative Position of Russia..................................... 192
CHAPTER XIX.
Russia Easily Governed from one Centre...........................201
CHAPTER XX.
Russia ias Few Vulnerable Points.................................. 209
CHAPTER XXI.
Russia Controlled by one Race-This Gives Hier a True
National Life...........................................................221
CHAPTER XXII.
Character of the Russian:Soldiers....................................237




CONTENTS.                               11
CHAPTER XXIII.
The Army and Navy of Russia........................................ 256
CHAPTER XXIV.
The National Sentiment of Russia as Affecting National
Policy and Destiny................................................265
CHAPTER XXV.
The Educational Institutions of Russia............................. 271
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Character of the Russian Intellect................... 2....... 284
CHAPTER XXVII.
Territorial Progress of Russia.......................................... 296
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Russia Aims at a Civilization Distinct from that of Western
Europe............................................... 300
CHAPTER XXIX.
The National Idea of Russia............................................321
CHAPTER XXX.
Russia, like America, Aims to Grow by the Development of
Her own Resources............................................... 328
CHAPTER XXXI.
The Russian Church.................................................... 343
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Russian Church may Recover the East.......................360
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Structure and Workings of the Russian Government...........365
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Russia as She Now Is, and Her Probable Future.................383
CHAPTER XXXV.
England-Her Present Condition-Power and Prospects...... 388
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Armies and Navies of England, France, America and
Russia.............................................................439




12                       CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
The American Navy and Artillery................................... 453
CHAPTER  XXXVIII.
The Armies of England, France and America..................... 519
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Summary of the Relations of England, France, Russia and
America to the World and to each other........................ 546
CHAPTER XL.
The Monroe Doctrine and the French in Mexico.................556
CHAPTER XLI.
Conclusion....570..................................................... 570




CHAPTER I.
FREE INSTITUTIONS PLACED ON TRIAL BEFORE THE WORLD.
The results already attained in the progress of our war,
and the sure promise of the future, justify us in believing,
that one purpose of God in permitting this rebellion, was to
draw the attention of the nations to the free institutions of
the North, and then, by putting them to the severest possible
proof, show their excellence unto the people of every land,
and thus advance the general cause of human freedom.
It has been proved that a popular Government is not
necessarily a weak one, and that a free, unwarlike people,
unused to the restraints of thorough organization and discipline, can yet assume almost at once the highest forms of
national life, can reshape, without confusion, their whole
industrial energy to meet the demands of sudden war, can
bring forth and organize, and hold in hand all their resources,
and with all the skill and science of the age, can wield a
thoroughly compacted national strength, greater in proportion to population than has been exhibited by any other
power of earth.
The people of the whole civilized world are studying with
intense interest the events which are passing here, and the
prominent friends of freedom in Europe declare that we are
fighting here the great battle of universal humanity.
Doubtless our complete success in overthrowing slavery
here, the emancipation of all our laborers, will give a new
impulse to popular liberty all over the world, and therefore,




14             FREE INSTITUTIONS PLACED
as it would seem, God has made the nations spectators of
this desperate fight.
This American war closes a political era for Christendom.
zNew powers are being prepared as rulers in the coming age,
and the race will feel the power of a higher life.
But in order to show fully the quality and the power of
the life of the free North, it was necessary not only to unveil
the weakness, the cruelty, the loathsome corruption, the
ignorance, and barbarism  of slavery, but to give to the
slave-power great advantages in the contest, and cause the
free States to be taken by surprise, and compel them to begin
a great war under all possible disadvantage, not only without
arms, and without friends, but with thousands of foes within
giving aid and comfort to the enemy without.
If a Government of the people could pass such a peril
safely, and win at length a triumph, if it could come forth
from the trial not only a mighty compacted nation, but with
all its proper liberties secure, it would be a lesson to which
kings and people must alike give heed. The North at first
had nothing to oppose to this great conspiracy, all armed
and equipped, but its own free, irrepressible life. And this
was well; for thus only could the might of freedom be known.
Never were a people more completely surprised, and even
bewildered, than those of the free States were for a time.
when the conspirators showed that they had fully resolved
to destroy the Government, and were ready to begin a war.
The preparations of treason went forward on all sides, and
men refused to believe that the traitors were in earnest.
They would not credit the evidences of their own senses.
They could not be persuaded then, that Americans could be
guilty of such a shocking crime.
The incredible nature of the meditated villiany, secured it
it for a season, and gave time to perfect its plans, and when
at length the war was actually begun, the North found
itself not only unarmed but disarmed. Small arms and
cannon, forts, navy yards, arsenals, the Southern coast and
cities, the Gulf; the Mississippi from the Ocean to the
mouth of the Ohio, all these, with few exceptions, were in




ON TRIAL BEFORE THE WORLD.           15
the hands of the traitors; the small " regular arnmy " was
surrendered on the frontier, the little "' navy" was in distant
waters, a single sloop-of-war only on all the Atlantic coast.
In addition to all this, the Potomac was blockaded by
batteries, a hostile army was within two days march of
Washington, and the Capital was cut off from communication with the North. Naturally, in this hour of extreme
peril, the people of the North and their Government, turned
to the European States, expecting, that at the very least,
they would sympathize with a regularly established Government, in its effort to suppress an uncalled-for rebellion.
They thought that those who had ever dealt so sternly with
treason at home, would be found on the side of the regular
authorities here.
They expected that France, who had generously aided us
to establish here a Republic, would manifest her former
friendship in this our new danger, and they thought that
England, who had done and sacrificed so much in the cause
of human freedom, would come promptly to our aid with
living sympathies, when the object of the conspirators was
declared to be, to build a slave empire on the ruins of a free
Republic.
If the free States were amazed at the conspiracy itself,
they were confounded at the treatment they received from
the two great allied powers of Western Europe. They
placed themselves at once virtually on the side of the rebels.
They declared that the "Great Republican Bubble" had
burst. They gave the traitors officially, and at once, the
position and privileges of proper belligerents, they took from
them the odium, and so far as they could, the guilt of
rebellion, and relieved their corsair cruisers from the name
and fate of pirates. We were informed that not one dollar
of money should be loaned us wherewith to carry on our
war, and we met both at London and Paris only coldness
and repression, while the rebels were cheered and encouraged
by every act short of recognition, alliance, and war against
the North. Helpless almost, as the free States were, in the
first days of this conflict, nearly overwhelmed at the first




16             FREE INSTITUTIONS PLACED
onset by the vast weight of such a conspiracy, not only fully
organized, but well armed with its stolen weapons, and
backed by the sympathies of nearly all Europe, Russia only
excepted, they showed little less than a miraculous energy
by the manner in which they first stood firm, and then
rallied their strength, and increased their resources and
power, until the conspiracy was put under their feet, and
they stood forth a new-born military nation, the equal of
the foremost.
We have now reached a point in our national progress,
where it is needful to study with jealous care the nature of
our relations with Western Europe.
The swift waning of the power of the rebellion will
probably free us from  all fear of intervention, or even
recognition, and England shows at present a more kindly
spirit which may possibly ripen into friendship, but France,
her ally, and with whom  she declares herself in perfect
accord in regard to American affairs, France has planted
an army just over our border, and proposes to erect a throne
there also, and to exercise an important influence over
American affairs, and to dictate, if she can, a policy for our
continent.
It becomes us, therefore, quickly to inquire what these
things mean. We should know why England and France
are so ready and cordial with their sympathy for the rebels,
as if by previous agreement, and why we were met with
coldness and ill-concealed hostility from the beginning, as
if in accordance with a policy which France and England
had in concert adopted beforehand.
WVe cannot safely trust to uncertainties hereafter. We
must not again delude ourselves with false hopes.  If
hostility to the American Nation is one feature of the
Anglo-French Alliance, if their scheme of policy include
the crippling of America as well as Russia, it is high time
that this were fully understood by both nations, that in the
future we may be prepared in season. Russia and America
may, perhaps, consider it prudent hereafter not to permit
each other to be separately attacked by the Allied Powers
of Western Europe.




ON TRIAL BEFORE THE WORLD.            17
It becomes all Americans then, to study now afresh the
origin and aims of the Anglo-French Alliance, as shown
by their own declarations and corresponding acts, to understand the policy and resources, the military and naval
strength of these two Powers, and in connection with these,
to become familiar with the real character, power and policy
of Russia, and to measure at the same tinme our own national
strength and capabilities, and to comprehend our national
mission.
2




18          ENGLISH AND FRENCH NEUTRALITY.
CHAPTER II.
ENGLISH AND FRENCH NEUTRALITY.
Our war with the rebellion is evidently near its close. The
conspirators have exhausted their means of resistance, and
submission or destruction is now their only choice. When
the end of this conflict is reached, may we then safely disband our armies, anJ lay up in harbors our dismantled war
ships, and securely give ourselves as heretofore, exclusively
to the pursuits of peace? Shall we continue, as before,
isolated from the affairs of Europe, and shall we be permitted
to pursue in quiet our own home policy, an independent
American career?
Or has this war been brought upon us merely to prepare
us for conflicts to come, which will test still more severely
our courage, skill and power?  I-IHas the God of nations
appointed us to a great mission in behalf of the rights of
man, which we could not execute until we were delivered
from  that sin and curse which paralyzed our energies,
prevented us fiom becoming a national power, corrupted
our morals, and stripped us of our manhood?  W'Vas this
political and social upheaval ordered for us as a preparatory
discipline, and through this baptism of blood and tears has
our God consecrated us unto a nobler work?
Did God take note of the secret plottilngs of Western
Europe, and foreseeing that they wolld attack us lwhlenever
an occasion could be found; has Tie brollg]t upon us the
stern necessity of casting from us the weakness of slavery,




ENGLISH AND FRENCH NEUTRALITY.        19
adding thereby half a million of fighting men to our
available strength; has He compelled us to consolidate our
national power; has IHe shown us our resources and capabilities; has He made us familiar with our strength, and
forced us to become a great military nation, in order to
prevent the meditated blow from Europe, or enable us to
meet it without disaster?
If these questions can be answered, it will be by first
observing the conduct of France and England as neutral
powers, and then we may find the meaning of this, in the
nature and purposes of their alliance, and in the necessities
of their settled national policy.
In judging the past acts of nations, even of such as call
themselves Christian, or if we would know what we may
expect in the future, we must remember that the abstract
right, the principles of the Gospel, have very little direct
influence upon national policy. We have not yet arrived
at that state of perfection, where righteousness and faithfulness are the girdle of the loins of rulers. Kings, Presidents,
Cabinets, are not expected to do anything contrary to
apparent interests, merely because it is right, or to refrain
from any act, merely because it is wrong.
Each great power of Europe has a national policy of its
own, which it will carry out so far as it has the power, with
very little regard for the rights or welfare of others, while
under that artificial system devised to maintain what they
call the " balance of power," any one is liable to be attacked,
merely because it is more prosperous than its neighbors.
Nor must Americans overlook the all-important fact,
that the Allied Powers of Western Europe do seriously
propose to apply the European political system to the affairs
of this Continent. Steam navigation has virtually condensed the population of the world; the spaces between
nations are scarcely one-fourth of what they once were;
the ocean which divides us from Europe is now only a strait;
and placed as we are, almost side by side with France and
England, they see and fear the advancing shadow of our
greatness, and they seek earnestly the means of hindering




20          ENGLISH AND FRENCH NEUTRALITY.
our progress and crippling our power. If other means fail,
if we should come forth from this rebellion with our national
unity unbroken, and our strength unimpaired, they will
combine, and attempt by State craft, or by force if they
dare, to preserve here the "balance of power," which simply
means to prevent us by all and any means, from becoming
an American Nation, great enough to be independent of
them.
Whoever expects less of hostility, or more of friendship
than this from any power of Western Europe, will surely
be deceived.
It is perhaps barely possible that England may yet seek
an alliance with America to save herself from France, but
that is among the secrets of the future.
Nor must we forget, when we attempt to forecast the
future, that the great forces which move the nations of
Christendom are religious ones. By this is meant, not that
national counsels are controlled by Christian principles, but
that the alliances and antagonisms of nations, are largely
shaped by the influence of the ties of race, and the religious
faith and traditions of the people. It is quite certain now,
that the civilized world is fast arraying itself under three
great political divisions, which correspond to the three great
religious organizations. Russia heads and wields the Eastern
Church. France is already the actual leader of the Latin
race, and the Papal Church, while the Protestant power
is not as yet so thoroughly organized and united. It has
not as yet selected its head and champion. Where shall
we find the great Protestant national leader of the future?
Will it be Germany or England? Not unless great changes
are speedily wrought. Will it be America? Perhaps so,
if she is found worthy.
The political tendencies of the three great religious divisions of Christendom are perfectly apparent. Protestantism
embodies itself naturally in free institutions.  It seeks
everywhere, and at all times, to elevate the people, it desires
to enfranchise universal humanity. Russia and the Greek




ENGLISH AND FRENCH NEUTRALITY.        21
Church are moving in the same direction, and give noble
promise for the future.
The Papal Church is, as ever, the friend of political and
ecclesiastical despotism, the bitter enemy of popular rights
and free institutions; and France, in striving to become
the Imperial Head of the Latin race and Church, is the
Leader of a new conspiracy against the peace of nations
and the liberties of man.
These facts must all be considered in any attempt to form
an opinion of the future of Europe and America. They
show us the true reasons for the course which France and
England have pursued since the beginning of the rebellion,
they show why these Powers united for an attack on Russia,
and that the same motives have shaped their policy towards
both Russia and America; and in the light of these facts,
we may turn to the misnamed neutrality of these Governments and read aright its meaning.




22       THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY'ACTS.
CHAPTER III.
THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.
In referring to the conduct of France and England, no
friend of his country or of his race, would dwell upon their
unfriendly acts for the purpose of creating bitterness of
feeling, or merely to keep alive the memories of wrong.
America desires only peace. She asks of Europe that
she should be left in quietness to work out her own national
destiny, and to manage her own affairs, as seems best to
her, without interference from any. But the spirit which
has been manifested by France and England, the evident
and earnest desire that the Republic should be destroyed,
the prompt and cheerful giving of sympathy and aid to our
rebel enemies, these things should surely warn us to watch
with jealous care their every movement, to study carefully
the principles and objects of their policy, that they may
have no chance hereafter to take us unawares.
While we rejoice at, and frankly and kindly accept for
what it is worth, every friendly or forbearing act, which
seems to indicate some change of temper or intention, we
are bound by every consideration of prudence and national
safety, to judge of the present by the past, and to expect
that these nations hereafter will be guided as they have
been thus far, not by any friendly feelings towards this
Western Power, but by those very principles of policy
which have controlled them since the beginning of our war.
Their plans are settled and far-reaching ones. They are
not to be suddenly or lightly abandoned. The national




THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.      23
necessities of France and England, as their leaders view
them, and the policy which they have jointly adopted for
the control of Christendom, do not permit them to look
quietly on while Russia and America are making such
rapid progress.
Their alliance was framed in view of a real antagonism
between their interests, and those of Russia and America;
they have made the antagonism an actual one by a war
with Russia, and their treatment of us; and this should be
borne steadily in mind if we would understand the past, or
be prepared for the future. The future will be peace, if we
are strong enough to compel a peace, not otherwise.
It is important for Americans to remember that the course
pursued by France and England was the result of previous
consultation, and positive agreement between them. At
the outset, they informed our Government that the two
Powers would be perfectly united in their policy, whatever
it might be, and in declaring this policy by acts, England
took the lead.
HIer first open and decided step then, was taken in accordance with the plan which the French and English rulers
had decided upon beforehand, and with definite purposes in
view. The very manner and time chosen, must have been
fixed by a previous decision.
By formal Proclamation of the Queen, the Confederate
rebels, in the very first hours of their insurrection, were
declared to be rightful ocean belligerents before they had a
single ship afloat, and when, even if they had ships, there
was not a port on earth where they could send a prize for
trial.
This Proclamation was issued when the British rulers
knew that Mr. Adams, our newly appointed Minister, was
at Liverpool, prepared to represent the cause of our Government, but with a haste which revealed clearly the hostile
intent, the design to prejudge and settle the whole matter
against us, before we could be heard, and to grant the rebels
privileges and a national standing, which no effort of ours
could recall.




24       THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.
They had resolved, after consulting with France, to
commit the English and French nation to a policy from
which they could not retreat, It was essentially an unfriendly act. It was known to be so, it was intended to
give aid and comfort to the traitors, to relieve them from
the name and crime of treason and piracy, and to win for
the rebellion the respect and sympathy of the world. In
moral guilt, as a heartless, selfish violation of national
friendship, this act was equal to an alliance with the rebels,
and a declaration of war against the American Government,
and every subsequent event has shown that it was designed
to be war in disguise, war without risk to the two Allied
Powers, but which brought destruction to our commerce,
and ministered the strength of an alliance to our enemies.
No change in conduct, nor even friendship shown hereafter, can alter the character of this first unfriendly.act.
It is the one life fountain from which the rebellion has
received vitality and power. France and England, with
perfectly agreeing hostility, have employed the Confederates
to use against us their powder, rifles, cannon, blockade
runners, and war ships, and these have been eimployed to
advance their designs against this Republic as really as if
they had been covered by the French or English flags, and
a majority of Englishmen and Frenchmen have rejoiced
over every Rebel success as if it were a victory of their own,
and so it really was. It is mockery of the most bitter kind,
to remind us, as Englishmen have so often done, that they
have furnished us also with munitions of war, and that as
neutrals they sell alike to each belligerent. The wrong,
flagrant and designed, lies in the previous act by which, for
purposes of their own, and to our deep injury, they proclaimed our enemies to be lawful belligerents.
They found a company of rebels engaged in an insurrection
against a lawful Government, in a treasonable conspiracy,
and because they desired the overthrow of this Republic,
and they saw the traitors could be used for this foul purpose,
and because they were determined to give all possible aid
to these rebel enemies, and could not assist them as traitors




THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.      25
and rebels, without disgrace, the French and English political magicians touched these rebels with the wand of royal
proclamation, and lo! the conspirators were transformed
into lawful and highly respectable belligerents, on equal
footing with the lawful Government, and France and England were, of course, neutral powers, and with rights derived
solely from their own proclamation, they proceeded to
strengthen the rebels with all manner of moral and material
support, because they had changed them from traitors to
belligerents for this very purpose.
The two Powers are mentioned together as concerned in
the Proclamation, because from the first they declared that
they were perfectly united in their American policy.
Every subsequent act of these two Powers seems to have
been conceived in the spirit of the Queen's Proclamation;
there has not been a single instance, down to the seizing of
the Rebel Rans, in which the English or French Government deigned to assume even the appearance of friendship.
A cold, harsh, unfriendly temper, a spirit that sought occasion against us, watching for a cause of quarrel, was evident
in all their intercourse. They did not attempt to conceal
that they sympathized with the rebels, that they desired
their success, and the overthrow of the Republic; they
assumed constantly that the Union was destroyed already,
and would never be restored, and their every act was intended, it would seem, to prove the assertion true.
And unless it was a part of the original plan to interfere
by force, when the occasion should come, and crush us in
our hour of peril and weakness, there seems no way to
explain the conduct of England in the affair of the Trent.
Unless British statesmen had then determined upon war, as
a certain means of securing the independence of the South,
and the destruction of our Government, what meaning can
we attach to their acts? They knew perfectly well that the
seizure of the Trent was not intended by our Government;
they knew that not only did our officer act without orders,
but that his act was repudiated by our authorities; they had
official knowledge of all this, and yet they purposely with



26       THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.
held all this from the knowledge of the English people,
while all means were b6ing earnestly used to inflame the
popular mind to a degree that would render a war inevitable.
If the English Government did not then intend war, why
did it withhold the information which it had of our peaceful disposition, and of our willingness to make honorable
amends for the seeming wrong.
It seems impossible to resist the conclusion, that England
then thought that with a single blow she could establish
the South and free herself forever from the fear and the
rivalry of a great American Nation. She knew perfectly
that America desired nothing more than peace and friendship with France and England, and unless she intended to
force us into a war that would be fatal to our nation, why
did she suppress the truth, why did she suffer the English
people to be imposed upon, and goaded into fury by falsehood, and appeals to national jealousy and pride?
These things are referred to, not to stimulate ill-feeling or
a desire for revenge, but because we should be admonished
by the past what to expect in the future. These acts were
the result of settled policy on the part of France and England
both, as will be seen before the subject is dismissed, and that
policy will not be abandoned, until great changes are wrought
in the political relations of Europe. These Allied Powers
may be actively hostile, or ostensibly friendly toward us,
as circumstances may demand, but their national policy, in
regard to both America and Russia, will remain unchanged
until revolution sweeps over Europe.
The objects aimed at by the Proclamation are set in the
clearest light by what has since occurred. It opened at
once for England a great market for all kinds of munitions
of war, and every other species of goods which, by swift
steamers, and from her adjacent ports, could be run through
the lines of our blockade. These goods would greatly increase the courage and power of our enemy, and enable the
conspirators, in all probability, to compel a separation of
our territory, and this would render impossible a great
American Nation.




THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.      27
It enabled England to build a navy for the Rebels, arm
and man their ships in her own ports, as she did the Alabama
and others, and these could cripple our commerce in two
ways, by the destruction of our ships at sea, and by rendering
them everywhere insecure, so as to transfer even our own
trade to the British flag.
These two things have come to pass with immense injury
to us, they are results easily foreseen, were inevitable even,
and we have a right, therefore, to believe that this was
aimed at in the Proclamation. Nor can Americans safely
forget one important part of the sad evidence of the hostility
of England in particular, that nearly the whole literary
power of the Kingdom was employed, as if in concert, to
injure the cause of the American Government in the eyes
of the world.
The most popular letter-writer of England was sent to
this country with the scarcely veiled intention of presenting
the North and its cause, in the worst possible light to the
world, and of painting the conspirators as making a heroic
effort for independence.
Not alone the TIMES, which in spite of all denial, reflects
in the main more faithfully than any other paper the prevailing temper of England, but the graver Quarterlies, which
had hitherto shown some candor in regard to our country,
joined in the general outcry, and lent their powerful aid in
misleading and inflaming the public mind, and exciting
against us and our cause the prejudices of Continental
Europe.
These things were not accidental. They were evidently
parts of a general plan, all bearing upon one purpose, the
success of the Rebel cause, the destruction of our National
Union. The statements and arguments of the British Press
were contrary to all the main facts in the case, and we
cannot think that educated Englishmen were utterly
ignorant of our condition and our purposes. We cannot
but believe in the clear light of all the facts, that the intention was to make a case that should justify the hostile
attitude which they had assumed.




28       THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.
No one will believe that it was any surprise, or thoughtless haste, or sudden irritation, that could induce cool,
experienced British statesmen to ignore both the principles
and practice of their Government in regard to conspiracy
and rebellion, to forget that their island has been crimsoned
with blood shed to maintain the authority of the regular
Government, to cast behind them all the testimony and all
the acts of England against human slavery, and place
themselves, and the nation which they represented, by the
side of conspirators, who were not only banded together to
overthrow a regular Government, but to establish a slaveholding despotism.
It is evident, that motives of no ordinary power must
have swayed the British Government in adopting such a
course, and equally strong must have been the influence
which swept France away from all her precedents, and
severed the friendly relations which had been the growth
of more than half a century.
The motives of both nations must be sought in the nature
and purposes of their alliance, which will be more fully
explained hereafter. In carrying out the policy agreed
upon by the allies, a separate part was assigned to France,
in the execution of which, England cordially sustained her,
as she herself declared, for she was careful to assure the
world, that she approved the movement of France upon
Mexico, and she supported her words by the presence and
co-operation of her fleet. Nor does the withdrawal of her
ships, after the landing was effected, prove by any means
that the ultimate aims of France were either unknown or
not approved. Far otherwise. Great Britain has uttered
no note of remonstrance; but, on the contrary, France is
commended for daring to defy us on the subject of the
Monroe Doctrine, and is given to understand that England
will be pleased to see what is called a stable Government in
Mexico, and this is a full endorsement of a most iniquitous
scheme of invasion and conquest, the most wicked and
causeless attack of the strong on the weak, which modern
times have seen.




THE NEUTRALITY ILLUSTRATED BY ACTS.      29
The work of France then, was not one of personal ambition only, it was a part also of the general scheme of both
nations to humble and cripple the Great Republic, to check
the growth of a naval, commercial, and manufacturing
nation, England the while indifferent to the fact, that the
success of the plan would overthrow free institutions and
the Protestant faith on all this Western Continent.
Spain and England politely escorted the French fleet and
army to Mexico, and then left France to plant her army on
shore, to begin a causeless war, and capture the Mexican
cities, to proclaim a Government in opposition to the wishes
of the people; to establish, indeed, a vast French camp on
the flank of the Republic, with wishful eyes turned on
California, Texas, and the mouth of the Mississippi, declaring her purpose to be, to check the progress of the
Protestant Republic, and reassert on this Continent the
supremacy of the Latin race and Roman Church. Such
are some of the acts of these miscalled neutral powers, and
prudence demands that we should study carefully their
meaning. What are the national necessities of these two
Governments, out of which this policy has sprung? This
question requires an answer.




30     THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
CHAPTE R IV.
THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED THE NATIONAL POLICY OF
FRANCE AND ENGLAND.
In studying the course of these Allied Powers toward
America, it is not necessary to assume that it has been
dictated by any special hatred of the American people, that
all the old friendship of France has been suddenly turned
to gall and bitterness, or that England is watching to repay
the ancient grudge caused by the separation of our colonies.
There is no such animosity between these nations and
our own as demands a war. Left to their own impulses,
the people of these countries would not only live in peace,
but would gladly cultivate friendly relations. But whoever
builds a hope of continued peace, merely upon the absence
of hostile feeling, or upon such popular friendship as may
exist, will surely be deluded. France and England will be
governed only by considerations of national policy. Back
of all friendly feelings, whatever they may be, back of all
influences of the ties of race, language and religion, which
might otherwise move England, are the stern necessities of
her British policy, by which she will be inevitably controlled.
England's commercial and manufacturing interests, England's power and supremacy among nations, these will be
first considered; all else will be coldly thrust aside. The
English people may be suddenly kindled into a perfect blaze
of wrath, as in the case of the Trent, but the moment it was
seen that British policy did not then demand a war, the
angry fires burned harmlessly out.




THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   31
On the other hand, it is by no means safe to suppose that,
because Mr. Beecher's efforts were applauded by so many
thousands, that therefore all apprehensions may be laid
aside, and our safe course now is to caress the British Lion
into quietness and friendship. It would be a short-sighted
and dangerous policy to place any reliance upon such manifestations as these.
The necessities of England's position will override all this.
If the Anglo-French Alliance continues, and these powers
pursue the policy with which it was formed, they will remain
in real antagonism to Russia and America, and the struggle
for the mastery will surely come. Let us do our part in
the preserving of peace; yet by all means, prepare for the
future.
In studying the policy of the Great Powers of Christendom, we must remember, that the greatness and power of
a nation in this age, depend upon the extent of its commerce
and manufactures.
War itself has become as much a question of capital and
machinery, as the working of a cotton mill. But the capital
made for a great and long war can only be created through
manufactures and commerce, and therefore, a nation must
be commercially great in order to become a first-rate military power-and to great wealth must be added skill, in
the production and use of machinery.
Battles by land and sea are fought more and more each
year by machinery. These remarks apply with peculiar
force to France and England. Their future supremacy
depends upon their commerce and manufactures, and armies
and navies are needed by them mainly to extend and secure
these great interests, which are the sources of their wealth
and power. Bonaparte found that, although he could overrun Europe by mere military power and skill, that he could
lay no permanent foundation of a great Empire, except upon
a manufacturing and commercial basis, such as England had
created; and from that time France has been endeavoring
to obtain for herself extensive colonies, and to create both
a great navy and a commercial marine.




32      THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
If we add to these interests, the influence of the great
religious organizations of Europe, we shall have the key to
the whole policy of England and the great powers of the
Continent.
European wars just now are not waged for an idea, notwithstanding what France has said. Ellngland will make
war, if necessary, to protect the sources of her wealth, and
to crush a commercial rival; France may do the same to
add to her colonies or increase her territory, that her commerce and manufactures may grow, and she may use the
idea of restoring the prestige of the Latin race as best suited
to her purpose; but she will prepare no armies or navies
merely to propagate or defend a principle.
In order to understand the commercial necessities of the
Great Powers of Modern Europe, it is necessary to trace
from afar the movements of the commerce of the world.
From the earliest ages, to which history reaches even
with an uncertain light, it is found that wealth, civilization,
and power are connected with the commerce of eastern
Asia, India, China, and the East Indian Archipelago.
Wherever a depot could be formed for the reception of the
precious merchandise of the " far East," there was a magnificent center of dominion. From this source Egypt derived
much, or most of her enormous wealth. Her upper and lower
Capitals were each connected with the Red Sea and so with
India, one by the celebrated ship canal, portions of whose
bed still are visible, and the other by a graded road from
Karnac to Kosseir, and their wonderful ruins sufficiently
attest how Egypt fattened both upon the military and commercial spoils of India and the eastern Islands. Solomon
with his Indian seaport at Ezion Geber on the Elanitic
Gulf, directed a portion of that commerce by sea toward
Jerusalem, while Palmyra, that beautiful miracle of the
desert, was created by the trade of the caravans, and the
enriching effects upon Judea are graphically described in the
Scriptures, where it is said, that iron became as stones, and
silver as iron, and gold as silver in the streets of Jerusalem.
Again, when this trade was centered upon the eastern




THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   33
shore of the Mediterranean, it produced Tyre, that ocean
queen, and Sidon, scarcely inferior. It was a vast commercial idea, and not simply a mad thirst for useless conquest
that originated the eastern expedition of Alexander. It
was one of the most remarkable conceptions of any man in
any age, considering the birth, education and position of
the young Macedonian, dying as he did almost in youth,
in his thirty-third year. It was the establishment of a
mighty empire, with an Eastern capital as its center, to be
enriched by the control of the commerce of India. For
this purpose he founded Alexandria, and attempted to control all the East.
A French writer bears the following testimony to the
sagacity of Alexander: "Alexander opened to Europe the
commerce of the Indian seas, and of Eastern Africa, by a
road, which if it was at the present day free and perfected as
it ought to be, would cause the way by the Cape of Good
H-Iope to be entirely abandoned." At the same time, Alexander and his successors did not overlook that more
northern route upon which Russia has her eye now fixed,
by the Caspian and Black Seas, and whose advantages were
so long enjoyed.
Alexander built cities on the south and east of the Caspian, while one of his immediate successors attempted to
unite the Black Sea and the Caspian by means of a canal
connecting the River Kouban, which empties into the
Euxine, with the Kouma which flows into the Caspian,
thus stretching a line of navigation eastward toward India.
The idea of Alexander was long and fondly dwelt upon
by Napoleon, and gave rise to his expedition into Egypt.
He saw that if the East Indian commerce could be diverted
from its route by the " stormy Cape," and brought once
more along its ancient channels, through the Red Sea to
Egypt, that it would change the seat of the world's wealth
and dominion, and restore to their former importance the
eastern shores of the Mediterranean. England has undertaken to monopolize this trade, by conquering and holding
the very countries where it originates, and while she makes
3




34      THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
Europe echo with her bitter condemnation of the aggressions of Russia, she seems to forget that the annals of
earth do not present a record of a more grasping, selfish,
and cruel policy than that which has marked her course in
India. There is no act of ambition or fraud, selfishness or
oppression, which Great Britain has ever charged upon
Russia in her acquisitions in Europe and Asia, for the purpose of opening a highway to China and northern India,
for which impartial history will not find at least a parallel
in the manner in which England has sought occasions of
quarrel and interference in India, and trampled down the
weak and wrested their possessions away, for the purpose
of controlling this very commerce of which Russia once
enjoyed a part, and which she is now seeking to share with
the rest of Europe.
The importance of that portion of this trade which once
poured into Europe by the Black Sea, must not be forgotten
in an estimate of the present course and aims of Russia.
An active commerce between India and the West was carried on along this route, in the remotest antiquity to which
the light of history thas reached. The Phoenicians who are
said to have possessed a powerful navy two thousand years
before the Christian era, established colonies and built
cities both on the Dardanelles and the shores of the Black
Sea, which flourished upon the trade of the remote East.
The description of the traffic of Tyre, in the twenty-seventh
chapter of Ezekiel, shows that horses, mules, slaves, and
other articles were brought from the Black Sea and the
Caspian, while from thence also, she hired the soldiers by
which her walls were defended. The route traversed by
those merchants who brought her the silks and spices of
China and India is not mentioned, but we should infer from
other facts, that the course of a part of this trade was by
the Sea of Aral, the Caspian and the Euxine.
Troy, at or near the entrance of the Dardanelles, was also
an opulent emporium of eastern commerce, whose power is
attested by the ten years siege. This city seems to have
been attacked because, as Constantinople now does, it com



THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   35
manded the gates of the Black Sea, whose commerce was
coveted by the rising and aspiring Greeks; and thus, many
centuries before the coming of Christ, the theater of the
Crimean war was the scene of bloody conflicts, whose objects
were similar to those which have stirred up the strife of
modern times-the command of the Euxine and the adjacent waters, with the traffic of the East.
The Colchians, at the foot of the Caucasus, having
sprung, as is supposed, from an Egyptian colony became
greatly enriched by this commerce with China, India and
the intermediate regions, and their wealth and luxury having
attracted the cupidity of the piratical Greeks, gave rise,
probably, to the famous Argonautic expedition, in which
some of the towns of the Colchians on the Black Sea were
pillaged. This lucrative commerce was soon after monopolized by the rising power and maritime superiority of the
Greeks, who not only controlled the trade which flowed into
the Euxine by its numerous rivers, but extended a line of
towns and citadels, or fortified halting places for the caravans far eastward toward India. For centuries, the highway
from Greece to India lay along the Black Sea, the Caspian,
and the Sea of Aral, the precise route which Russia is intent
upon re-establishing now.
About one hundred and fifty years before Christ, the
countries on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean contended with Rome for the riches of the Black Sea commerce.
In this contest Rome was victorious, and the Euxine became
a closed sea, a Roman lake, and under Pompey the country
was explored toward India for the purpose of extending the
commerce by which Asia Minor had been enriched. The
civil wars which followed, occupied soon after the whole
attention of Rome, and when Egypt fell into her hands the
old highway to India by the Red Sea was occupied again,
and immense Roman fleets, in the time of Augustus, passed
by the ship canal from the Nile to the Red Sea, on their
eastern voyages. But this commerce was burthened by the
emperors with excessive duties, and this tended to force it
gradually back upon the northern routes toward the Black




36     THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
Sea once more. Even at this remote period the iron and
furs of Siberia were among the articles of Roman traffic,
the mountains of the Ural then yielding their precious
deposits.
The importance of the commerce on this northern route
to India at this time, may be understood from a single fact.
A short time before the Christian era, Phasiona, on the
river Phasis, was the great mart of eastern trade, and such
was its extent that there were one hundred and fifty bridges
across the stream to accommodate the business carried on
upon its shores. For some time previous to the Christian
era, and for several centuries subsequent, the direct trade
between China and the West, centering upon the Caspian
and Euxine, was exceedingly active and important, and few
probably are aware of the extent of the Chinese overland
trade which Russia at the present time enjoys, and which
she is steadily and rapidly increasing. It is a struggle, as
is perceived, between the ancient highways of traffic, and
the modern new routes from India, which directing the
wealth of the Indies upon Western Europe have built up
London and Paris, as the eastern marts were reared of old
around the Mediterranean and Black Sea, and upon the
banks of the Nile.
The removal, by Constantine, of the capital of Rome
from the Tiber to the Hellespont, formed a new and most
advantageous center for commercial interchange between
the East and the W5est, and Constantinople soon rose to be
the foremost city of the world. To her markets crowded
the merchants from China, India, Arabia, Persia and Europe,
and her magnificence in consequence was without a rival.
The advantages of her admirable position between Europe
and Asia, and between the Mediterranean and the Black
Sea, were understood and wisely used. She was, in all
senses, the mistress of the East and West, with the single
exception of the spiritual power of Rome. Thus for some
centuries she flourished, and then the Arabian power was
interposed between her and China and India, and Bagdad
and other lesser Arab cities rose on the fruits of this inter



THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   37
cepted commerce, and dazzled for a time all the East with
their splendor.
Constantinople suffered in consequence, but was still,
in the twelfth century, the most splendid city of the world.
Bagdad alone was worthy to be in any degree compared
with the Queen of the Hellespont.
But the hatred of the Roman Church and the ambition
of Venice and Genoa to possess themselves of an eastern
commerce, directed an army of the crusaders against Constantinople which they besieged and plundered, glutting at
once religious hatred and commercial ambition, and Venice
obtained the control of the Mediterranean and the Black
Sea together. She excluded as far as possible Genoa from
any participation in her advantages, and monopolized and
fattened upon the business of Constantinople.
For the possession of this commerce long war was waged
between Venice and Genoa, but in the fifteenth century the
conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, and the discovery
by the Portuguese of the new route to India, seaward, by
the Cape of Good Hope, changed the whole face of Europe.
Commerce deserted its ancient seats on and around the
Mediterranean, and planted the centers of future dominion
in western Europe, whose cities soon became the depots for
the eastern trade.
But previous to this, as has been already stated, one
great commercial and manufacturing city, with half a million of inhabitants, had been built up in central Russia
where the merchandise of India and China was brought to
be distributed through Europe, and thus centuries before
England had any importance, as a manufacturing or maritime nation, Russia received by the way of the Black Sea,
an enriching portion of the traffic of India and China.
But in the meantime, Russia was desolated by a Tartar
conquest and then by civil strife, ending in a stern, unyielding despotism, that for a time not only crippled her energies
but threw her back toward barbarism, and during this period
the Portuguese, the Spaniards, the Dutch and English, by




38      THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
their maritime enterprise and skill, had turned into their
newly-opened ocean route, the trade of India.
When once more Russia emerged from obscurity, in the
time of Peter the Great, the world's great centers of power
were altogether changed. Desolation and silence reigned
in the once busy marts of the East, the old highways of
commerce were all deserted, the Mediterranean fleets and
cities had moldered together; in all the East the Turk ruled
only to oppress, and exhaust, and ruin, and ocean fleets
were conveying the riches of China, India, and the Eastern
Archipelago, to the rapidly advancing cities of southern and
western Europe.
At this point begins the modern struggle for the comnmerce of the East, which also involves the control of the
wealth of Western Europe. On this question of the trade
of Asia, in connection with the antagonisms of religions
and races, the whole policy of Western Europe hinges,
and especially has it shaped each movement of France
and England in regard to Russia and America.
A brief review of these efforts to secure the trade of India
and the East, is necessary to explain the meaning of the
Anglo-French Alliance, the attack upon Russia in the
Crimean war, the invasion of Mexico, and the hostility
which France and England have manifested to our own
Republic.
The policy and efforts of Russia should be first considered,
because it will reveal the true reason why she was attacked
by the Western Powers.
At the time when Russia was beginning to recover from
the effet of her Tartar invasion, and the subsequent civil
wars, the Dutch, the French and the English, were all
seeking to establish themselves in India, and to obtain
control of its commerce, and hold it for their own exclusive
benefit. In this condition of things-the most important
and enriching trade of all the world in the hands of the
western Powers, which commerce would soon make themn
the center of power and civilization, as it had already done
for all who had previously enjoyed its advantages-Russia




THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   39
perceived clearly that her only hope of becoming a great
nation lay in her recovering for herself a portion of the
Eastern commerce, and that her only route to India and
China was the ancient one-by the Black Sea, the Caspian,
and the Ural. She saw the necessity of producing those
commodities which she might exchange for the precious
stuffs of the East, and therefore created a manufacturing
system of her own, for the double purpose of stimulating
her own industry, opening up her own resources, and to
obtain within herself an independent supply of manufactured goods, suitable for the Eastern markets.
Russia, like England, desired to share in the trade of
northern India and China. For her no path was open across
the waves,but the old highways leading from the Euxine
eastward, though mostly deserted, might, perhaps, be opened
and occupied again. But between her and her goal lay the
Tartar and the Turk. The question at once arises, was it
more criminal, more heartless and despotic for Russia to
remove these from her path, than for England to sweep
away the natives of IIindostan. Great Britain was marching northward, conquering and absorbing India as she went;
Russia was marching south-eastward, conquering, but also
incorporating what she subdued, and making it an integral
part of her empire. She has been displacing and incorporating Turkey, while England has been swallowing India,
and both for the same purpose, viz: the securing that worldenriching commerce of the East.
Russia has thus advanced to the Crimea, southward to
the Danube, northward round the Black Sea, and eastward
still to the Caspian, embracing that also in her acquisitions,
and now, and thus, she has enclosed Constantinople in a
semi-circular line of her possessions, from the mouth of
the Danube, northward and eastward, round to near the
neighborhood of Ezeroum and Trebizond. In addition to
this, such is her influence with the court of Persia, that her
route lies open eastward. In all this, Russia has invaded
no right of England, has touched neither her territory nor
her property. She has been endeavoring to open for herself




40      THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
a land route eastward, while England held the sea and was
conquering and overrunning India for her own exclusive
advantage.
Tried by the rules of Christian morality, the course of
Russia can not be defended; but on the other hand, when
compared with the policy of any one of the great nations
of Europe; she will scarcely suffer in the comparison. She
stands before the world as one among those powers, swayed
by the same ambition, and using against others the same
means and the same arts which were directed against herself, and which every strong one was using like herself for
the subjugation of the weak. Not to defend or justify the
acts of the Russian court, have these remarks been made,
but to expose the hypocrisy of those who, deeply stained
as Russia with the sin of ambition, and selfish and wanton
aggression, wiped their mouths with an affectation of innocency, and cried out against the Czar as if he were the only
disturber of the repose of Europe-and where this was done
merely as a cover for their own ultimate designs. Let England compare her own march from the trading-post of Clive,
northward over the subjugated provinces of India, with that
of Russia from Moscow to the Caspian, and she will find
little cause for self-congratulation.  She has established a
rule there over one hundred and fifty millions of a downtrodden people, the rule of strong and exacting masters
over comparatively weak and defenseless races, that will be
crushed out and displaced, not elevated to the position of
free and civilized communities, who will neither share the
glory nor the prosperity of the nation by which they have
been subdued. India is a vast plantation owned by England,
and worked exclusively for the benefit of the dominant race.
But to return to a consideration of the commerce of the
1jEast. Russia aims at the trade of the East Indian Archipelago, China, Northern India, Persia, and the countries
around the Hellespont, the Euxine and the Caspian. To
place herself in communication with the wealth of the East
Indian Islands she has stretched her dominions to the Pacific,
and along its shore, till she now embraces the mouth and




THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND'ENGLAND.   41
the valley of the Amnoor, including a large and fertile province obtained from China. This river opens up a commercial
highway, as has been stated, far westward through northern
China into Siberia, toward the Ural, whence a railway is
practicable into Europe, toward Moscow and Odessa. Rivers
and canals already connect all parts of the Empire with the
Euxine and the Caspian, and then a great northern route
stretches out before her, by the way of the Sea of Aral,
toward Herat and Northern India. Already this trade has
been nourished into great importance. This will appear by
the following statement copied from MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE,
in an article whose authority can scarcely be questioned:
"The Russian caravans carry the furs of foxes, beavers,
castors, of Kamkschatka and of America, coral, clocks,
linens, woolen cloths, wool, leather, looking-glasses, glass,
etc., and give them to the Chinese in exchange for silk,
precious stones, tea, cotton, rice, porcelain, rhubarb, gauzecrape, mourning-crape, musk, anniseed, silks with threads
of gold, velvets, tobacco, sugar candy, preserved ginger,
pipes, combs, dolls made of silk and of porcelain.
"In the time of Catherine, this business was valued at
20,000,000 of francs, equally divided between the Russians
and Chinese. The business has constantly progressed ever
since, and in 1850 the Russians exported to China 28,000,000
francs worth of merchandise. The caravans of KIiatka have
not alone the privilege of the commerce between China
and Russia; the independent Tartars carry to Oremberg
and Troizkai the provisions which they purchase in India
and China. A part of this merchandise, and of that brought
by other caravans from Thibet, from India, from Khiva, from
Bokhara, from all central Asia, from Persia, from Georgia
from Armenia, arrive at the great fair at Nijnei-Novgorod,
at the confluence of the Volga and the Olka, where, it is
said, 600,000 merchants assemble. To give an idea of the
importance of the commerce of Russia with the different
countries of Asia, it is sufficient to say that she imports by
the Caspian 8,000,000 francs' worth of merchandise, to




42     THE REMOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
which must be added about 10,000,000, to represent the
productions which she receives by land from the Turkish
and Persian provinces. She buys 116,000,000 francs' worth
of Chinese productions, and brings from ]Bokhara and Tartary 76,000,000. Her exports by land to Asia amount to
170,000,000 of francs.
" It would be easy for Russia to bring all this commerce
to the Black Sea, without doing any prejudice to her provinces in the north of Europe. She is doing everything for
the accomplishment of this result, and nature has traced
the route by which this immense commerce would easily
flow into the Euxine. The most considerable rivers in
Russia-the Dnieper, the Dniester, and the Don-empty
into this sea; and with them, all the agricultural and
manufacturing riches of Russia would descend into the
Euxine, attracted there by the merchant vessels of the
maritime nations of southern Europe, of western Asia, and
of the north of Africa. In order to prevent any obstacle to
this powerful current of commerce, which would bring to
the south the productions of the north-east of Europe, the
rivers just mentioned were connected with the Baltic and
the White Sea by means of a vast system of canalization,
conceived and commenced by the genius of Peter the Great.
"The Danube alone could bring into the Russian ports
of the Black Sea the commerce of a large part of western
Europe; for the Danube, united to the Rhine by the canal
Louis, which puts it in direct communication with France,
Belgium, and Holland, offers to commerce the most direct
line of communication between Europe and Asia. The
Caspian is connected with the Northern Sea by means of
an immensely important canal, which joins the Volga to
the Meta, a.tributary of the Volchov, which falls into the
Lake of Ladoga. This lake communicates with the Baltic
(Gulf of Finland); the Volga itself is connected with the
Lake of Ladoga by the canal of Tchkvin; and the canals
of Koubensk, and of the north, unite the Caspian with the
White Sea.
"However great the importance of this net-work of




THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   43
canals in Russia in Europe, still they do not suffice to carry
out but a part of the commercial projects of Peter the
Great. It was still necessary to bring eastern Asia and
the Black Sea into communication with the Caspian Sea.
Peter, as we have already seen, had traced on a map the
plan of a canal between these two seas; this was no more
than the renewal of the project of Seleucus, of which we
have spoken in its place. At a later period he decided to
join these seas by means of a canal between the Clavlia, a
tributary of the Don, and the Kamychenka, a tributary of
the Volga-an enterprise which had been attempted by the
Venitians and the Tartars of the Crimea.
"There were great difficulties to overcome before completing this canal, for the Don is higher than the Volga.
But Peter undertook to overcome them, and employed an
English engineer named Perry, who, after three years labor,
was obliged to abandon it to complete fortifications of
immediate necessity. Catherine II. caused the enterprise
to be carried on for two years; but the ravine of Peter the
Great, as it is called, is still unfinished.
" Now, it is probable a railroad will take the place of a
canal. The Black Sea has already become almost a Russian
lake. The Caspian belongs to the Czar, for Persia has lost
the right to keep an armed force there, and her communication with the Black Sea becomes at once of the greatest
importance to Russia. Besides, the Caspian receives the
Volga, that immense stream which traverses all southern
and eastern Russia, which, by the aid of the Kama-one
of its tributaries-is connected with the Ural Mountains,
so rich in mines of gold, platina, iron and copper; also the
rich productions of all eastern and central Asia, of Persia,
of Armenia, and the neighboring countries, flow into the
Caspian by different routes. Now, to carry out the commercial views of Russia, it remains to put the Caspian in
direct communication with all central Asia, as far as
India and China. Nature had primitively established this
immense line of communication, by making but one great
internal sea of the Aral and Caspian. Ever since the epoch




44      THE RE~MOTER CAUSES WHICH HAVE SHAPED
of the separation of these two seas by the vast steppes of
Manquischlaks, a communication still existed, if it is true
that as late as the tenth or eleventh century of our era the
ancient Oxus (Amou Daria) emptied into the Caspian,
placing her in a direct communication with the south-west
frontiers of China and the north of India; but in the present
day this river empties into the Aral, but still could, by its
numerous tributaries and by caravans, easily bring the productions of Chinese Tartary, of Thibet, of Cashmere, and
of India, by I(hiva, to the Aral, which receives the Scria
Daria (Jaxade), which is the route of an active commerce,
and the best communication with the table-lands of China,
Turkistan, southern Russia, and the Black Sea.
"From the preceding, it is easy to understand the efforts
made by Russia to get possession of Khiva, which is at the
head of the Amou Scria (Oxus). Once mistress of this place,
Bokhara would soon see her at her gates, and Khokanee.
which is near, would become her prey. Then she would
at pleasure direct the caravans of China, of Thibet, and of
India. After that, it would be easy to create a communication between the Caspian and the Aral, and the Black Sea
would be connected with the extreme East. Independently
of the facilities of communication by water, just mentioned,
a prodigious quantity of merchandise would come by caravans from the East to the Black Sea.
" In two hundred days, the caravans can make the journey from Chin-Si, on the western frontiers of China, to the
eastern shores of the Caspian. From  there the numerous
steamers can easily transport the merchandise to Astrakan.
A large part of the commerce of western Persia, of Armenia, of Mesopotamia, and other countries bordering on the
Tigris and the Euphrates, on the north-east of Asia Minor,
goes to the Black Sea, and Trebizond is its principal depot.
Now, Trebizond is within a few leagues of the Muscovite
frontiers. Russia is preparing to extend herself on the
South. She already covets Kurdistan and Armenia, and
would like the possession of the Tigris and the Euphrates,
so important to her commercial interests; and in 1829,




THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.   45
during the war against the Turks, General Paskiewitch,
who was at Ezeroum, had the intention for a moment of
taking possession of Bagdad, rendered an important city
by its commerce with Egypt, Arabia, India, Turkistan, and
Persia, and depot of the merchandise from the East which
is directed to Syria, Asia Minor, Trebizond, and Constantinople.
"Russia, in order to firmly establish her commercial
power, tries, like an immense polypus, to stretch her thousand arms over the Eastern world. At the same time, she
attempts to naturalize in her provinces all the industrial
arts of the West, and has made a real progress, which is
easy to be proved, and of which Europe makes too little
account. The Czars, in their haughty pride, do not wish
to be obliged to have to ask anything from the rest of the
world, and profiting by the different climates united in their
vast empire, endeavor to cultivate the productions of every
clime. They have no colonies for the production of sugar;
but the provinces of Oral and of Sacalof are covered with
immense plantations of beets, from which sugar is manufactured. Their southern provinces furnish wheat for part
of the west; in 1850 the exportation was enormous. The
northern provinces produce prodigious quantities of flax and
of hemp. Cotton is cultivated in Georgia, and the country
taken from Persia; since 1845 indigo has been introduced
into the Caucasian provinces; merino sheep, by hundreds
of thousands, are all around Moscow, towards the Baltic,
and on the shores of the Black Sea-they prosper every
where, and produce abundantly. Silk is produced in the
southern provinces, and in 1833 the Emperer Nicholas
caused 4,000,000 of shoots of the mulberry tree to be planted.
The gold mines of Asiatic Russia are very productive, and
furnish annually 100,000,000 of francs to the treasury.
Finally, the Czars wished to have their wine independently
of France, and the Crimea is covered with vineyards."
From what has now been presented, the grand commercial idea of Russia will clearly appear. It is certainly




46    THE NATIONAL POLICY OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.
second to no conception of modern times, and it ill becomes
other nations to accuse her of ignorance and barbarism,
when she is working out before the world so vast a problem
as the restoration of the commerce of the East, in part at
least, to its old highways, that commerce which filled once
all the space between the Mediterranean and the Indies
with populous cities, and whose ebbing tide left these seats
of old dominion to waste and desolation.
There is one feature of the operations of Russia which
seems to indicate a design to render her commercial scheme
independent of the possession of Constantinople. While
the Allies were arrested at Sebastopol, she was exceedingly
active in Asia, in the neighborhood of Trebizond and the
south-eastern extremity of the Black Sea. She evidently
intends to possess herself of permanent stations there.
With a seaport at that point, and communication with the
Euphrates and the Persian Gulf, she would possess a commercial line to India and the East, which would be entirely
independent of Constantinople and the _Mediterranean.
These statements present a view of the policy and commercial views of Russia up to the time of the Crimean
war. As will be more fully explained hereafter, she was
endeavoring, in a perfectly legitimate manner, to develop
her own great resources by cherishing her manufactures,
and to secure for herself an independent channel for her
trade with India. If now we turn to the policy and acts of
France and England, we shall understand why Russia was
attacked, and why America is menaced.
Russia was attacked because France and England feared
her growing power, and for no other reason whatever.
They feared that she would soon become a great commercial
power by the overthrow of Turkey, and a manufacturing
nation by the development of her immense resources, and
therefore they wanted to cripple or destroy her-and the
very same reasons have caused their hostility to us.
Let not Americans forget that these reasons remain in
full force, whatever the present aspect of these powers
may be.




ENGLAND S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY.    47
CHAPTER V.
ENGLAND'S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY.
"I would not suffer even a nail for a horse-shoe to be
manufactured in America."-(Declaration of the elder Pitt).
" Nicholson, the royal governor of Virginia, calmly advised
that parliament should forbid the Virginians to make their
own clothing." Spotswood repeats the complaint: " The
people, more of necessity than inclination, attempt to clothe
themselves with their own manufactures; adding, it is
certainly necessary to divert their application to some
commodity less prejudical to the trade of Great Britain.(Bancroft, vol. iii., 107).
In the sanme connection, Bancroft also cites the following
act of Parliament: "After the first day of December, 1699,
"no wool or manufacture made, or mixed with wool, being
"the produce or manufacture of any of the English planta"tions in America, shall be loaden in any ship or vessel,
"upon any pretense whatsoever-nor loaden upon any
"horse, cart, or other carriage, to be carried out of the
"English plantations to any other of the said plantations,
"or to any other place whatsoever."  Thus, says Bancroft,
the fabrics of Connecticut might not seek a market in
Massachusetts, or be carried to Albany to traffic with the
Indians. An English mariner might not purchase in Boston
woolens of a greater value than fifty shillings, lest a larger
amount should injure the manufactures of England at home.
Another Colonial measure is thus stated by Bancroft, vol.
iii., 103-4: " To make most of the money centre of England,




48      ENGLAND S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY.
"the Lords of trade proposed a regulation of the colonial
"currency, by reducing all the coin of America to one
" standard. The Proclamation of Queen Anne was not
" designed to preserve among the colonies the English basis;
"on the contrary, it confirmed to all the colonies a depre-'ciated currency, but to make the depreciation uniform and
"safe against change; and England therefore," he says,
" monopolized all the gold and silver."
To these statements may be added what the English historian Russel (vol. ii., 181,) says in regard to the character
and design of the " famous navigation act, which prohibited
"foreign ships, unless under some particular exceptions,
"from entering the harbors of the English (American) colo"nies, and obliged their principal produce to be exported
"directly to countries under the dominion of England.
"Before this regulation, which was with difficulty sub-' mitted to by some of the colonies, and always evaded by
"the fanatical and factious inhabitants of New England, the
"colonists used to send their produce -whithersoever they
"thought it would be disposed of to most advantage, and
"indiscriminately admitted into their harbors ships of all
"nations. * * * The navigation act remedied this evil;
"and the English parliament, though aware of the incon"venience of such a regulation to the colonies, were not
"alarmed at the probable results."
To all these settlements, England thenceforth exported
without a rival her various manufactures.
These quotations set forth with perfect accuracy the spirit
and policy which have governed England for more than
two hundred years. Her scheme is very simple in its elements, and its main points are perfectly obvious.  They
are first to manufacture, as far as possible, for the rest of
the world; second, to confine the commerce of the world,
as much as in her lies, to her own ships; and third, as the
consequence of these, to draw to herself the gold and silver
of the nations, and:make herself the Banker and Capitalist
for all nations.
To accomplish these ends, Great Britain has steadily




ENGLAND S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY.      49
employed all her sagacity and all her power, and in the
pursuit of her purpose, she has been just as selfish and
unscrupulous in all her course as she was in her treatment
of her American colonies.
Were she able to prevent it, she, in the spirit of Pitt,
would not permit any nation of earth to manufacture a
horse-shoe nail for themselves, or own a single ship.
She has hesitated at nothing that promised her success.
If, in order to increase her manufactures, her commerce,
and her wealth, it was necessary to oppress her colonies,
and cripple their industry, it was done. If she needed a
country like India, she seized it, annihilated its domestic
manufactures, and reduced its millions to mere serfs, laboring for her mills, and to employ her ships. If China would
not buy her opium, she battered down her towns, and
slaughtered her inhabitants, and then forced China to pay
the expenses of the robbery.
When Russia is making such rapid advances in manufactures and commerce, as to threaten her with rivalry, she
smothers the enmity of centuries, and unites with France
to attack and cripple her, and then on the first opportunity,
joins with France and the Rebels in an attempt to destroy
this manufacturing and commercial Republic, and she has
done this in the samle spirit and with the same end in view,
as when she crushed, so far as she could, the manufactures
and the commerce of the infant colonies. The spirit that
protested against the Virginians manufacturing their own
clothes, is the same which now cries out against a tariff
which cherishes our home industry, and declares the Morrill
tariff a proper cause of war, and the policy which forbade
the colonists to ship on any but English bottoms, is the
same that now furnishes privateers to the Rebels, which
by rendering our commerce unsafe, transfers to British ships
our own proper carrying trade.
England desires to see the nation divided, both in order
that a rival may be crushed, and because she hopes that
thus the South would be virtually an agricultural colony,
to supply her looms with material, and furnish a market for
4




50      ENGLAND S DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN POLICY.
her fabrics, while France covets Mexico, Texas, and California, for similar reasons, but at the same time religious
ambition is largely shaping her policy. We may judge
whether they will be moved from these purposes by pleasant
words.
Having thus given the key-note to the policy, both of
England and France, it is necessary to look at their course
somewhat in detail, in order to understand fully their present
attitude and aims.




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.         51
CHAPTER VI.
ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
The present state of Europe, with its alliances and antagonisms, the union of France and England, and their hostility
to Russia and America, is the result of commercial causes
which have been in operation for at least two hundred years,
while the religious influences that are shaping the present
and the future, reach much farther into the past.
And even should France and England separate, the combinations of the future will be governed by the same general
causes which have produced the present, unless one of those
great revolutions should occur, which close up eras in the
world's history, and form a new starting point for the
nations.
In the sixteenth century, for the first time, the commercial interest in European politics became prominent. In
the language of Bancroft, "it formed alliances, regulated
"wars, dictated treaties, and established barriers against
"conquests. Now, for the first time, great maritime powers
"struggled for dominion on the high seas. The world
"entered on a new epoch."
When the discovery of the ocean route to India by the
"stormy Cape " had turned the Eastern trade away from its
ancient marts in western Asia, and even from the Italian
cities, and was directing it upon western Europe, Portugal,
first of all, by the daring, enterprise, and skill of her mariners, became the center of this enriching traffic; and Lisbon
for a time was the great commercial mart of Europe. She




52        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
was soon, however, compelled to share this commerce with
the Dutch, who wrested from her an important portion of
her East Indian possessions. They rapidly amassed immense
wealth by this enriching trade, and Amsterdam and Antwerp became the "great heart of commercial circulation."
The commercial prosperity of the Dutch, however, received
a severe check by that navigation act by which England
compelled her colonies to buy from, and sell to, her alone,
an act by which she not only injured her Dutch rival, but
hoped to prevent the rise of any commercial or manufacturing power in America. The power of Great Britain
increased exactly in proportion as she extended her comumerce and manufactures, compelling her colonies, and all
else whom she could control, to sell to her their raw material,
to be transported in her ships, manufactured in her mills,
and then resold it to those by whom it was produced, and
who were forbidden to make from it even their own clothing.
The decline first of the commerce of Portugal, and then
of the maritime power of the Dutch, and at length the fall
of the Spanish Monarchy, left England with only one
formidable rival. France alone had power to confront and
threaten her, and thenceforth for about a hundred years,
these two great powers were contending directly for the
control of the commerce and manufactures, and consequently
for the wealth and the power of the world. It will be interesting for Americans to study the reasons which suddenly
ended their conflict, and united them, first against Russia,
and now against America.
About the middle of the seventeenth century, we find
Great Britain actively engaged in carrying out her colonial
and commercial policy, alike in the East and the West.
From her American possessions, both insular and continental, she had excluded the rest of the world, and with
little regard for the rights or interests of the colonists, subjected them all to a commercial system, which repressed
their industry, and drained them of their wealth, in order
that her own merchants and manufacturers might be
enriched, and that England might be made the money




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.        53
centre of the world. Had she proposed to accomplish this
by a fair development of her own resources, there would
have been no cause for complaint. IIad she become more
wealthy and more powerful than others by her superior
skill, energy or industry, she would have been worthy only
of admiration and praise. But when she said to the millions of her colonial subjects, you shall make no use of the
resources of your country, except such as our home interests
demand; you shall manufacture nothing, but buy all from
the English mills and shops; and you shall build you no
ships, but your trade shall all be in our hands at home;
she was simply a selfish oppressor, enslaving to the extent
of her power, the industry of the world.
The colonial system of England, like that of all Western
Europe at the time, was only an application on a large scale
of the principles of monarchical and aristocratic governments, to such communities abroad as she could control.
As the noble and wealthy landholders considered it quite
right to use the laborers merely to increase their own wealth
and luxuries, so each home government, esteeming itself to
be the lord proprietor of all colonial territory, scrupled not
to use the land, its resources, and its inhabitants, in any
manner by which it might be most speedily enriched.
It was the serf or slaveholding principle applied to nations
so far as was possible, and England grew haughty with the
increase of her power, nursed her ambition and her pride
until she thought to become the great slaveholder of the
nations; she aimed to hold in subjection the territory, the
resources, the labor of the world.
When her colonists were spirited and intelligent, like
those of America, she hedged them round, and fettered
them with oppressive enactments; and where they were
weak and ignorant, she reduced them, as in India, very
nearly to the condition of serfs upon the soil, laboring to
supply cargoes for her ships, and material for her mills.
So far as lay in her power, she made of the earth one vast
plantation, owned in England, and worked for the benefit
of British capital. It is not surprising that, with such a




54        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
spirit and aims, the English aristocracy should sympathize
with our slaveholding rebels.
The present position and policy of France and England,
and the motives in which their alliance originated, will be
better understood, if we consider the nature of the conflict
which these two powers waged with each other for a hundred years previous to their new-born friendship.
It was a contest for the dominion of the wsorld, and as
commerce, and particularly the trade of the East, was the
chief source of wealth and power, it was a struggle for commercial supremacy, both in India and America. It will
appear that the war which France and England carried on
with each other from about the middle of the eighteenth
century to the fall of the first Napoleon, sprung from the
same general cause that originated the alliance itself. Many
other causes, doubtless, contributed to produce the European
wars of the last hundred years-still the great question
which convulsed Europe was, whether Enlgland or France
should be the great naval and commercial power of the
world —and when they found that the power of both might
be endangered by the rapid progress of Russia and the
United States, they united in the unexpected alliance, in
order to cripple these two rivals, declaring from the first,
that this alliance reached in design beyond the settlement
of the Eastern Question, that it had also a reference to the
affairs of the West.
"France and England united, will be strong enough to
control the world," this was the central idea of the alliance.
They fought each other in order that the victor might
govern the nations-and when it was found that neither
could do this separately, they agreed to attempt it together.
During the conflict, and in the alliance, however, their
motives have not in all respects been the same. While
England has been controlled mainly by commercial considerations, by the wish to be the money centre of the world,
France has aimed not only at this, but she has been swayed
also by a religious idea, and by the affinities of the Latin
race.




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.        55
She has sought to strengthen or establish the Papacy
wherever her power could reach. To govern Europe as the
head of the Latin races and the Papal Church, is an idea
never lost sight of by the French Priesthood or the French
Rulers, and to secure this ecclesiastical and political power,
she, like England, has striven for a hundred years to control the commerce both of the East and the West.
Because of these different motives, which have guided the
course of these two powers, it will be necessary to observe
them separately, although they were engaged in the same
field, and in conflict with each other.
As the great colonial enterprise of England has been the
seizure and occupation of India, and because her deep interest
in the Eastern Question had no reference to the welfare of
Turkey, but sprung from her anxiety for her Eastern possessions, we may look to her operations on that vast field
for an illustration of that spirit which so eagerly desires the
destruction of this Republic, in order that America may be
reduced again to colonial weakness and dependence, and
which is quite willing that France should imitate in Mexico
her own East Indian example.
In no other quarter of the globe has G reat Britain had an
opportunity of exhibiting her real character on a large scale
as she has done in India. In dealing with her American
colonies, she was restrained by intelligence and power, on
the part of those whom she attempted to tread down; but
the feeble Hindoo could offer no effectual resistance, and on
that vast field where there was no let nor hindrance, we
have a right to infer that the real national spirit of England
was revealed.
There, she had none to judge and none to restrain; she
was not forced to any act which her judgment or her heart
rejected, and she was not compelled to refrain from anything
which she desired to do, and if any one asks what is the
real temper and conduct of England in dealing with others,
it is a perfectly legitimate answer to point him to her course
in India, from the landing of Clive in 1751, down to the
close of the Sepoy mutiny. Since that event, external infiu



56        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
ences, the opinion of the world, and the fear of another and
successful revolt, are modifying her spirit and her course.
The rise and rapid growth of Great Britain's East
Indian Empire, is one of the marvels of modern times, and
Americans will better understand the nature of the nation
that has sought to destroy us through this rebellion, if they
will study the manner in which she has obtained and
governed her Indian possessions.
In 1750 England possessed a few trading factories, or
ports, on the coast of Malabar and Coromandel, with the
same right, and no more, of enlarging her territory by conquest, that Louis Napoleon would have of conquering the
United States, if we should grant the French permission to
have cotton trading ports opposite Matamoras-or to state
the case more accurately, if he should make a bargain with
some local authorities there for land, and then declare war
if the United States should object to his occupation of our
territory. The rapidity with which the Indian Empire
grew from this small beginning, is thus stated by the
EDINBURGH REVIEW, for January, 1833: "In 1757 England
had obtained not quite 5,000 square miles. In 1793 she had
enlarged her dominion to 200,000 squares miles, with a
population of 40,000,000. The former had grown when
the charter was renewed in 1813, to 320,000 square miles,
and the latter to 60,000,000, which again were increased in
1833, to 462,000 square miles, peopled by at least 100,000,000
of natives. At this day," adds the REVIEW, "the surface
extent of land actually contributing to the Indian treasury
falls little short of 600,000 square miles, with a population
of 120,000,000."
The manner in which this vast territory has been acquired,
this great population trodden dowin, is very forcibly presented in the WESTMINSTER REVIEW, for January, 1863, from
which the following extracts are taken:
" To us annexation is only a long word. By the natives
of India it is felt to be an awful reality. As Mr. Ludlow
well says, we should view the annexation'not as swathed




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.        57
mummies in a Parliamentary Paper, but as bleeding corpses
before the eyes of the multitude, with many a dark-skinned
Mark Antony to put tongues in every wound.' The only
way in which to bring the consequences of annexation
home to us is to put such a case as the following. Let us
suppose, that France is the dominant Power in Europe;
that neither England nor any other country is a match for
her; that she does not wish to commence hostilities against
any of them, but offers to be peaceful on condition that her
claims to supreme power are recognized. Let it also be
supposed that a treaty is concluded, by which, on the Queen
of England surrendering one-half of her territories, the
remaining half is guaranteed to her and her successors for
ever. Suppose further, that suddenly and without cause,
France decrees the annexation of England, occupies London
with troops, dethrones the Queen, dismisses her Ministers,
deprives every one connected with the Court and Government of their places, salaries, and pensions, shuts every
public employment against Englishmen, except perhaps the
honorable posts of letter-carriers, policemen and scavengers.
Hlow should we feel under these circumstances?  Should
we content ourselves with a little extra grumbling, and
then adapt ourselves to our altered stations? Or, if we felt
sure that grumbling and resistance would not better our
condition, should we not cherish bitter animosity against
those who had treated us so badly, and should we not expect
impartial onlookers to pity our fallen fortunes? It is to
such straits as these that we have reduced the upper and
middle classes of every principality which has been annexed.
All have been put on an equal footing; left without hope
of change and deprived of gratifying a natural ambition to
distinguish themselves in the world. Under native rulers,
natives are advanced to places of honor and emolument;
under English rule, natives of every class are contemned
and degraded. When governed by natives, most principalities yield surplus revenues; of this Sattara was a striking
example. Lord Dalhousie coveted the large sum which
was thus produced; he annexed that State, and the result




58        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
has been an annual deficit. If independent States are well
governed, they teach us a lesson; if badly governed, their
inhabitants can draw a comparison in our favor. Should
independent princes acquire wealth, they either expend it
among their people, or else invest it in Indian securities;
in either case India is a gainer. When Englishmen acquire
wealth they remit it to Europe, and thereby help to impoverish India.
"To the policy of annexation let there be an end. Let
us begin to conciliate those who have good cause to detest,
us, and consider it a nobler thing to govern humanely and
well, than to acquire fresh territory at the expense of our
honor, and by disregarding every rule of law and every
human right. By acting thus we shall be the gainers in
the long run. In 1800 the Duke of Wellington declared,
what is even truer now than when he made the declaration,
that the extension of our territory and influence had
exceeded our means.' Wherever we spread ourselves we
increase this evil. We throw out of employment and
means of subsistence all who have hitherto managed the
revenue, commanded, or served in the armies, and have
plundered the country. These people become additional
enemies, at the same time that, by the extension of our territory, our means of supporting our Government and of
defending ourselves are proportionately decreased.'
"To his policy of annexation we owe it that much of
what Captain Bruce told Robert Southey more than t\-enty
years ago is true to the letter still:' If our empire in that
country were overthrown, the only monuments which would
remain of us would be broken bottles and corks. Along
the whole coast our Government is popular, because the
people share in the advantages of a flourishing trade. But
in the interior we are hated. There is a grinding system
of exaction; we take nine-tenths; and the natives feel the
privation of honors and places of authority more than the
weight of imposts. One of them compared our system to
a screw, slow in its motion, never violent or sudden, but
always screwing them  down to the very earth.'  It is




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.        59
improbable that we shall ever cease to tax, but we can
easily cease to torment the natives. Although we may
never gain their love, yet we need not continue to merit
their unmitigated hate. We may and we ought to refrain
from reducing every class and degree among them to the
same level of abject dependence on our bounty and subjection to our decrees, thereby wilfully shocking their prejudices
and cruelly exciting their fears, causing the man of rank to
live in continual dread for the suppression of his title, the
landholder for the confiscation of his property."
It is fortunate for an American who would describe the
nature and results of British rule in India, that all the facts
are furnished by English witnesses, and that England has
drawn her own portrait as a ruler of colonies. Evidence
of the same character, coming from ally other source, would
certainly be discredited.
One fact is quite sufficient to show the main cause of the
wretchedness of the great mass of the people of India, and
reveals very clearly the pressure not of a Governmuent, but
of an oppression. The Government holds all the lands of
the country as the supreme Landlord, and the laborers are
tenants at will, or hold only by leases at stipulated ratesthe rent required leaving for the cultivator nothing but the
most scanty food, and clothing, and shelter, so that the
laborer can obtain no interest in the soil, has no motive
for improvement, and has no hope for himself or his children beyond his mud hut and his handful of rice. Some
beneficial alterations are being made in this respect; the
leases are being given for longer periods than they once
were, but still there is no approach to that system which is
the strength and glory of America, the absolute ownership
of the land by those who till it.
Americans at least understand that it is absolutely essential
to the elevation of the laboring classes, that they should be
the owners of the soil. Wherever this is not the case, they
are speedily reduced to the rudest hut, and the coarsest and
scantiest food and clothing, as the sole reward of their labor.




60        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
It is perhaps quite natural, that Great Britain, whose
lands at home are nearly all in the hands of the aristocracy,
and whose peasantry are but a single step above the condition of serfs, should deem it quite proper that the East
Indian Government should own all the lands of India, which
they could seize, and allow the native cultivators to retain
only the slave's portion of their earnings; and it is not
strange that this same aristocracy is in active and earnest
sympathy with the slave lords of the South, in their attempt
to destroy the free labor institutions of the North.
Every oppressor is by instinct in league with all other
oppressors, in every attempt to reduce the laborer to the
condition of the slave.
The actual. condition of India, under British rule, and the
spirit of the English Government, is well exhibited in the
following extracts from the EDINBURGH REVIEW, for January, 1853:
" Still the utmost that can be predicated even of the Ryots,
considered as subjects of the English Crown, is that they
seldom, if ever, trouble themselves with discussing the merits
of the system under which they live; being content to do as
their fathers did before them, and satisfied so long as life
and property are safe. But it is not so with any of the
classes above the mere cultivators: quite otherwise. They
see in the English Government a power which, however
evenly it may profess to hold the scales between man and
man, entertains no sympathy for them or for the traditions
of their ancestry. They may acquire fortunes by trade;
they may build ships and obtain the honor of knighthood;
and whatever they earn by honest industry they feel that
they will be permitted to keep: but all beyond this is a
blank; and they are fully alive to its dreariness. There
are no such avenues to advancement opened to them as
stirred the ambition and stimulated the exertions of their
forefathers. They cannot attain in the civil service of the
State to a station more elevated than that of an ill-paid rural
magistrate, or a clerk in one of the public offices. Even the




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.        61
status of a practising attorney in the Courts of Law seems
to be denied to them, though the decision of the judge who
settled the question was manifestly delivered under a painfill sense of its iniquity. And as to the army, we shall have
occasion presently to explain, that it offers no prizes for
which it would be worth while for a native gentleman to
strive. Now people so circumstanced cannot be loyal in
any sense of the term. They may submit to their fate with
more or less of resignation; either because they see no
chance of escape from it, or through the influence of that
fatalism which enters largely into the faith of all the religionists of the East. But it is impossible that they can
nourish the slightest feeling of love for the government
which thus grinds them down, far less be prepared to make
sacrifices of any kind in defence of it. Nor do they. By
the native gentry of India,-and it is a great mistake to
suppose that India has not its gentry of ancient lineage and
proud reminiscences, —the rule of the English is regarded
not only without favor, but with settled detestation. There
is not one among them all but would rejoice to see it overthrown to-morrow.
" In a word, it is idle to talk of the contentment of the
people of British India with the particular form of government which we have established among them. They submit
to it, because they cannot help themselves,-the masses with
the same degree of apathy which caused their co-religionists
to submit to the government of the Ameers in Scinde, and
to that of the Sikh Sirdars in the Punjab. But no living
soul entertains the slightest predilection for us or for our
government, while all who may be crossed by it in their
schemes of personal or family ambition execrate, while they
endure, what they feel to be the wrong.
" That we are taking no prejudiced view of this important
matter, nor broaching opinions that lack authority on which
to rest, a very little research on the part of our readers will
enable them to ascertain. The statements adduced here
have been held and promulgated by almost every man of
note who has made India and its institutions the subject of




62        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
his inquiries. Open Mountstuart's Elphinstone's able History, and you will find the same tone pervading every page.
He speaks of the people whom we thus slight and keep
down as having attained to a high degree of civilization
and prosperity before the march of Alexander across the
Oxus. lie describes them as retaining these advantages in
the midst of endless wars, revolutions, and schemes. And
he attributes the circumstance to their admirable municipal
institutions, which survived every change of dynasty except
the last.'Dynasty upon dynasty,' he says, quoting from
Sir Charles Metcalf,'tumbles down; revolution succeeds
revolution, —Hindoo, Pagan, Moghul, Mahratta, Sikh, English, are all masters in turn; but the village community
remain the same. This union of the village communities,
each one forming a separate little state in itself, has contributed more than any other cause to the preservation of the
people of India through all the changes and revolutions
they have suffered; and is in a high degree conducive to
their happiness and to their enjoyment of a, great portion
of freedom and independence.' Again:'The main evil of
our system is, the degraded state in which we hold the
natives. We suppose them to be superstitious, ignorant,
prone to falsehood, and corrupt. In our well-meaning zeal
for their welfare, we shudder at the idea of committing to
men so depraved any share in the administration of their
own country. We exclude them from every situation of
trust and emolument; we confine them to the lowest offices,
with scarcely a bare subsistence; and even these are left in
their hands from necessity, because Europeans are utterly
incapable of filling them. We treat them as an inferior
race of beings. Men, who under a native government might
have held the first dignities of the State, who, but for us,
might have been governors of provinces, are regarded as
little better than menial servants, are often no better paid,
and scarcely permitted to sit in our presence. We reduce
them to this abject state, and then look upon them with
disdain as men unworthy of high station. Under most of
the Mahomedan princes of India, the Hlindoos were eligible




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.          63
to all the civil offices of Government, and they frequently
possessed a more important share in them than their conquerors.'
" They are more secure from the calamities both of foreign
war and internal commotions; their persons and property
are more secure from violence; they cannot be wantonly
punished, or their property seized, by persons in power;
and their taxation is, on the whole, lighter. But, on the
other hand, they have no share in making laws for themselves, little in administering them, except in very subordinate
offices; they canll rise to no high station, civil or military;
they are everywhere regarded as an inferior race, and often
rather as vassals or servants than as the ancient owners and
masters of the country. It is not enough th.at we confer
upon the natives the benefits of just laws and moderate
taxation, unless we endeavor to raise their character; but,
under a foreign government, there are so many causes which
tend to depress it, that it is not easy to prevent it from
sinking. It is an old observation, that he who loses his
liberty, loses half his virtue. This is true of nations as well
as of individuals. To have no property scarcely degrades
more in one case, than in the other to have property at the
disposal of a foreign government in which we have no share.
The enslaved nation loses the privileges of a nation, as the
slave does that of a free man. It loses the privilege of
taxing itself, of making its own laws, of having any share
in their administration, or in the general government of the
country. British India has none of these privileges; it has
not that of being ruled by a despot of its own; for, to a
nation which has lost its liberty, it is still a privilege to have
its countrymen, and not foreigners, as its rulers. Nations
always take a part with their government, whether free or
despotic, against foreigners. Against an invasion of foreigners, the national character is always engaged, and in
such a cause the people often contend as strenuously in the
defence of a despotic as of a free government. It is not the
arbitrary power of a national sovereign, but the subjugation
to a foreign one, that destroys national character, and extin



64        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
guishes national spirit. When a people cease to have a
national character to maintain, they lose the mainspring of
whatever is laudable, both in public and in private life, and
the private sinks with the public character. This is trae of
every nation, as well as of India. It is true of our own.
Let Britain be subjugated by a foreign power to-morrow;
let the people be excluded from all share in the government,
from public honors, from every office of high trust and
emolument; let them, in every situation, be considered as
unworthy of trust, and all their knowledge, and all their
literature, sacred and profane, will not save them from
becoming, in another century or two, a low-minded, deceitful, and dishonest race.'
" These are words of wisdom, put upon record by one who
better, perhaps, than any servant of the Company, understood the subject which he was discussing. Nor was he,
while thus reasoning, blind to tile well-nigh universal degradation of the people whose cause he pleaded. No one
knew better than he that the inhabitants of the Company's
dominions are the most abject race in India; no one was
more keenly and bitterly aware of the causes which had
produced such a result. For even the wretched satisfaction
of seeing the strangers who seek their shores for the purpose
of growing rich at the public expense, settle down, and
become, by degrees, one of themselves, is denied them.
Other conquerors had overrun their territories before, assumed supreme power, and dispensed patronage; but they
did so upon the spot, and excluded no man, of whatever
race descended, from a share in it. We send out our youth
by shoals from England to amass wealth and exercise power
for a season; each batch returning to England, when it has
satisfied its own wishes, only that it may be succeeded by
another. What bond of good feeling can exist between the
hundred and twenty millions whom we thus govern and
the few thousands of white-faced men whom we appoint to
plunder while they profess to govern and protect them."
Such is the British dominion in India, extending at this




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.         65
time over 150,000,000 of people; such, according to her own
witnesses, is the manner in which it has been acquired, and
these in general are the results of her government for the
millions she has thus subdued.
A reference to these facts was necessary, in order to show
clearly the nature of her policy, and the unscrupulous selfishness with which she has carried it out, when she was dealing
with those weaker than herself. It was important to know
that in all her course in India, no moral or religious consideration was permitted to interfere with any plan for
extending her power or increasing her revenues, that neither
the rights or welfare of others were allowed to have the
slightest influence in deciding a question of conquest or
annexation, and that the only inquiry was, will this increase
the British power, and add to the wealth of Englishmen?
It was necessary to know this, in order to prepare us for
her subsequent attack upon Russia, and her recent joy at
the prospect of our destruction, the desire to attack us in
our weakness, so strong, that we barely escaped a war, and
for the malicious blow struck upon our commerce through
the Confederate privateers. This East Indian history will
also enable us to judge exactly how much we can depend
upon pleasant words or argument, or appeals made to conscience, or honor, or justice, when dealing with England,
unless back of all these, are the ships and the cannon which
excite her fears.
This glance at the doings and policy of Great Britain in
India, will enable us to estimate aright her motives in the
Crimean war, and to judge whether we have any reason to
expect her friendship in the future. Her policy in India is
the same that guides her in her dealings with every other
nation. She carries it out on all sides so far as she has the
power, and she crushes, if she can, whatever opposes.
The one central idea of this policy is, to make Great
Britain the manufacturing, the commercial, the money
centre of the world. For this purpose she has seized upon
every available spot of earth and made it tributary to herself, taking the Lion's share of all that could be produced,
5




66        ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.
stripping her American colonies by oppressive enactments,
and leaving the people of India just enough to enable them
to continue their toil for her.
As shown in quotations previously made, she struggled
hard to render manufactures, commerce, and a navy,ilmpossible in America, for the same reasons that she would gladly
destroy them now; and she ruined the domestic manufactures
of India, in order to compel the Hindoos to raise the raw
material for her own mills, and then to purchase from her
the manufactured articles, the Indian consumer paying thus
not only the profit of manufacture to England, but the
freight to her ships for carrying it twice across the ocean.
The position of England at the time just preceding the
Alliance with France, and the Crimean war, her necessities,
dangers, hopes and fears, were the natural result of the
policy which she had been pursuing for more than a hundred years, to compel the nations to be tributary to her
capital, skill, machinery, and ships, to make them virtually
mere colonial appendages of her own central power.
Her aim was, to control, and bring to her own mills, as
far as possible, the raw material of the world, and having
manufactured it, resell it in all markets, levying upon the
people the tribute of her profits, and the freight of her ships.
To the full extent of her ability she prevented every other
nation from manufacturing for itself, or building up a commerce or a navy of its own. While her own manufactures
were in their infancy, she excluded every rival from the
markets that she could control, as she did from the American
colonies,; but so soon as her accumulated capital, her skill
and experience, and her perfected machinery, gave her the
necessary superiority, then she proclaimed the doctrine of
free trade to all the nations, knowing well that if she could
thus gain access to the markets of the world, her capital
and skill would thus enable her to crush the growth of
manufactures elsewhere. Particularly did she desire a perfectly untrammelled trade with RIussia and America, because
exactly in proportion as she could introduce her own goods,




ENGLAND AND THE EASTERN QUESTION.       67
would she prevent the erection of mills, and the growtn of
a commerce and a navy.
In this policy the South has continually sympathized
most earnestly with England, because she feared as much
as Great Britain the rapid growth of the Free States, and
the Southern leaders have persistently opposed any substantial protection to Northern manufactures, because of the
wealth, the commerce, and the navy, which they would
create.
If the North could only be restricted to the raising of
grain, wool, stock, etc., the supremacy of the Slave States
would be permanent and complete.
At the time of the formation of the French Alliance, the
power of England was based, not upon her military strength,
nor upon the extent of her territory, nor upon the number
of her people, but upon her capital, her mills, and her navy,
and these again depended upon her power to control the
lands producing her raw material, and the markets for the
sale of her goods. At this time France was becoming a
formidable naval power, and England feared that she would
attempt to avenge the disgrace of Waterloo; Russia was
cherishing her manufacturus, opening up on all sides her
resources, increasing her navy, and growing on towards
India. In the West, the United States were meeting her
already in the world's markets with the produce of their
own looms, while their commercial marine was equal to her
own. Such was the condition of England just previous to
the alliance.




68  REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
CHAPTE R VII.
REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
In addition to the motives which have governed England
in her struggle to compel all nations to become tributary
to her, there are others of almost equal power that are
peculiar to France, and which must be studied, in order to
understand her attack upon Russia, her present attitude
towards the United States, and her movement upon Mexico.
First —France has never forgotten that she was once the
Imperial IHead of the nations of Europe; in fact, the political and religious Dictator of the world. The Empire of
Charlemagne is regarded as presenting France in her rightful position, as Ruler of the Latin nations, and these, it is
believed, ought to be supreme in Europe. The Kingdom
of Charlemagne is looked upon as the luminous point, the
triumphant era in the history of France, and the idea of
re-establishing her lost supremacy, of making her throne
once more the Imperial center of the world, has influenced
the policy of her ablest statesmen, and her most ambitious
kings. It is well known that this thought was a leading
one in the mind of the first Napoleon, and he indicated this
most clearly by causing himself to be crowned with the iron
crown of Charlemagne, as a sign of what he intended to be,
and to do.
t His expedition into Egypt was connected with this idea
of making France the central power of Europe. He hoped
to wrest from England the control of the Eastern trade, by
holding Egypt, and other Eastern shores of the Mediter



REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  69
ranean, and by bringing the wealth of the Indies to the
French cities, through the old canal of the Pharoahs. He
thought in this manner to possess himself of Constantinople,
to revive the Eastern Empire, and so render impossible the
further progress of Russia towards the East.
The declarations and the acts of Louis Napoleon have
given explicit notice to the world, that he has fully adopted
the main ideas of his uncle, and that he intends to carry
them out. His alliance with England, for the double purpose of ridding himself of a powerful adversary while he
perfected his plans, and of using her for his own purposes;
his attack on Russia, his movement upon Italy, and the
occupation of Rome, his position in Syria, the finishing of
the ship canal across the Isthmus of Suez, in which he is
now engaged, the plans which years ago he made of a ship
canal across the American Isthmus at Panama, the explorations which he has made of the mineral wealth of our Pacific
coast, and now his occupation of Mexico-all are parts of
one gigantic scheme, to make France once more the recognized head of the Latin races in all parts of the world, and
give to her more than the power and splendor of the Empire
of Charlemagne. Whoever attempts to study the career
of Louis Napoleon without understanding this scheme, will
have no key to his policy. Viewed in connection with this,
every movement is plain.
But the religious sentiment has also exerted an important
influence upon the policy of France. In the time of Charlemagne, she was the one Empire which, with the one
Church, ruled all the Western world. The Roman Church
and the Roman Empire, with the French king at its head,
they were jointly supreme. The Empire was the earthly
ally and supporter of the Church, and the Church gave to
the Empire the full authority of what was deemed by all a
Divine sanction. Charlemagne was crowned as Emperor
of the Romans, and the Roman Church, and Roman Empire,
with France as its head, were expected to go down into the
future together.
The Imperial crown then passed from France into the




70  REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
possession of Germany; but France has not forgotten that
she was once the political head and recognized defender of
the Latin Church, and from the time of Charlemagne to
the present, the French clergy have mourned over their lost
glory, and have hoped that in some manner it might be
regained. For the double purpose of restoring the Roman
Empire, with France at its head, and he the Emperor of
France, and of bringing to his support the power of the
church, Napoleon caused himself to be crowned by the
Pope with the crown of Charlemagne, reviving in the
French clergy the hope of the restoration of their former
power. For precisely similar reasons, Louis Napoleon has
connected his movements with the old ambitions of the
French clergy, and of the Catholic Church as a whole,
espousing the cause of the Roman Church at Jerusalem
and Constantinople, and taking on that occasion the part
of champion of the Western Church, and then pushing
Austria aside in Italy, and lifting France to the foremost
position among the Latin races; and, finally, invading Mexico, and threatening the United States, with the solemnly
avowed intention of restoring in America the prestige of the
Latin race, and of course, the power of the Roman Church.
These two ideas, the restoration of the Empire, and the
supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church, must not be lost
sight of by any one who wishes to understand the policy
of France. and they should be very carefully considered by
Americans, because thus only can we know the power of
the motives by which the French Emperor is governed,
both in his attack upon Mexico, and in his hostility to the
Republic.
Thus only can w-e judge whether it is probable that he
will abandon for slight reasons what he has undertaken on
this continent, or whether it will be necessary for us to
decide by arms the question of imposing a French Monarchy by force upon a people inhabiting our border, with
the avowed intention of using the territory, the resources,
and the proximity of position, as a standing menace to
this Republic, and to our Protestant Faith.




REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  71
W\Te shall find that our danger from this quarter is greater
than from England, for while Great Britain declares that
she does not contend for an idea, the French movement has
in it the dangerous element of religious enthusiasm. True,
it is almost dormant as yet, or living only in the bosom of
the clergy; but the history of the church shows how easily
a movement for the universal restoration of RIomanism,
might rouse whole nations for a crusade, for what the
people would deem a truly holy war.
WVe shall find, that with the exception of a short period
in her history, wherever France has carried her arms, she
has borne with her a zeal for the Papal church.
These facts, in the past history of France, have for us a
very grave significance, when they are coupled with the
exact words of the Emperor himself, explaining his intentions in the movement upon Mexico: "We propose," he
says, " to restore to the Latin race, on the other side of the
" Atlantic, all its strength and prestige. We have an inter"est, indeed, in the Republic of the United States being
"powerful and prosperous; but not that she should take
"possession of the whole Gulf of Mexico, thence to com"mand the Antilles, as well as South America, and to be
"the only dispenser of the products of the New World,"
Whoever will weigh these words in connection with the
history of the Latin race, and Latin church, with the schemes
of Napoleon, and the course of the present Emperor, will be
convinced that the almost immediate future will present to
us, and to Europe, the most solemn questions of modern
times. It seems almost certain, that our contest with the
slave power, fierce and bloody as it is, will be but the opening act in a war drama, and that gigantic, though it be, it
may prove the most insignificant of the series.
The words of Louis Napoleon appear like the throwing
down the gage of battle to all Protestant nations, to all free
institutions; nay, more, to every people outside of the Papal
church,-and the most alarming feature of the declaration
is, that this is precisely its meaning. Such a threat in regard
to the Western Continent presupposes the intention to restore




72  REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
the lost prestige and strength of the Latin race and Papal
church in Europe also, and the reality of this intention is
clearly set forth in every step which the French Emperor
has taken, from  the Crimean war to the present time,
including that proposal for a European Congress, which
means simply an attempt to chrystallize the Latin powers
around France as the Imperial centre,-and to make the
Emperor not only independent of England, but, as he hopes,
to give him the power to crush her if he pleases.
We know too well what is implied in the proposition to
restore the strength and prestige of the Latin race and Papal
church, both here and in Europe.
It means the destruction of civil and religious liberty, the
suppression of free speech and free thought, thle elevation
of nobles and priests, the ignorance, the poverty, the degradation of the people.  We know that this cannot be
accomplished without such a conflict as the world never
saw; and yet every sign of the times compels us to the
conclusion, that such a stupendous conspiracy against the
liberties of humanity is being matured, and that the Latin
race and the Papal church will make the attempt under the
lead of France, and that we must take the Emperor at his
word, when he sets forth the invasion of Mexico as a part
of the plan. The scheme is so bold, and so vast, that it
seems more like a Satanic inspiration than a mere conception of an ambitious man.
The following extracts from a very able article on the
Maonroe Doctrine, in THE NEW ENGLANDER, for Oct., 1863,
exhibit the subject in a very clear and forcible manner:
" The other dangerous element in the case before us is
the growing arrogance and strength of the Papal Power in
connection with all the progressive developments of French
ambition and conquest. It is curious to see how everything
that France does or gains or aims at becomes subservient to
the Papal Power, and turns to the disadvantage of religious
liberty and of enlightened civilization. Beginning with the
overthrow of the Roman Republic, and the still continued




REMIOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  73
armed occupancy of Rome by a French army, as the only
means of upholding the Pope in his throne as a temporal
prince, we see in Cochin China, in Madagascar, in Turkey,
in Spanish America, in Poland, and everywhere, that it is
the support and favor of the Pope which constitutes Louis
Napoleon's reliance in the last resort; and it is the extension and consolidation of the Papal Power which gives
unity to all his aims, and the strength of a common interest
to all his schemes.  It is now clearly understood that the
outbreak in Poland was but a plan for establishing in the
centre of Europe a Franco-Romish interest that should serve
as a point of defense and aggression against Russia and the
Greek Church. It is Popery, struggling against the advance
of freedom and civilization, that has for forty years kept the
Spanish American states in turmoil, and kept them from
consolidating their governments or improving their conditions. In Venezuela, in Colombia, in Ecuador, everywhere,
it is the Priests' Party against the body of the people; the
people striving to recover the right of governing for themselves, and the Priests, aided by a few bigots, a few  rich
men, a few  European Know-nothings, and a good many
reckless and marauding brigands, trying to keep the power
of the government in the hands of a class, and subject the
many to the control of a few. This power has at length
been happily put down, at least for the present, by the
gallant and patriotic President Mosquera in Colombia.  It
has succumbed, at least temporarily, to a compromise in
Venezuela; while, in the adjoining republic of Ecuador, it
has apparently achieved an absolute triumph, in the treaty
which was concluded in April last, by President Morena
with Cardinal Antonelli in the name of the Pope.*  And
This treaty, which has been published in El Nacional, the official journal
of Ecuador, contains the following articles, which serve to illustrate the Pope's
idea of religious liberty, where he has things in his own way:
"' 1. The Ioman Catholic and Apostolic religion is the religion of the Republic
of Ecuador. Consequently, the exercise of any other worship, or the existence
of any society condemned by the Church, will not be permitted by the Republic.
" 2. The education of the young in all public and private schools shall be
entirely conformed to the doctrines of the [Roman] Catholic Religion. The




74    REMOTER CAUSES OF TIE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
one of the chief ends of the conquest of Mexico by France,
is announced to be the ascendency of the Latin race, and
the restoration of the Church of Rome to its ancient honor
and power in the country.  The confiscation already begun
of the estates of all Mexicans guilty of the crime of supporting their own constitutional government, will prepare
the way for the restoration  of the estates of the Church,
valued at a hundred millions of dollars, heretofore sequesterecld for the uses of the state.
" In former days, the civilized world has been accustomed
to rely for protection against any unwarrantable aggressions
of Rome, upon the vigilance and strength of the two great
Protestant Powers, Prussia and England.  And it is a most
unfortunate coincidence, that just at this time, when the
Papal Power is so rapidly consolidating  itself, Prussia is
well nigh powerless for any good purpose, by the insensate
relapse of the present monarch into the wildest madness of
absolutism; while the government of England is under the
administration of a chief who seems to have become practically, but a mere satrap of Louis Napoleon.  Mr. Kinglake,
in  his remarkable  volume  on  the  Crimean War, before
teachers, the books, the instructions imparted, &c., &c., [the provisions are
given in a very condensed form], shall be submitted to the decision of the
bishops.
" 3. Government will give its powerful patronage and support to the bishops
in their resistance to the evil designs of wicked persons, &c.
" 4. All matrimonial causes, and all those which concern the faith, the sacraments, the public morals, &c., are placed under the sole jurisdiction of the
ecclesiastical tribunals, and the civil magistrates shall be charged to carry
them into execution. The priests shall confine themselves to consulting the
lay judges, if they think proper to do so.
" 6. The privileges of churches [thle ancient right of asylum is consecrated
buildings] shall be fully respected."
The Philadelphia Cathoic Hferald and Visitor, August 5th, exults:
"A most satisfactory C'oncordat has been concluded between the Holy See and
the Republic of Ecuador, in South America. In that exclusively Catholic
country, the public exercise of no other worship than the Catholic is to be allowed.
The bishops are to have the control of the education of youth, and to propose three
candidates for the vacant episcopal sees to the selection of the President and of
the Pope. No Exequatur, no Piedmontism, no Gallicanism, no shortcomings.
The Hispano-American population, in the State of Ecuador, mean to be truly
and generously Catholic I"




REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  75
referred to, has described the process by which Great Britain
was drawn, wholly beyond her intentions and against her
interests, into that most bootless conflict. And there is no
reason to expect that the same fallacious entente cordiale
will not be made available to draw her onward, nolens
volens, into whatever ulterior national embroilments the
conquest of Mexico may lead to, in the interest of Popery
and Absolutism.
"But the Monroe Doctrine is not dead. It will not die,
for truth never dies, and the Monroe Doctrine is an axiomatic truth in political science. It is as true now as it.was when Washington issued his Farewell Address, that'Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have
none or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged
in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially
foreign to our concerns.' It is as true now as it was when
Mr. Monroe issued his Declaration, that'any attempt on
the part of European powers to extend their system to any
portion of this hemisphere,' IS' dangerous to our peace and
safety.' And we of this day have been brought at length
by the cogent force of events, to see as clearly as that golden
administration saw, that'any interposition' with any of the
American nations,'by any European power,' for the purpose of'controlling their destiny,' IS'the manifestation of
an unfriendly disposition towards the United States.' Those
who have doubted, now see it plainly. The efforts for forty
years, of selfish partisans, of timid statesmen, of political
sciolists, of venal scribblers, or of covert reactionaries, to
make it out that the Monroe Doctrine was a bruturm ftulen,
which struck no blow and made no mark, and then vanished
into thin air, are all blown to the winds. The clouds which
temporarily shrouded it from general view, have been rolled
away by the winds from the South-west, and the Doctrine
shines forth as the political cynosure by which we are to
steer our national course through this sea of difficulties,
until the Imperial Republic shall resume her place among
the nations, as a light to oppressed millions, and the political
regenerator of the world."




76  REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
"What is next to be done, is not for us to prescribe. By
what steps or through what struggles on our part the Monroe Doctrine is to be restored to its ancient respect in the
counsels of European dynasties, will depend more upon the
wishes of those Powers than on our own. The United
States long ago reached that condition of conscious strength
anticipated by Washington, when under any European
intrusion'we may choose peace or war, as our interest,
guided by our justice, shall counsel.' Should the European
Powers receive the lessons of our recent successes, and
speedily withdraw their criminal aggressions on a neighboring republic, thus paying their old homage to the Monroe
Doctrine, that is well. Should they make open war upon
us, we shall meet them  as best we may, notwithstanding
our embarrassments with the rebellion. Such a country as
this, inhabited by such a people, and blessed with such
institutions and such a history, is worth a struggle of a
hundred years against the world in arms, before we allow
the Political System of Europe to be extended over us by all
the military force that can be brought against us. Should
they merely continue their intrusions and impertinencies,,we can afford to consult our own convenience, and choose
our own time for appealing to the last resort of injured
nations for redress of the wrong.
"And if the European Powers should see fit to press the
matter to its ultimate issue, we shall not shrink from our
proper responsibility, as a free people and the friends of free
institutions. And the Powers may be sure that we shall
not stand wholly on the defensive. We will say no word
and do no act implying an admission that the Political Systein of America is less honorable than that of Europe, or
less true, or less beneficent, or less worthy of heroic sacrifices
in its cause, or less deserving of universal adoption. The
question will then lie between the European System for
America, and the American System for Europe. If, by
their machinations or aggressions, we are once involved in
their conflicts against our will, there will be no more peace
for us or for them, until the American ideas of national




REMOTER CAUSES OF TIHE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  77
independence and responsibility have been spread over the
countries of the Old XWorld, and the doctrines of national
interference and the Balance of Power have been cast among
the rubbish with the systems of absolutismn and popular
ignorance which they were devised to support. And let
God give the victory to the right!"
YWith the statement of these general views we shall be
better prepared to follow France intelligently in her direct
struggle with England for colonial and commercial supremacy. Near the close of the seventeenth century, when
the power of Louis XIV. was at its heighth, France had
nearly reached the position which she held under Charlemagne. The French Monarch assumed the attitude of
Judge and Dictator of Europe. The French navy was then
the most formidable in the world, numbering no less than
one hundred ships of the line, in addition to the usual
proportion of smaller vessels.
From this point the power of France again declined, and
at the close of the long exhaustive war, which ended with
the peace of Aix La Chapelle, she had no longer the power
to carry on a great conflict, and her once formidable navy
had been completely ruined. She was anxious for peace,
in order that she might renew her strength for another
effort to control the world. At the very time when she
was negotiating the peace of Aix La Chapelle, she was
already forming her plans for future aggressions. The
commercial idea, as Bancroft has stated, had become about
that time the leading one in European policy; and it was
clearly seen that whatever nation should control the trade
of the East, in connection with extensive colonies? would
become the centre of power for Europe. Acting upon this
idea, France formed the design of obtaining for herself vast
colonial possessions, both in the East and CWest, and as a
necessary part of the plan, began at once with great vigor,
and on a large scale, the reconstruction.of her navy.
M. Dupleix was at this time Governor of Pondicherry, a
trading post which the French then held in India, and he




78  REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
urged upon France to possess herself of the whole of Hindostan, and then make that a base of operations for the
subjugation of all Eastern Asia, and make it a colonial
empire subject to the French crown.
The magnificence of this conception is well attested by
the manner in which the dazzling project has been executed
by Great Britain-and it shows, also, the largeness of the
ambition of which the French mind is capable.
Galissioniere, who was then Governor of Canada, proposed to his Government a scheme of conquest in America
of equal grandeur. This was no less a project than to draw
a military cordon around the English colonies, front the
St. Lawrence to the mouth of the Mississippi, and thus
confine at the outset these colonies to a narrow strip on the
Atlantic, then gradually expel them from the continent,
and place America permanently in the hands of the Latin
race and Papal church, France holding the North, and
Spain the South of the Western world.
Almost immediately after the peace of Aix La Chapelle,
in 1748, France engaged in the most active measures for
carrying out these great designs by which she hoped to
cripple the power of England, and make herself mistress
of Europe and the world. In both hemispheres she began
aggressive movements that were intended to lead to, war.
In India M. Dupleix began that system which England
has so successfully practiced since, of intriguing among the
native princes, espousing the quarrel of one party for the
purpose of weakening and plundering both. He conceived
the idea of controlling India by procuring for France the
appointment of princes for the provinces, and was himself
appointed Nabob of the Carnatic, a valuable province in
the Eastern part of IIindostan.
By various arts, and acts of violence, the French possessions in India were rapidly extended, until they held the
[Eastern or Coromandel coast for six hundred miles. At
this point, the progress of the French in India was arrested
by the English through the genius of Captain, afterwards
Lord Clive, who first established the British Empire in the




REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  79
East on a firm foundation-and opened one of the darkest
chapters in all human history, if England's own witnesses
are worthy of belief.
The attempt of Dupleix was only the carrying out of an
idea which long before occupied the French mind, and the
leaders of the Papal church. HIIe whom history has named
the great Colbert, the leading statesman of the early part
of the reign of Louis XIV., had established an East Indian
Company at Pondicherry in 1664, nearly an hundred years
before Dupleix's time. At the same time he created a navy,
which made France for the time the first maritime power
of the world. His intentions were exactly the same with
those of Dupleix and the French statesmen of his time;
the same with those of Napoleon, when he made such
gigantic efforts to crush the naval power of England, and
by the possession of Egypt and Syria to control for himself
the commerce of the East, the same which governs the
whole policy of Louis Napoleon now.
Leading ideas control the movements of nations for centuries, and the battle of the ages is continually renewed.
France, age after age, struggles to realize the French idea
of the political and ecclesiastical supremacy of Europe and
the world. The political and the religious have not always
been obviously united, and France has even for a time been
guided by the irreligious, the infidel sentiment. Still the
Papacy, with a brief exception, has been ever a power in
the State; and now Louis Napoleon bases his grand movement upon the affinities and prejudices of race, and upon
the revived ambition and superstitions of the Latin Church.
It has, therefore, become the widest and most dangerous
movement of modern times.
The enterprize, the zeal, the activity of the Papal church,
and its power, is well illustrated by its movements in the East.
A hundred years before France had made any important
settlements in India, the missionaries of the Latin church
were traversing India and China with a heroic daring and
endurance of hardship, unmatched since the days of Paul,
they spread every where in the East such knowledge of




80  RELMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESEN'T POLICY'OF FRANCE.
Christ as they had themselves, their zeal'for God apparently
bounded by the one idea of extending the domlinions of the
Pope, and salvation being in their view secured by baptism
into the communion of the Papal church.
But wh:atever their motives, their enterprise and their
enthusiasm  were both boundless.  Nothing seemed too
great to attempt, or too difficult to perform. Such mnissionaries as Zavier defied all dangers, whether from heat,
or deserts, or pestilence, or wild beasts, or hostile men.
These operations show us the prodigious power of religious
enthusiasm, and history informs us how well the Romish
church understands its nature and its use. It is this powler
to which the leaders of the Papacy, in union with the
statesmen and Emperor of France, intend to appeal in their
present designs. The ancient supremacy of the Romish
church, the former prestige and strength of the Latin race,
the glory of France, these form the spell words with which
Louis Napoleon's Jesuits hope to rouse the Catholic nations
of Europe, and unite them under France as Imperial Head.
Thus are the schemes of to-day connected with those of
the past.
For more than half a century, from the landing of Clive
in India till the fall of Bonaparte, the contest was carried
on for the possession of the East, but France was unsuccessful, and forced back at all points, and the final result
left her with only an inconsiderable territory around Pondicherry, while England rules over one hundred and fifty
millions of East Indian subjects.
France, however, as we shall see, has not abandoned the
idea of dominion in the East. Her plan for possessing herself of North America, and for securing all America for the
Latin race, anl Papal church, was as vast as the one she
formed for India. In the exploration of the Western Continent, the missionary operations of the church had preceded
the march of armies, and the progress of commerce-as they
had also done in India. With the leaders of the Papacy,
territory is sought only to extend the dominion of the Pope
and the church, and with the newly awakening zeal of




REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  81
Romanism as a stimulant, it is easy to foresee what would
follow the establishment of French supremacy on this
Western Continent.
At least a hundred years before the American Revolution,
the Jesuit Missionaries were busy around the Lakes and in
the Valley of the Mississippi. They had followed the great
lakes to Superior, they had gone on southward to the Mississippi, and their stations were planted on the banks of the
Ohio. From Quebec to New Orleans, the whole West has
been one great Missionary field for the Church of Rome
nearly two hundred years ago, and it is not strange perhaps,
that the Catholic Powers should often consider whether it
is possible for them to recover again this lost dominion of
the West.
The French plan for the military occupation of North
America embraced a series of fortified posts, extending from
Louisburg on the Atlantic coast westward, to Quebec and
Montreal, and along the great lakes, and then southward
to New Orleans. Besides this general line, there were some
strong positions on Lake Champlain, and in the upper portion of the Valley of the Mohawk, and on the upper waters
of the Ohio.
The immediate effect of this chain of forts was to confine
the English to the Atlantic coast, rendering the expansion
of the colonies westward impossible; the ultimate result of
the scheme, had it proved successful, would have been, to
expel from America the English, and the Protestant Church
together.
In the progress of the war which followed these encroachments of France, she was driven from all these positions in
rapid succession, till on the plains of Abrahamn, Montcalm,
in dying, yielded virtually to Great Britain all that France
possessed in America, with the exception of New Orleans.
This at length was ceded by Napoleon to the United States,
and thus the colonial empire of France, both in India and
America, vanished, leaving only a little patch of territory
in India, and some insignificant islands in the West Indian
group.
6




82  REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.
At the close of the war which ended with the fall of
Bonaparte, France found herself stripped of her vast colonial possessions, which were all in the hands of the Power
she hated, and feared more than all others-and by that
same ancient enemy her navy had been utterly ruined.
France was a mortified, defeated, and weakened Power, but
she was not utterly discouraged. She accepted such a peace
as was granted, and with bitter memories and meditated
revenge, she silently bided her time. She had played a
stupendous and bloody game for the control of the commerce and manufactures of the world, and with her the
Romish church had attempted to extend the Papacy in all
lands, and both had utterly failed.
Protestant England was the dominant power in all the
earth, her navy had complete command of all seas, her
commerce was the commerce of the world, and London was
the great money centre of Christendom.
But mighty nations do not abandon a traditional policy,
a national idea, because of severe defeat. They simply
pause to recruit their strength-and such a people as the
French, fertile in resource, energetic, and proud, recover
very rapidly even from extreme disaster. In less than a
century after the surrender of her North American possessions, forty-five years after the battle of Trafalgar, in which
her navy was annihilated, and thirty-five years after Waterloo, where her military power was broken, France was
prepared to renew the contest for the control of Europe
and the world.
The French, through the period of their humiliation, could
scarcely name Waterloo, or think of St. Helena, without an
execration for England, and breathing a desire for vengeance.
Actively and steadily she gathered her resources, improved
her army, and enlarged her navy, and England soon began
to be uneasy at the rapid progress of her formidable neighbor. France at this time had been placed permanently
under the control of Louis Napoleon. The designs of the
new Emperor none then could penetrate, but it was quite
evident from his military and naval preparations, that he




REMOTER CAUSES OF THE PRESENT POLICY OF FRANCE.  83
intended that France should play no inferior part among
the nations of Europe. This brings us to consider the position of the great powers of the world just previous to the
Anglo-French Alliance; and it is hoped that this rapid
review of French policy for a hundred years, will enable us
to understand the nature and objects of this unexpected
compact.




84 CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
CHAPTE R VIII.
CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA, WHEN THII
ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.
Mr. IKinglake, in "The Invasion of the Crimea," comments with great severity upon the Alliance with France,
as the one step which rendered inevitable a war with Russia,
which might otherwise have been avoided. He says that
the French Emperor subordinated all other considerations
to the plan of forming with England a combination against
Russia. In studying the policy of France it is very important to remember this fact. France originated the war
against Russia, and it began in a quarrel between the Latin
and Greek Churches about the holy places at Jerusalem,
which was carefully nursed by France into a cause of war,
as will hereafter be made to appear, while England with
alacrity accepted the proposal of France to attack Russia.
But England had motives of her own.
Mr. IKinglake seems to think that the prominent motive
of Louis Napoleon in seeking the Alliance was to gain
support and recognition for that throne which he had so
lately set up with perfidy and in the blood of his countrymen, and he presents no very satisfactory reasons for the
course of England.
Events have shown already, and will yet more clearly
reveal the real intentions of these two powers in forming
that strange agreement, in which, without sufficient ostensible reasons, they suddenly abandoned the policy which for




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   85
centuries they had pursued towards each other, and all the
humiliations and resentments of France were apparently
forgot.
At this point Mr. IKinglake makes a statement in regard
to the temper of his countrymen, which it would be wise
for those Americans to consider, who think that the good
feeling, the kindly sympathies of England, may be relied
upon hereafter, if only soothing, friendly words are used by
us, or who hope that such men as Mr. Cobden and Mr.
Bright can stay the tide of British violence and passion
when once the cry is war. After showing that the war was
brought on by France, and that England was easily induced
to join her, he says:
"Welcome or unwelcome, the truth must be told. A
"large obstacle to the maintenance of peace in Europe was
"the temper of the English people. In public, men still
"used forms of expression implying that they would be
"content for England to lead a quiet life among the nations,
"and they still classed expectations of peace among their
"hopes, and declared in joyous tones that the prospects of
"war were glaring and painful; but these phrases were the
"time-honored canticles of a doctrine already discarded.
"The English people desired war; and perhaps it ought to
6be acknowledged that there were many to whom war, for
"the sake of war, was no longer a hateful thought." Again
he says: "All whose volitions were governed by the ima"'gined freeing of Poland, or destroying Cronstadt and
"lording it with our flag in the Baltic; or taking command
"of the Euxine, and sinking the Russian fleet under the
"guns of Sebastopol; all who meant to raise Circassia, and
"cut off the Muscovite from the glowing South, by holding
"the Dariel Pass, and those also who dwelt in fancy upon
"the deeds to be done on the shores of the Caspian; all' these and many more saw plainly enough that separation
"fronm the German Powers, and alliance with the new
"Bonaparte, was the only road to adventure."  The English
people were eager for war, for the sake of war, for the sake
of adventure-eager to strike down a power that had helped




86 CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
to save her from Napoleon, a power that had not harmed
her, and that meditated no attack.
Connect this statement with the late picture of that same
English people furious with passion over the affair of the
Trent, shouting with joy over the flames of our vessels fired
by pirates fitted out in their own harbors, and it may easily
be seen what safety there is in depending upon the kind
feeling of England-even of the English people. In dealing
with England, our iron clads and Parrott rifles, and fifteeninch guns, will be found more convincing arguments than
the most good natured and eloquent words.
But the French Emperor and English statesmen were not
moved by passion in forming the Alliance, or in the Crimean
war. What then were the true reasons by which the two
nations were governed? To answer this question, it is
necessary to study the condition of France, England, Russia and America, at the time when the Alliance was formed,
and the attack on Russia was made.
At the close of the war in 1815, when the Allied armies
entering Paris, England occupied the proudest position in
Europe. Both in India and America she had stripped
France of vast colonial possessions; in fact, to quote the
words of Alison, "During the course of this long struggle,
"the colonies of all the European States successively fell
" into the hands of England."
She had utterly destroyed the French maritime power,
and with it her commerce, and Wellington at Waterloo
crushed the military idol of France and with him her army.
The navy of England was supreme every where, and with
her immense colonial territories, her navy, and her moral
power, she was well prepared to rule for a time the world.
She saw very clearly the necessities of her position. She
understood both her strength and her weakness. She knew
that she could not remain permanently the chief military
power of Europe, and that she must rule the nations, if at
all, through her capital, her machinery, and her ships. If
she could draw from all countries the raw material for her
work-shops and her looms, and sell in all markets her




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   87
manufactured fabrics, securing for herself the profits of her
labor, her capital and machinery, and the carrying trade to
her ships, then indeed all nations would become tributary
to her. She pressed this scheme of aggrandizement in all
lands to the full extent of her power, and far and near, her
policy was crowned with a success that was equal to her
ambition.
Hler policy was to repress and destroy all commerce and
manufactures except her own, and she found the South
ready to aid her in any free trade scheme which would
prevent the growth of manufactures or commerce in the
free States, while many of the smaller States of Europe
were merely factors of the merchants and mill owners of
England, so that the wealth of the world flowed towards
that small island as the rivers to the ocean.
In the meantime, as has been stated, France was recovering from defeat and exhaustion, and when Louis Napoleon
seized the throne, grave apprehensions began to fill the
English mind-nor was this anxiety without sufficient cause.
No sooner did the new monarch feel himself secure, than
it was apparent that the one purpose which guided all his
movements was to make France, in the shortest possible
time, the leading military and naval power of Europe.
The attention which was given to the enlargement, organization and discipline of the army, the artillery studies of
the Emperor-and above all, the gigantic scale of his naval
preparations, showed very clearly the intentions of the new
ruler of France. Europe at first looked on puzzled and
amazed. That France should become powerful, a European
leader under such a man as Louis Napoleon, was deemed
an impossible thing.
But as proofs of consummate ability in the guidance of
French affairs began to multiply, and her military and
naval power assumed grander proportions, as immense
navy yards and fortifications began to menace the coast of
Britain, English statesmen, in view of the past, had good
reason for anxiety, if not for alarm.
It certainly was quite possible that France was preparing




88  CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
to avenge herself for the humiliations of centuries. It was
certain that a Bonaparte was on her throne, an ardent
admirer of that uncle who had made the conquest or
humbling of England one of the chief purposes of his life,
and that uncle had not only been defeated by England, but
she had mercilessly chained him to a rock, and shutting out
all succor, left hilm there to die.
France had not forgotten, much less had the nephew forgotten or forgiven. iNow that nephew wielded the power
of France, his army was superior to any thing which England
could command, and her navy was only the second in the
world.  Well migLht Englishmen inquire, howT will this
power be used? What purpose has this new Bonaparte in
these vast preparations?  What can he intend, unless to
carry out the policy of his uncle in the invasion of England,
and to revenge France and his family for national defeat,
and especially for St. Helena and Waterloo. Those who
remember the tone of the English Press at this period, know
well how deeply the English nation was moved, even alarmed
at the menacing attitude of France, from whom came no
threatening word, but whose sphynx-like mystery was a
source of terror, while especially at her great naval stations
opposite England, the hum  of preparation continually
sounded.
What could this warlike activity mean, unless a sudden
attack upon England was meditated? Between France and
all other powers there seemed no cause for war. But the
preparations and growing power of France were not the
only causes which created uneasiness in England. tIer
supremacy had become a commercial rather than a military
one, notwithstanding the immense strength of her navy,
and it was necessary for her if she would rule the world, to
retain her markets, to prevent, if possible, the growth of
commercial rivals, and to secure the colonial possessions
which she had wrested from others. As she surveyed the
world, an eastern and a western vision troubled her.
ttitherto Russia had been regarded as a mere military,
barbarian Colossus, whose joints were not well compacted,




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   89
composed of heterogeneous materials, that could not be
united in one true, organic, political structure, with a common life, which would insure a regular and healthy growth.
But Russia, under Nicholas, began to give signs that she
was more than a mere barbarian camp, more than a nation
of serfs and wandering Tartars. She gave evidence of a
true national life, of enlargement, which was growth from
a national life centre. Under many disadvantages the Russian Emperor was striving to give his country the means
of independent self-development, and was laboring to establish manufactures and internal commerce, and to make
profitable use of the great resources of his empire. lHe was
establishing schools for his people, literary, and agricultural,
as well as military, opening roads, projecting railways and
canals, and putting steamboats upon his numerous rivers.
He was improving his navy and his mercantile marine,
and in all his operations he seemed to prefer American
mechanics, and American machinery, a fact which, of course,
did not escape the watchful eye of England.
He had constructed a large fleet upon the Black Sea, and
its fortified rendezvous, Sebastopol, was only a few hours
sail from Constantinople; Turkey, unless defended by other
powers, was apparently within reach of the Czar, and once
in possession of Constantinople, Russia would have the
means not only of becoming a great military power, but
she would certainly be a first class manufacturing and commercial nation.
Russia, moreover, had already extended the outposts of
dominion far on eastward, from the Black Sea along the
Caucasus, and the northern frontier of Persia, and England
saw, that if Turkey were overgrown, even the peaceful
march of Russia eastward, would bring her at no distant
date to the borders of her Indian possessions. The English
Press at this time was complaining, as if it were ill-treatment of Great Britain and Europe, that Russia was planting
vineyards in the Crimea with the intention of making her
own wine, and that she was multiplying her flocks of sheep
for the purpose of manufacturing her own woolens, and




90  CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
that in general, she was disposed to cherish and protect her
own workmen, and develop her own resources, instead of
following those free-trade doctrines, which England was
then proclaiming to the world.
It was apparent that by this course, Russia in time would
not only manufacture to supply the wants of her own people,
and to this extent curtail the foreign markets for English
goods, but with her boundless mineral wealth, her great
facilities for internal trade by her navigable rivers, with the
control of the Black Sea, with Constantinople, and access
to the Mediterranean, she might become in all respects a
very formidable rival of both England and France.
Russia proposed to sweep from her path that usurping
infidel power which had crushed her mother church, conquered her holy City Constantinople, and held in bondage
eleven millions of Christians of her own communion; but
she meditated no attack upon any European Power, she
relied for progress upon the normal development of her own
national life. Her crime was, in the opinion of France and
England, that she was growing too fast. As Englishmen
have lately expressed themselves in regard to our own
nation, Russia was growing so strong that measures had to
be taken to cripple her, "to take her down." She had done
no wrong at that time to provoke or justify an attack, but
she was too prosperous to suit the interest of England, and
hence the Alliance and the Crimean war.
At the same time; England saw in the West a rising
Empire, whose marvellous growth gave her more anxiety
than even the progress of Russia.
The population of the United States was almost equal to
her own. The Americans had just obtained California and
the Pacific coast, Texas had been annexed, Mexico seemed
ready to fall into their hands, and their commercial marine
was even then second to none in the world.
In spite of inadequate protection, and the combined
influence of the slave States and England, American manufactures were making rapid progress in many departments,
American mechanics were already ahead of the world-and




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   91
in all the markets of the United States, British fabrics were
being rapidly displaced by the products of American skill.
English statesmen knew well, that a people that could create
for themselves an unmatched fleet for commercial purposes,
that had covered their rivers and lakes with swift steamboats, could also produce a navy with equal ease whenever
it should be needed, and with resources of all kinds to which
man could assign no limit, fronting on two great oceans,
what could prevent the United States from overshadowing
even England with her greatness, unless indeed, as was said
to Mr. Beecher, she could "be taken down."
The colonies of England on the North were too weak to
resist their powerful neighbors, and her West Indian islands
were in dangerous proximity to those harbors whence
American fleets might issue, and the restless filibustering
of the slave-holders coveting new lands, was an indication
of what might be done if expeditions should be fitted out
with the sanction, and supported by the power of the
Government. England saw and dreaded the threatening
preparations of France; Russia was swiftly rising in the
East, and America was overshadowing the West.
It is easy to see, therefore, that Great Britain had been
urged by what appeared very pressing reasons, to accept
an Alliance which promised relief from a triple danger, an
attack from France, and the too great prosperity of Russia
and America.
The motives by which the French Emperor was induced
to seek the Alliance with England were of a more complex
character. France feared no attack from England, and the
commercial idea swayed her because commercial greatness
had become the foundation of political power, but French
policy was also influenced by other reasons of nearly equal
weight. Louis Napoleon and his associates, "the Brethren
of the Elysee," as Mr. Kinglake calls them, had with the
aid of the army seized upon France, and with the slaughter
of innocent thousands in the streets of Paris, the banishment of other thousands that they might die in Cayenne,
and the imprisonment of multitudes beside, had crushed




92  CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
out of her the power of resistance, and held her helpless in
their bloody grasp. They styled themselves a government,
the French Government, and Louis Napoleon declared himself an Emperor, the Emperor of France. He desired as a
first necessity, recognition of his claims, and respect for the
Empire thus created, as it was, in one day of slaughter.
If he could succeed in obtaining this recognition from
England, it would have a double value, because she was not
only the foremost State of Europe, but she was the ancient
enemy of France. This was his first object, and this was
easily gained, or if not easily, it certainly was quickly done.
But this, however important, was only one step towards
an ultimate end. If what has been previously stated in
regard to the traditional policy of France is received as
correct, if one remembers that the leading purpose of the
first Napoleon was the establishment of a European Latin
Empire, with France at the head of the Empire and the
Papal church, and that Louis Napoleon has devoted himself
to the carrying out of the unfinished schemes of his uncle,
then a clear light will be shed on the Alliance, the Crimean
war, his hostility to the United States, and his invasion of
Mexico.
If it is conceded that his design was to make France
supreme in Europe, and to unite under her the Latin race,
and restore over the world the lost " strength and prestige"
of the Papal church, then it was necessary to accomplish
these designs,-to crush England or make her his ally and
tool, for a time, and then when strong enough, compel her
to serve him, or risk destruction, to arrest the progress of
the Greek church and Russia in the East, and to prevent
the further growth of the United States, which was supplanting the political power of the Latin and the Catholic
church in the West.
If such a supposition seems to invest Louis Napoleon
with a greatness to which he has no proper claims, let it be
remembered, that if he is not equal to the forming of such
a vast design, that he has advisers within the Papal church,
whose sagacity and ambition are quite sufficient to originate




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   93
such a scheme, and that it lies, moreover, along the familiar
line of thought of every able Jesuit in Europe or America.
In attempting to carry out so vast a plan, it was, of course,
necessary, first of all, to make some safe disposition of England. Two methods were open to the choice of the Emperor. He might attack her with a superior army, and
with a navy nearly equal in efficiency, but, to say the least,
this would be a hazardous attempt, and Louis Napoleon
might well hesitate at what his uncle had shrunk from when
at the height of his power. Or he might propose to her an
alliance, under cover of which, and even by the assistance
of England, France might increase her strength, and perhaps assume the position of leader.
He chose this latter course, as not only safer, but as
offering the fairest prospect of ultimate success. But how
could he approach England with such a proposition?
How detach her from her ancient friendships and link her
to the fortunes of her most bitter foe?  The bait was
cunningly contrived-England, for reasons already stated,
feared the growing power of Russia. It was her traditional
policy to hinder her growth, and counteract the plots of the
Czar that looked towards Constantinople and the East.
She watched with jealous care each movement of Russia
which appeared to threaten Turkey or the Mediterranean.
France, on the contrary, had adopted no such steadfast and
clearly defined policy in regard to " The Eastern Question."
her position at this time is thus stated by Mr. IKinglake:
"Among the very foremost of the Great Powers of Europe
was France; and she was well entitled, if her rulers should
so think fit, to use her strength against any potentate threatening to alter the great territorial arrangements of Europe;
and especially it was her right to withstand any changes
which she might regard as menacing to her power in the
Mediterranean.  But French statesmen have generally
thought that, as the Mediterranean after all is only a part
of the ocean, a new maritime power in the Levant might
be rather a convenient ally against England, than a dan



94 CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
gerous rival to France; and, upon the whole, it was difficult
to make out, either firom the nature of things or from the
general course of her policy, that France had any deep interest in the integrity of the Sultan's dominions. At all
events, her interest was not of so cogent a sort as to oblige
her to stand more forward than any of the other great
Powers, or to bear in any greater proportion than they
might do, the charge of keeping the Ottoman Empire untouched. Indeed, it was hard at that time to infer from
the past acts of France that she had any settled policy
upon the Eastern Question. She had clung with some
steadiness to the idea of establishing French influence in
Syria; and from time to time during the last half century
she had been inclined to entangle herself in Egypt; but
upon the question whether the elements constituting the
Ottoman Empire should be kept together, she had generally seemed to be undecided; for, although she took part
in the conservative arrangements of 1841, her* conduct in
the previous year, and at several other times of crisis, had
disclosed no great reluctance on her part to see the empire
dismembered. Upon the supposition, however, that she intended to pursue the policy which she afterward avowed,
and to concur in the endeavor to maintain the Sultan's
dominions, her duty toward herself and to Europe required
that she should herself refrain from disturbing the quiet of
the East; and that in the event of any wrongful aggression
by Russia upon the dominions of the Sultan, she should
loyally range herself with such of the four great Powers as
might be willing to check the encroachment by their
authority, or, in last resort, by force of arms; but it was
not at all incumbent upon France to place herself in the
van; and it was not consistent with the welfare of her
people that she should take upon herself a share of the
European burden disproportionate to her interest in the
state of Eastern Europe. Nor was there at this time any
reason to imagine that the country could be brought into
strife, or engaged in warlike enterprises without sufficient
cause; for the institutions of France had not then shriveled




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   95
up into a system which subordinated the vast interests of
the State to the mere safety and welfare of its ruler. The
legislative power and the control of the supplies were in
the hands of an Assembly freely elected; and both in the
Chamber and in print, men enjoyed the right of free
speech. Also the executive power rested lawfully in the
hands of ministers responsible to Parliament; and therefore, although the President, as will be seen, could do acts
leading to mischief and danger, he could not bring France
to a rupture with a foreign State unless war were really
demanded by the interests or by the honor, or at least by
the passions of the country. And, the people being peacefully inclined, and the interests and the honor of the
country being carefully respected by all foreign States,
France was not at that time a source of disturbance to
Europe."
But for the purpose of winning England, and binding
her to the fortunes of his throne by solemn contract, the
Emperor adopted suddenly an Eastern policy suited to the
English market. He first of all placed himself in an attitude of incipient hostility towards Russia, and when the
wiles of his Jesuits had provoked the Russian Emperor,
and induced him to threaten Turkey, he at once turned to
England as an ardent convert to her Eastern policy, and
offered to unite with her in checking the ambition of
Russia. Mr. IKinglake has set forth this diplomatic man-.euvre in the following passage:
"At length, nay so early as the 28th of January, 1853,
the French Emperor perceived that his measures had
effectually aroused the Czar's hostility to the Sultan, and
he instantly proposed to England that the two Powers
should act together in extinguishing the flames which he
himself had just kindled, and should endeavor to come to
a joint understanding, with a view to resist the ambition of
Russia. Knowing beforehand what the policy of England
was, he all at once adopted it, and proposed it to our




96 CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FR1ANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
Government in the very terms always used by English
statesmen. He took, as it were, an'old copy' of the first
English speech from the throne which came to his hand,
and following its words, declared that the first object
should be to'preserve the integrity of the Ottoman Empire.'*  From that moment until the summer of 1855, and
perhaps even down to a still later period, he did not once
swerve from the great scheme of forming and maintaining
an offensive alliance with England against the Czar, and to
that object he subordinated all other considerations. He
had at that time the rare gift of being able to keep himself alive to the proportionate value of political objects.
He knew how to give up the less for the sake of attaining
and keeping the greater. Governed by this principle, he
gradually began to draw closer and closer toward England;
and when the angry Czar imagined that he was advancing
in the cause of his Church against a resolute champion of
the Latins, his wily adversary was smiling perhaps with
Lord Cowley about the'key' and the' cupola,' and preparing to form an alliance on strictly temporal grounds.
" It would have been well for Europe if the exigencies
of the persons then wielding the destinies of France would
have permitted the State to rest content with that honest
share of duty which fell to the lot of each of the four
Powers when the intended occupation of the Principalities
was announced.  Neither the interest nor the honor of
France required that in the Eastern question she should
stand more forward than any other of the remonstrant
States; but the personal interest of the new Emperor and
his December friends did not at all coincide with the
interest of France; for what he and his associates wanted,
and what in truth they really needed, was to thrust France
into a conflict, which might be either diplomatic or warlike,
but which was at all events to be of a conspicuous sort,
tending to ward off the peril of home politics, and give to
the fabric of the 2nd of December something like station
*'Eastern Papers,' part i., page 68.




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   97
and celebrity in Europe. In order to achieve this, it clearly
would not suffice for France to be merely one of a conference
of four great Powers quietly and temperately engaged in
repressing the encroachments of the Czar. Her part in such
a business could not possibly be so prominent, nor so animating as to draw away the attention of the French from
the persons who had got into their palaces and their offices
of State. On the other hand, a close, separate, and significant alliance with England, and with England alone, to the
exclusion of the rest of the four Powers, would not only
bring about the conflict which was needed for the safety
and comfort of the Tuileries, but would seem in the eyes of
the mistaken world to give the sanction of the Queen's
pure name to the acts of the December night and the Thursday the day of blood. The unspeakable value of this moral
shelter to persons in the condition of the new French Monarch, and St. Arnaud, Morny, and Maupas, can never be
understood except by those who look back and remember
how exalted the moral station of England was in the period
which elapsed between the 10th of April, 1848, and the
time when she suffered herself to become entangled in
engagements with the French Emperor.
" It would have been right enough that France and England, as the two great maritime Powers, should have come
to an understanding with each other in regard to the disposition of their fleets; but, even if they had been concerting for only that limited purpose, it would have been right
that the general tenor and object of their naval arrangements should have received the antecedent approval of the
two other Powers with whom they were in cordial agreement. The English Government, however, not only consented to engage in naval movements which affected-nay,
actually governed-the question of peace or war, but fell
into the error of concerting these movements with France
alone, and doing this-not because of any difference which
had arisen between the four Powers, but-simply because
France and England were provided with ships; so that in
truth the Western Powers, merely because they were pos7




98  CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
sessed of the implement which enabled them to put a pressure upon the Czar, resolved to act as though they were
the only judges of the question whether the pressure should
be app'lied or not; and this at a time when, as Lord Clarendon declared in Parliament, the four Powers were'all
acting cordially together.' Of course, this wanton segregation tended to supersede or dissolve the concord which
bound the four Powers, and, as a sure consequence, to
endanger yet more than ever the cause of peace. Some
strange blindness prevented Lord Aberdeen from seeing the
path he trod, or rather prevented him from seeing with a
clearness conducive to action. But what the French Emperor wanted was even more than this, and what he wanted
was done. It is true that neither admiration nor moral
disapproval of the conduct of princes ought to have any
exceeding sway over our relations with foreign States, and
if we had had the misfortune to find that the Emperor of
the French was the only potentate in Europe whose policy
was in accord with our own, it might have been right that
closer relations of alliance with France (however humiliating they might seem in the eyes of the moralist) should
have followed our separation from the other States of
Europe. But no such separation had occurred. What
the French Emperor ventured to attempt, and what he
actually succeeded in achieving, was to draw England into
a distinct and separate alliance with himself-not at a time
when she was isolated, but-at a moment when she was in
close accord with the rest of the four Powers."
England was thus gained for France. It was the most
momentous step in her history since the Reformation, and
the full results cannot be foreseen as yet.  For reasons
which, as Mr. Kinglake says, have never yet been satisfactorily explained, she separated herself secretly from Austria,
and Prussia, and, with no necessity laid upon her by the
state of the negotiations with Russia and Turkey, joined
France in a crusade against Russia.
The reasons, says her historian, have not been revealed.




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   99
Recent events in connection with our own country are now
throwing back a clear light upon the reasons for the Anglo
French Alliance, which at the time were only hinted at in
sentences falling from English statesmen, and which appeared
like enigmas when uttered-such as "the Alliance has reference to Western as well as Eastern affairs."  We know too
well now the meaning of those declarations.
England had been placed in safe position. France might
now push her military preparation to any extent, and England could not complain. She could increase her navy till
it should be a match for that of Britain, and it would merely
be to prepare to execute her part of the contract. She
could pursue her schemes for supremacy in any direction,
and depend upon the powerful aid of England. England
having been thus secured, the next step in the grand conspiracy against the nations would naturally be to use the
power of Great Britain in an attempt to cripple the military
strength of Russia, and check the progress of the Greek
Church, and restore in the East the lost prestige and power
of the Papal Church, precisely as France now proposes to
do in Mexico and throughout this Western Continent. It
need not be supposed that Louis Napoleon, or his political
associates, have any special regard for any church or any
religion, but it is through the church alone that the reheading of the Latin nations under one imperial crown can be
effected. Their history, their former glory, their religious
sentiments, hopes and fears, their traditions and superstitions, are all bound up with the Papal Church.
There can be no restoration of empire for them, without
restoring at the same time the supremacy of the Roman
Catholic Church.  Without the church, the ambitious
scheme of the two Napoleons could never be successful, and
therefore it is that' in every movement of France, the church
and the empire are inseparably connected. While, therefore, the Emperor presented to England such political and
commercial considerations as he thought would move her,
it was at the same time carefully arranged that the opening
contest with Russia should have a religious character



100 CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA,
should be, in fact, a renewal of the struggle of ages between
the Eastern and Western churches, the Latin and the
Greek; a conflict which had so often shaken all Christendom, and crimsoned the East and the West with blood.
So it was understood by the Czar and the Russian people,
and so, also, it was understood by the present leaders of the
Papal Church. Mr. EKinglake has this remark: "'When
"the angry Czar imagined that he was advancing in the
"cause of his Church against a resolute champion of the
"Latins, his wily adversary was smiling perhaps with Lord
"Cowley about the'key,' and the' cupola,' and proposing
" to form an alliance on strictly temporal grounds." Events
have shown that Mr. Kinglake was mistaken; or, if he is
right in his conjecture, then neither Lord Derby nor Louis
Napoleon understood the full meaning of their own acts.
There were deeper grounds of quarrel than any mere temporal interest. Beneath all else, was the undying, unresting
ambition of the Papal Church and its Jesuit leaders.
Other considerations doubtless influenced Louis Napoleon.
He knew that in the expedition which he was projecting
in the Crimea, there would be no great opportunity for the
English navy to win renown, and he rightly believed that
the French army was superior to that of Britain. If, therefore, the joint effort should prove successful against Russia,
the French Emperor might hope that France would win
the principal glory, and be recognized once more as the
great military power of Europe. All now know that this
was the actual result. England came out of the contest
with her glory dimmed, her influence diminished, her military weakness unveiled, and France was in the ascendant.
Such was the general condition of the four great powers
particularly affected by the Anglo French Alliance, at the
time when it was formed, and it seems not very difficult to
understand the motives in which it originated, or the purposes of the contracting parties. England was glad to
exchange the old French enemy that she dreaded into a
new French friend, and then, as the TIMES declared, the
two Powers being strong enough to control the world,




WHEN THE ANGLO-FRENCH ALLIANCE WAS FORMED.   101
England could use this allied strength, first, to humble
and cripple Russia, and then give such attention to the
rising empire of the West as should prevent us also from
growing too strong.
Intimations of this kind fell from English statesmen, and
the TIMES' oracle and the Quarterlies echoed their sentiments. The following are examples:
"The Alliance with France does not regard the East
exclusively, but has reference to affairs in both hemispheres."*
"Our transatlantic cousins will become a trifle less insolent and overbearing, when they find that the fleet which' summers' in the Baltic can, without cost or effort,'winter'
in the Gulf of Mexico, and our statesmen will not again
need to speak with' bated breath' in the cause of humanity
and justice, from a dread lest the spirit of the country will
not, or the energies of the country can not, bear them out
in assuming a loftier tone."t
"'When Russia is settled, France may safely abate her
army, and England her navy, but neither must disarm. If
they do, not only will other Powers cease to respect them,
but they will cease to respect each other.  WYe must still be
able to say' No' to our lively young brother across the Atlantic,
if he wants Cuba without paying for it, or takes any other little
vagary into his head."+
"England and France together are strong enough to
bind nearly all the world over to keep the peace."ll
There seemed to be a general English wish, that when
* Sentiment expressed by Lord Clarendon, and indorsed in France.
f North British Review, November 1854,written when England thought Sebastopol had already fallen, or might be regarded as captured.
$ Blackwood, November, 1854.
t Blackwood, November, 1854.




102  CONDITION OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA.
"Russia was settled" attention should be given to the
United States, and a general expectation that it would be
done-that, in some form, France and England would interpose and humble the pride of the Great Republic. On
the part of England the Alliance was fornmed, first, to
secure herself, at least for a time, against France, then, if
possible, to crush or hinder her two rising commercial and
manufacturing rivals, Russia and the United States; and
when the secret notes and conversations of the time shall
come to light it will be revealed that, in its original conception, this contract was an Alliance both against Russia
anid America, with the intention as definite and real, of
attacking in some form the United States, as was the plan
of war against R-ussia.
The occasion of our rebellion was eagerly seized as the fit
instrument for our destruction, and every step of England
and France has been taken to carry out the spirit and intention of the original Alliance.  France, as has been
stated, was operating upon a wider plan, and with a deeper
purpose. Her scheme was one of universal empire, with
the prestige of the Latin race and church restored both
east and west. This was in sympathy with English policy,
so far as it went, but sne had also a grander ambition of
her oxvn.
When France attacked Russia, it was not simply one
State against another, it was the Western Latin Church
striking once more for the supremacy of the world. When,
subsequently, Louis Napoleon attacked Austria, it was not
to free Italy, as Italy since has learned, but to place France
instead of Austria at the head of Catholic Europe.
The French Emperor, with his troops guarding the
Pope at Rome, is again the " eldest son of the Church."
On this eldest son the Papal power now rests its hope, and
the movement upon Mexico is simply another step in the
scheme of recovering the lost power of the Latin race
under the lead of France, and to restore on this continent
the supremacy of the Papal Church by crippling a free
Protestant Republic.




THE CRIMEAN WAR-IT WAS BEGUN BY FRANCE.  103
CHAPTER IX.
THE CRIMEAN WAR.-IT WAS BEGUN BY FRANCE.-IT WAS IN ITS ORIGIN A
RELIGIOUS WAR, AN ATTEMIPT OF THE PAPACY TO.REGAIN ITS ASCENDANCY IN THE EAST OVER THE GREEK CHURCH.
Americans cannot fully understand the motives which
have governed England and France since the outbreak of
the rebellion without studying the nature and purposes of
the war against Russia in the Crimea. That war was the
first part of a plan, of which the other was to cripple the
United States either by State craft or by arms, whenever
the opportunity should come after Russia was " settled."
The general principles and purposes which originated the
war against Russia were the same which have guided these
allied Powers in their hostility to the American Republic.
The United States in the West occupied the same position
as Russia in the East, and Mexico is the western Turkey
to be sustained or occupied against our growing power.
England looked at it then as now, from the commercial
stand-point, fearing a rival in the West as in the East,
while the object of the Papal leaders who urged France
into hostilities, was to restore in the East the strength and
prestige of the Roman Church, as they now propose to do
the same thing in the West by a French occupation of
Mexico, and as much more of the American continent as
circumstances may allow.
For the same reason that the Allies interfered to prevent
Russia from opening an eastern route to India by way of
the Black Sea, the Caspian and the Aral, do they now pro



104    TIHE CRIMEAN WAR-IT WAS BEGUN BY FRANCE.
pose to block up our American western road to Asia; and
the same policy which causes the reopening of the ship
canal across the Isthmus of Suez has also planned the
French ship canal across our American Isthmus, and made
surveys and maps, not only of Central America and Mexico,
but of our whole Pacific coast. The plan of the Allies in
the East was the exact counterpart of their plot against
the United States, a plot which the rebellion has only in
part revealed.
The Crimean war, then, should be carefully studied by
Americans, in order to understand the real motives by
which France and England are governed.
During the progress of the siege of Sebastopol, the
author of this work wrote as follows in reference to the
attack upon Russia, and the quotation is made for the purpose of showing how events have justified the warning,
and to convince Americans that the views then set forth
were correct, and that the dangers pointed out were real.
"The interest of the United States in this struggle is
second only to that of Russia, and to a great degree is evidently identical with hers.'WVhen Russia is settled,' what
remains but to settle the United States also, inasmuch, as
the North British suggests, the Allied fleets can spend their
summers in the Baltic and their winters with us. Let
those whose sympathies have flowed so freely for the Allies
consider the tremendous stake which our country has in
this contest. It is quite natural, and entirely right, that
American Christians should cultivate the most friendly
feeling with our fellow Christians in England, and that we
should be grateful for the kindness with which her public
servants have regarded our missionary efforts in Turkey,
and that we should feel a deep interest in her as our mother
country and as a Protestant nation, and it would be an act
not only of folly but of wickedness to excite against her a
causeless hostility.
"' But it would manifest still greater infatuation if we
should suffer these things to mislead us in regard to the




IT WAS IN ITS ORIGIN A RELIGIOUS WAR.    105
actual character of this war, or close our eyes to the manifest designs of the Allies, or fail to perceive the selfish,
arrogant spirit that rules their policy. Let Americans be
careful, lest by a misplaced sympathy they not only sustain
a wrong, but endanger their own country.
"It was natural that Americans, in the beginning of this
conflict, should cheer on France and England with their
sympathies and their prayers, for then it appeared to be
what they so loudly declared it was, a war of freedom
against despotism, of civilization against barbarism; and it
was expected that the yoke of enslaved nations would be
broken. But can it be expected that Americans should
still feel deeply interested in their success when it is so
clearly shown by testimony and by actions, that this assault
upon Russia has been prompted by no generous motive
whatever, by no hatred of despotism, no desire for the deliverance of the oppressed, no kind regard even for tottering
Turkey-but simply with the unrighteous design of checking the growth and hindering the prosperity of a neighboring nation, which might dispute with them their commercial
supremacy, mingled, on the part of France, with the personal ambition and personal pique of her sovereign, and
the intention of restoring supremacy to the Catholic Church;
and when, moreover, it is virtually declared that so soon as
Russia is'settled,' the affairs of the western hemisphere
will receive attention.
" The fact will not much longer be concealed from the
world, that the true question involved in this war is whether
France and England shall be the joint dictators of the world,
domineering over all oceans with their navies, and prescribing limits to the growth of nations; whether they shall be
permitted to say to Russia,' You shall advance no further
eastward,' or to the United States,'You shall neither have
the Sandwich Islands, nor Cuba, nor Mexico, and you, and
all other Powers, shall dwell within the limits which we
think proper to allow.' This is the real significance of the
Eastern war, to which the United States will do well to
give heed in time.




106  THE CRIMEAN WAR —IT WAS BEGUN BY FRANCE.
"It becomes us to consider in due season whether we are
prepared to submit to such dictation, or whether we shall
claim and exercise, at all hazards, the right of unrestricted
development. The batteries of Cronstadt and Sebastopol
are ranged in front of American as well as Russian rights,
and the interest of the United States in the preservation
of the Russian navy is second only to that of Russia herself. The last war for American independence is yet to
come, if Russia can be humbled.
The United States and Russia sustain almost precisely
the same general relations to France and England, and to
the main objects of their Alliance. Both are animated by
a vigorous life, seeking on all sides room for its expansion.
Both are already formidable, and promise an overshadowing greatness in the future. Both are seeking commercial
and manufacturing importance, and threaten to rival older
States. Each is advancing at a rate unknown to other
nations.
"Both are regarded with intense hostility by the Papal
Church, and her priests and Jesuits are equally laboring for
the overthrow of each. Both are seeking to secure for
themselves a share of the commerce of the East, and meet
alike the opposition of France and England. Both are
seeking for themselves a theater of national life outside of
the sphere of Western Europe, and Western Europe interferes with both. Both claim the right of making an experiment for themselves in a civilization of their own, and
have been met, each in its turn, not only with sneers, but
hostility; and both stand confronted by the Anglo-French
Alliance-the one in the Baltic and at Sebastopol, the other
in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Sandwich Islands, and in
Central America, ready to say'No' to our progress when' Russia is settled.'"
These were not vain words, as subsequent events have
shown, and the author, with the consent of the publishers,
has made free use of such other portions of the work from
which this was taken as seem suited to his present purpose;




IT WAS IN ITS ORIGIN A RELIGIOUS WAR.     107
and it is but justice to himself to state that the main thoughts
setting forth the origin and purpose of the Crimean war were
first written out and published some ten years ago, and while
the war was in actual progress.  Were it not for this statement, it might appear that they had merely been borrowed
from later writers, especially from Mr. Kinglake, whose recent
statement of the origin of the Crimean War is here presented as a complete justification of what the author of this
book wrote and published nearly ten years ago. No other
apology is needed for quoting nearly the entire chapter
from Mr Kinglake than this. He wrote with every possible
advantage for knowing the truth; his is the very latest
work upon the subject, and its authority is not to be successfully disputed upon these points, and he sustains in full,
the general view taken in this book of the origin of the
war.




108                 HOLY SHRINES.
CHAPTER X.
HOLY SHRINES.
" The mystery of holy shrines lies deep in human nature.
For, however the more spiritual minds may be able to rise
and soar, the common man during his mortal career is
tethered to the globe that is his appointed dwelling-place;
and the more his affections are pure and holy, the more
they seem to blend with the outward and visible world.
Poets bringing the gifts of mind to bear upon human feelings have surrounded the image of love with myriads of
their dazzling fancies, but it has been said that in every
country, when a peasant speaks of his deep love, he always
says the same thing. IIe always utters the dear name, and
then only says that he'worships the ground she treads.'
It seems that where she who holds the spell of his life once
touched the earth-where the hills and wooded glen and
the pebbly banks of the stream have in them the enchanting quality that they were seen by him and by her when
they were together-there always his memory will cling;
and it is in vain that space intervenes, for imagination
transcendent and strong of flight can waft him from lands
far away until he lights upon the very path by the river's
bank which was blessed by her gracious step. Nay, distance will inflame his fancy; for if he be cut off from the
sacred ground by the breadth of the ocean, or by vast endless desolate tracts, he comes to know that deep in his
bosom there lies a secret desire to journey and journey far,




HOLY SHRINES.                109
that he may touch with fond lips some mere ledge of rock
where once he saw her foot resting. It seems that the impulse does not spring from any designed culture of sentiment, but from an honest earthly passion vouchsafed to the
unlettered and the simple-hearted, and giving them strength
to pass the mystic border which lies between love and worship. For men strongly moved by the Christian faith it
was natural to yearn after the scenes of the Gospel narrative. In old times this feeling had strength to impel the
chivalry of Europe to undertake the conquest of a barren
and distant land; and, although in later days the aggregate
faith of the nations grew chill, and Christendom no longer
claimed with the sword, still there were always many who
were willing to brave toil and danger for the sake of attaining to the actual and visible Sion. These venturesome men
came to be called Pelerins or Pilgrims. At first, as it would
seem, they were impelled by deep feeling acting upon bold
and resolute natures. Holding close to the faith that the
Son of God, being also in mystic sense the great God himself, had for our sakes and for our salvation become a babe,
growing up to be an anxious and suffering man, and submitting to be cruelly tortured and killed by the hands of
his own creatures, they longed to touch and to kiss the
spots which were believed to be the silent witnesses of his
life upon earth, and of his cross and passion. And, since
also these men were of the Churches which sanctioned the
adoration of the Virgin, they were taught alike, by their
conception of duty and by nature's low whispering voice,
to touch and kiss the holy ground where Mary, pure and
young, was ordained to become the link between God and
the race of fallen man. And, because the rocky land
abounded in recesses and caves yielding shelter against sun
and rain, it was possible for the Churches to declare, and
very easy for trustful men to believe, that a hollow in a
rock at Bethlehem was the manger which held the infant
Redeemer, and that a grotto at Nazareth was the very home
of the blessed Virgin.
"Priests fastened upon this sentiment, and although in




110                 HOLY SHRINES,
its beginning their design was not sordid, they found themselves driven by the course of events to convert the alluring mystery of the Holy Places into a source of revenue.
The Mahometan invaders had become by conquest the lords
of the ground; but, since their own creed laid great stress
upon the virtue of pilgrimage to holy shrines, they willingly
entered into the feelings of the Christians who came to
kneel in Palestine. Moreover, they respected the self-denial
of monks, and it was found that even in turbulent times a
convent in Palestine surrounded by a good wall, and headed
by a clever Superior, could generally hold its own. It was
to establishments of this kind that the pilgrim looked for
aid and hospitality, and in order to keep them up the priests
imagined the plan of causing the votary to pay according
to his means at every shrine which he embraced. Upon
the understanding that he fulfilled that condition he was
led to believe that he won unspeakable privileges in the
world to come, and thenceforth a pilgrimage to the holy
shrines ceased to be an expression of enthusiastic sentiment, and became a common act of devotion.
"But, since it happened that, because of the manner in
which the toll was levied, every one of the holy places was
a distinct source of revenue, the prerogative of the Turks as
owners of the ground was necessarily brought into play,
and it rested with them to determine which of the rival
Churches should have the control and usufruct of every
holy shrine. Here, then, was a subject of lasting strife. So
long as the Ottoman Empire was in its full strength, the
authorities at Constantinople were governed in their decisions by the common appliances of intrigue, and most
chiefly, no doubt, by gold; but when the power of the
Sultans so waned as to make it needful for them to contract
engagements with Christian sovereigns, the monks of one
or other of the Churches found means to get their suit upheld by foreign intervention. In 1740 France obtained from
the Sultan a grant which had the force of a treaty, and its
articles or' Capitulations,' as they were sometimes called,
purported to confirm and enlarge all the then existing




IHOLY SHRINES.               111
privileges of the Latin Church in Palestine. But this success was not closely pursued, for in the course of the succeeding hundred years, the Greeks, keenly supported by
Russia, obtained from the Turkish Government several firmans which granted them advantages in derogation of the
treaty with France; and until the middle of this century
France acquiesced.
"In the contest now about to be raised between France
and Russia, it would be wrong to suppose that, so far as
concerned strength of motive and sincerity of purpose, there
was any approach to an equality between the contending
Governments. In the Greek Church the right of pilgrimage is held to be of such deep import that if a family can
command the means of journeying to Palestine even from
the far distant provinces of Russia, they can scarcely retain
the sensation of being truly devout without undertaking
the holy enterprise; and to this end the fruits of parsimony
and labor enduring through all the best years of manhood
are joyfully devoted. The compassing of vast distances
with the narrow means at the command of a peasant is not
achieved without suffering so great as to destroy many
lives. This danger does not deter the brave, pious people
of the North. As the reward of their sacrifices, their
priests, speaking boldly in the name of Heaven, promise
them ineffable blessings. The advantages held out are not
understood to be dependent upon the volition and motive
of the pilgrim, for they hold good, as baptism does, for
children of tender years. Of course, every man who thus
came from afar to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was
the representative of many more who would do the like if
they could. When the Emperor of Russia sought to gain
or to keep for his Church the holy shrines of Palestine, he
spoke on behalf of fifty millions of brave, pious, devoted
subjects, of whom thousands for the sake of the cause would
joyfully risk their lives. From the serf in his hut even up
to the great Czar himself, the faith professed was the faith
really glowing in the heart, and violently swaying the will,
It was the part of wise statesmen to treat with much defer



112                 HOLY SHRINES.
ence an honest and pious desire which was rooted thus
deep in the bosom of the Russian people.
" On the other hand, the Latin Church seems not to have
inculcated pilgrimage so earestly as its Eastern rival; and
if it did, it obtained but slight compliance with its precept;
for while the Greek pilgrim  ships poured out upon the
landing-place of Jaffa the multitudes of those who had
survived the misery and the trials of the journey, the closest
likeness of a pilgrim which the Latin Church could supply
was often a mere French tourist, with a journey and a
theory, and a plan of writing a book. It was true that the
French Foreign Office had from time to time followed up those
claims to protect the Latin Church in the East which had
arisen in the times when the mistresses of the Most Christian kings were pious; but it was understood that by the
course of her studies in the eighteenth century France had
obtained a tight control over her religious feelings. Whenever she put forward a claim in her character as'the eldest
daughter of the Church,' men treated her demand as political, and dealt with it accordingly; but as to the religious
pretension on which it was based, Europe always. met that
with a smile, yet it will presently be seen that a claim
which tried the gravity of diplomatists might be used as a
puissant engine of mischief.
1" There was repose in the empire of the Sultan, and even
the rival Churches of Jerusalem were suffering each other
to rest, when the French President, in cold blood, and under
no new motive for action, took up the forgotten cause of
the Latin Church of Jerusalem, and began to apply it as a
wedge for sundering the peace of the world.
"The French Ambassador at Constantinople was instructed to demand that the grants to the Latin Church
which were contained in the treaty of 1740 should be
strictly executed, and, since the firmans granted during the
last century to the Greek Church were inconsistent with
the capitulations of 1740, and had long been in actual operation, the effect of this demand on the part of the French
President was to force the Sultan to disturb the existing




HOLY SHRINES.                113
state of repose, to annul the privileges which (with the acquiescence of France) the Greek Church had long been
enjoying, to drive into frenzy the priesthood of the Greek
Church, and to rouse to indignation the Sovereign of the
great military empire of the North, with all those millions
of pious and devoted men who so far as regarded this question were heart and soul with their Czar.' The Ambassador of France,' said our Foreign Secretary,'was the'first to disturb the status quo in which the matter rested.'Not that the disputes of the Latin and the Greek Churches'were not very active, but that without some political ac-'tion on the part of France, those quarrels would never'have troubled the relations of friendly Powers. If report'is to be believed, the French Ambassador was the first to'speak of having recourse to force, and to threaten the in-'tervention of a French fleet to enforce the demands of his'country. We should deeply regret any dispute that might'lead to conflict between two of the great Powers of Europe;'but when we reflect that the quarrel is for exclusive privi-'leges in a spot near which the heavenly host proclaimed'peace on earth and good-will towards men —when we see'rival Churches contending for mastery in the very place'where Christ died for mankind-the thought of such a'spectacle is melancholy indeed.... Both parties ought'to refrain from putting armies and fleets in motion for'the purpose of making the tomb of Christ a cause of'quarrel among Christians.'*
" Still, in a narrow and technical point of view, the claim
of France might be upheld, because it was based upon a
treaty between France and the Porte which could not be
legally abrogated without the consent of the French Government; and the concessions to the Greek Church, though
obtained at the instance of Russia, had not been put into
the form of treaty engagements, and could always be revoked at the pleasure of the Sultan. Accordingly, M. de
Lavalette continued to press for the strict fulfillment of
*'Eastern Papers,' part i., page 67.
8




114                IHOLY SHRINES.
the treaty, and being guided, as it would seem, by violent
instructions, and being also zealous and unskilled, he soon
carried his urgency to the extremity of using offensive
threats, and began to speak of what should be done by
the French fleet.  The Russian Envoy, better versed in
affairs, used wiser but hardly less cogent words, requiring
that the firmans should remain in force; and, since no ingenuity could reconcile the engagements of the treaty with
the grants contained in the firmans, the Porte, though having no interest of its own in the question, was tortured and
alarmed by the contending negotiators. It seemed almost
impossible to satisfy France without affronting the Emperor
Nicholas.
"The French, however, did not persist in claiming up
to the very letter of the treaty of 1740, and, on the other
hand, there were some of the powers of exclusion granted
by the firmans whiclh the Greeks could be persuaded to
forego; and thus the subject remaining in dispute was narrowed down until it seemed almost too slender for the apprehension of laymen.' Stated in bare terms, the question was whether, for the
purpose of passing through the building into their Grotto,
the Latin monks should have the key of the chief door
of the Church of Bethlehem, and also one of the keys of
each of the two doors of the sacred manger,* and whether
they should'be at liberty to place in the sanctuary of the
Nativity a silver star adorned with the arms of France.
The Latins also claimed a privilege of worshiping once a
year at the shrine of the Blessed Mary in the Church of
Gethsemane; and they went on to assert their right to have'a cupboard and a lamp in the tomb of the Virgin,' but
in this last pretension they were not well supported by
Frauce,t and virtually, it was their claim to have a key of
the great door of the Church of Bethlehem instead of being
put off with a key of the lesser door, which long remained
*'Eastern Papers,' part i., p. 84.      t Ibid., p. 48.




HOLY SHRINES.                  115
insoluble, and had to be decided by the advance of armies,*
and the threatening movement of fleets.
"Diplomacy, somewhat startled at the nature of the question committed to its charge, but repressing the coarse
emotion of surprise,'ventured,' as it is said,'to inquire' whether in this case a key meant an instrument for open-'ing a door, only not to be employed in closing that door'against Christians of other sects, or whether it was simply
a key -an emblem;'t but diplomacy answered, that the
key was really a key-a key for opening a door, and its
evil quality was-not that it kept the Greeks out, but that
it let the Latins come in.'" After the change which was wrought in the institutions
of France in the night between the 1st and the 2nd of IDecember, 1851, increased violence seems to have been imparted to the instructions under which M. de Lavalette was
acting, and his demand was so urgently pressed that the
Porte at length gave way, and acknowledged the validity
of the Latin claims in a formal Note;. but the paper had
not been signed more than a few days, when the Russian
Minister, making hot remonstrance, caused the Porte to
issue a firman,ll ratifying all the existing privileges of the
Greeks, and virtually revoking the acknowledgment just
given to the Latins. Thereupon, as was natural, the French
Government became indignant, and to escape its anger the
Porte promised to evade the public reading of the firman
at Jerusalem;~ but the Russian Minister, not relaxing his
zeal, the Turkish Government secretly promised him that
the Pasha of Jerusalem should be instructed to try to avoid
giving up the keys to the Latin monks.
Then again, under further pressure by France, the Porte
engaged to evade this last evasion, and at length the duty
of affecting to carry out the conflicting engagements thus
made by the Porte was entrusted to Afif Bey. This calm
* See Count Nesselrode's Dispatches, ibid., p. 61.  f Ibid., p. 79.
t Note of the 19th February, 1852.
I[ The firman of the mi-fevrier, 1852.
2 Col. Rose to Lord Malmesbury.'Eastern Papers,' part i., p. 46.




116                 HOLY SHRINES.
Mahometan went to Jerusalem, and strove to temporize as
well as he could betwixt the angry Churches. His great
difficulty was to avert the rage which the Greeks would be
likely to feel when they came to know that the firman was
not to be read; and the nature of his little stratagem
showed that, although he was a benighted Moslem, he had
some insight into the great ruling principle of ecclesiastical
questions. His plan was to inflict a bitter disappointment
upon the Latins in the presence of the Greek priesthood,
for he imagined that in their delight at witnessing the mortification of their rivals, the Greeks might be made to overlook the great question of the public reading of the firman.
So, as soon as the ceremonial visits had been exchanged,
Afif Bey, with a suite of the local Effendis, met the three
Patriarchs, Greek, Latin, and Arminian, in the Church of
the Resurrection just in front of the Holy Sepulchre itself,
and under the great dome, and there he' made an oration'upon the desire of his Majesty the Sultan to gratify all'classes of his subjects,' and when MI. Basily and the Greek
Patriarch, and the Russian Archimandrite were becoming
impatient for the public reading of the firman which was
to give to their Church the whole of the Christian sanctuaries of Jerusalem, the Bey invited all the disputants to
meet him in the Church of the Virgin near Gethsemane.
There he read an order of the Sultan for permitting the
Latins to celebrate a mass once a year, but then, to the
great joy of the Greeks, and to the horror of their rivals,
he went on to read words commanding that the altar and
its ornaments should remain undisturbed.'No sooner,'
says the official account,'were these words uttered, than'the Latin, who had come to receive their triumph over the'Orientals, broke out into loud exclamations of the impos-'sibility of celebrating mass upon a schismatic slab of
marble, with a covering of silk and gold instead of plain'linen, among schismatic vases, and before a crucifix which'has the feet separated instead of one nailed over the'other.' Under cover of the storm thus raised, Afif Bey
perhaps thought for a moment that he had secured his




HOLY SHRINES.                 117
escape, and for awhile he seems to have actually disentangled himself from the Churches, and to have succeeded
in gaining his quarters.
"' But when the delight of witnessing the discomfiture of
the Latins had in some degree subsided, the Greeks perceived that, after all the main promise had been evaded.
The firman had not been read. M. Basily, the Russian
Consul-General, called on Afif Bey, and required that the
reading of the firman should take place. At first the Bey
affected not to know what firman was meant, but afterward he said he had no copy of it; and at length, being
then at the end of his strategems, he acknowledged that
he had no instructions to read it. Thereupon M. Basily
sent off Prince Garan to Jaffa to convey these tidings to
Constantinople in any Arab vessel that could be found,
and then hurrying to the Pasha of Jerusalem, he demanded
to have a special council assembled, with himself and the
Greek Patriarch in attendance, in order that Russia and
the Orthodox Church might know once for all whether the
firman had been sent or not; but when the meeting was
gathered, Hafiz Pasha only' made a smooth speech on the'well known benevolence of his Majesty toward all classes'of his subjects, and that was all that could be said.'*  So
the Greeks, though they had been soothed for a moment
by the discomfiture of their Latin adversaries in the Church
of the Virgin, could not any longer fail to see that their
rivals were in the ascendent, and it soon turned out that
the promise to evade the delivery of the keys was not to
be faithfully kept.
"The pressure of France was applied with increasing
force, and it produced its effect. In the month of December, 1852, the silver star was brought with much pomp from
the coast. Some of the Moslem Effendis went down to
Jaffa to escort it, and others rode out a good way on the
road that they might bring it into Jerusalem with triumph;
and on Wednesday, the 22nd of the same month, the Latin
* Consul Finn to Earl of Malmesbury, October 27, 1852.' Correspondence,'
part i., p. 44.




118                  HOLY SHRINES.
Patriarch, with joy and a great ceremony, replaced the
glittering star in the sanctuary of Bethlehem, and at the
same time the key of the great door of the church, together
with the keys of the sacred manger, was handed over to
the Latins."*
The Russian Government was right therefore in viewing
this conflict as a religious one, and declared truthfully that
it took up arms in defense of the national religion. The
Russians evidently believed this to be true, and the Russian
soldiers were fired with religious enthusiasm in addition to
their love of country.
These are dangerous elements to cope with, especially
when an army thus excited is scientifically directed, and
supplied with every weapon of destruction known to modern
war. This was sufficiently shown by the wonderful defense
of Sebastopol. But it was declared that the Russian Government imposed upon the people, and without cause maddened them with a fanaticism whose only purpose was to
stimulate them for the conflict.
* ConsulFinn to Earl of Malmesbury, Dec. 28, 1852; but see Mr. Pisani's
note, p. 106.




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   119
CHAPTER X.
THiE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
The idea was contemptuously scouted that the struggle
was in any sense to be regarded as a' religious war. B3ut
notwithstanding these confident assertions, the facts in the
case, as they will appear to any candid observer who will
view the present in the light thrown over it from the past,
will disclose a religious aspect to this contest as clearly
marked as its commercial phase, and even more important.
Russia is guilty of no falsehood when she asserts that the
war was directed against her national faith. Such were not
the motives of England; as stated in a preceding chapter,
she was swayed by commercial considerations almost exclusively, holding herself indifferent alike to the Greek Church,
IRomanism, or Mohammedanism; or rather choosing, as
she has deliberately avowed, that the power of the Papacy
should be revived in Europe under France, than that Russia
should not be humbled.
The real character of the war call not be fully understood
without a careful study of its religious bearings, and of the
present religious aspect of Europe, and this investigation
should include at least the outline of the history of the
Greek and Latin Churches. Whoever undertakes to explain "the Eastern Question" without giving a prominent
position to the relations of these churches to each other,
will only deceive himself and others. It belongs in part to
the quarrel of the Ages between the East and the West.




120    THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
The history and character of the Greek Church are comln
paratively little known to the mass of the American people.
Far removed fronm the theater of its life, we have had little
occasion to study its nature or its movements.
With Protestantism and Romanism only before our eyes,
it has scarcely occurred to us that there is still another
branch of the original Church which has not only been an
important actor in the history of the past, but occupies a
prominent place in the present, and must from its numbers
and power influence largely the future. We have, and
with good reason, been chiefly interested in the movements
of the Roman Catholic Church, whose emissaries swarm
around us, intent here as elsewhere, upon schemes for the
overthrow  of all power which stands opposed to Rome.
We have been fully employed in defending our institutions,
our liberties and the faith of our fathers, from the Jesuits
and priests that fill our land with their intrigues, and little
thought has been bestowed upon the Greek Church, and
little has been known of it aside from the facts comlmunicated by our missionaries, who have come in contact with
it at Constantinople and at Athens.
These, however, are but fragments, and deeply corrupted
ones, of the ancient body, while it is the Russian Church,
fifty millions strong, which has taken its place among the
great religious Powers of earth, and which is now in reality
the Greek Church. Its character must be studied not at
Constantinople, nor at Athens, but at home; for the policy
of the Russian Church will in the end give direction and
character to all. Because there has been persecution at
Constantinople and Athens, it is ungenerous and deceptive
to assume that the Russian Church is actuated by a similar
spirit, and so endeavor to arouse against her the hatred of
the world. Let the Church of Russia be judged by its
acts.
A majority of readers will probably be better prepared to
understand this portion of our subject, if their attention is
first directed to some prominent facts in the history of the
Greek and Latin Churches, and the Eastern and ~Western




TI-IE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   121
empires. Through these the origin and true character of
the war, and the actual position of Russia will appear.
Although the scholar will find here only the most familiar
facts, yet it is believed that those who have little leisure
for the investigation, of such subjects, will derive some
benefit from this brief epitome of a portion of history.
The Church of Christ was for some centuries a united
body. From the regions beyond the Euphrates, westward
to its utmost limits, in what is now western Europe, it was
one undivided whole, its thousands of local churches belonging to one communion. Then, also, one civil power ruled
over all the theater of the old civilization, and its one capital city was Rome. As was perfectly natural, the Bishops
of the principal cities in the Roman Empire felt an importance proportioned to the positions which they occupied,
and the prelates of Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Rome,
and Constantinople, were jealous of each other's power,
and struggled for the supremacy. The Bishop of Rome,
located at the Capital of the Empire, possessed great advantages over his competitors, and soon secured for himself a
proud pre-eminence, though not an undisputed one, among
his jealous rivals.
HIe early asserted for himself the Primacy in the Church,
and claimed the distinction of Universal Bishop. The prelates of Rome neglected no acts by which the power of the
other Metropolitans of the Empire could be diminished and
their own increased. They claimed nothing less than the
supreme dominion of the world, and each year brought them
nearer to the accomplishment of their purpose. At last the
contest was narrowed down to the Bishops of Rome and
Constantinople, which latter city having been made the
Capital of the Roman Empire, by Constantine, soon rivaled
and even eclipsed both the splendor and power of Rome.
The Roman Pontiff found himself confronted in the East
by a most formidable rival, wielding all those advantages
which belong to the metropolis of a great empire, and
which Rome had hitherto exclusively enjoyed.
The Bishop of Constantinople now naturally hoped to




122    TlE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
hold himself the position of Universal Pontiff, and boldly
asserted his claim to exclusive dominion over the Church.
The proud prelate at Rome, however, was by no means inclined to abate one tittle of his loftiest pretentious. A bitter
quarrel between the two ensued, which was handed down
to their successors-a contest between the East and the
West, between the Latins and the Greek race. The Prelates denounced, and even excommunicated each other, and
bitter hatred sprung up and was cherished by the contending parties. Disputes of various kinds continually widened
the breach.
The genius of Hildebrand conceived for the Roman Catholic Church that stupendous scheme of universal dominion,
both over the Church and over the governments of the
world, which from his time has shaped the unvarying
policy of the Papacy, which distinguishes its vast ambition
both from the Greek Church and every other body bearing
the Christian name, and which directs her every effort,
whether in her hour of weakness or of strength, to the
subjugation of the world. As a consequence of her settled
policy, the Roman Catholic Pontiff never ceased to claim
authority over the Bishop of Constantinople, nor abandoned
the design of finally subduing his power.
It is probably sufficient for the present purpose to state
results, without dwelling upon the progress of events. An
entire separation was finally produced between the East
and the WVest-between the Greeks and Latins, or Roman
Catholics. Constantinople remained the actual capital of
the Roman Empire, and head of the Eastern or Greek
Church, while the Pope at Rome was head of the Latin
Church, the Church of the West. The western, or Latin,
portion of the Roman Empire was overrun by the Northern
Barbarians, and when out of its ruins several small kingdoms sprung up in western Europe, Charlemagne united
them all in one empire, of which France was the head.
There was then a Greek Empire and a Greek Church,
whose chief city was Constantinople, and a western Latin
Empire under the crown of France, and a western Latin




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   123
Church, whose head was the Pope at Rome. The world
was divided between the contending interests of the Greeks
and Latins. When the countries which now form portions
of the Russian Empire were converted to Christianity, they
united themselves mainly with the Greek Church, and so
from the earliest times Russia has been allied by religious
sympathies with the East, and as such has been opposed
and hated by the Latin Powers and Papal Church.
The constant effort of the Pope has been to bring the
East into subjection to the power of Rome, and force and
fraud have been alike freely employed to extend over Constantinople the influence of the Papacy. This hatred of the
Greek Church and Empire was carried to such a height,
that in the time of the Crusades, the Latin or Roman Catholic Crusaders turned away from their attempts to recover
Jerusalem from the Turks, and besieged, captured and pillaged Constantinople, with the double purpose of centering
its Eastern commerce upon the Roman Catholic cities of the
western Mediterranean, and of subjecting the Greek Church
to the power of the Pope.
From this severe blow Constantinople did not recover.
The Eastern Empire had been previously partly spoiled of
its provinces-first by the Arabs, and then by the Seljukian
Turks; it grew weaker and weaker, and with the capture
of Constantinople by the Ottomans, in 1453, the Greek
Empire and Greek Church fell and disappeared together.
The fragments of the Greek Church proper now found
within the limits of the Turkish Empire are the descendants of the remnant which escaped the ferocity of the Mussulman conquerors.
For four hundred years, the fiercest foe that Christianity
ever encountered has been encamped in Europe on the
ruins of the Empire and the Church, which he trampled
scornfully out in tears and blood, filling with cruelty and
oppression, and withering up the beauty and fertility of
some of the loveliest portions of the earth; and now, with
the shocking barbarities of a thousand years from the time
of the rise of Mohammedanism ringing in the ears of all




124   THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
Christendom-with the blood and tears of millions of murdered Christians, victims of Turkish lust and fury, crying
unto God from that fair but desolated land-American
Christians are called upon to pray for the preservation of
Turkey, to pray that the devastating deluge of Mohammedanism might not ebb away from the plains of Europe.
But while Constantinople was trodden under foot by the
Turks, and the Eastern Empire spoiled, and while the
western world was prostrate at the Papal throne, God was
nursing a new power in the regions of the unknown North,
which was to bring once more the Greek Church, in a
most imposing form, upon the world's theater, and open
before it another career of greatness. Russia adopted, from
the first, the Greek faith and worship, and of course inherited the Eastern quarrel with the Romish Church, and
was cordially hated in return by the Catholic Powers of
the West, especially by the Pope.
She looked to Constantinople, as the Catholics regarded
Rome. There was Russia's mother Church, and there was
her holy city. From the time of the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks, Russia meditated their expulsion
from Europe, and the regaining of her Holy City, which,
like "Holy Moscow," at home, stirred the religious sympathies of her people.
This fact is thus stated in Blackwood's Magazine, for
July, 1855:'" The close of the reign of Vassili III. was marked by
the taking of Constantinople by the Turks. This event
made a great sensation in Russia.'Greece,' says IKaramsin,'was a second mother country to us; the Russians
always recollected with gratitude that they owed her
Christianity, the rudiments of the arts, and many amenities
of social life. In the town of Moscow, people spoke of
Constantinople as in modern Europe they spoke of Paris
under Louis XIV.' It is among the annalists of that epoch
that a remarkable prophecy was found, on the strength of
which modern aggression on Turkey appears justifiable
both to the church and state of Russia. The annalist, after




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   125
mourning over the misfortunes of Constantinople, adds:'There remains now no orthodox empire but that of the'Russians; we see how the predictions of St Methodius'and St. Leon the Sage are accomplished, who long ago'announced that the sons of Ishmael should conquer By-'zantium. Perhaps we are destined also to see the accom-'plishment of that prophecy which promises the Russians'that they shall triumph over the children of Ishmael, and'reign over the seven hills of Constantinople.' It is worth
while for us to consider, now that this prophecy, since the
taking of Byzantium by the Turks, has become a fixed and
ruling idea with the Russian people, quite as much as that
of restoration to Judea is to the Jews. The priests and
popes have taken good care to keep it up for their own
purposes, as well as those of their masters, the Czars; and
when we take the superstition of this people into consideration, it is easily seen what a powerful lever the real or
feigned existence of such a prophecy must put into the
hands of those whose object it is to move the Muscovite
race."l
This feeling has strengthened with the increasing power
of Russia, and it evinces no unusual degree of national
ambition or vanity that now, with fifty millions of Greek
Christians within her own dominions, and twelve millions
more in Turkey affiliated to her by a kindred worship, and
with a million of soldiers at her disposal, she should regard
herself as the proper head of the Greek Church, the defender of its faith, the representative of the Eastern Empire,
and as commissioned to recover and to hold Constantinople.
These facts, though they justify no wrong which Russia
may have committed, yet serve to explain her policy, and
to show why it is that she seems determined to construct
for herself, even over prostrate nations, a highway to Constantinople and the East.
The following statement is also quoted from Blackwood:
" Ivan IV. was crowned by the Metropolitan, and saluted
by the Byzantine title of Autocrat. Thus it seems that he
wished to be recognized as the heir of the defunct Greek




126    THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
sovereignty, and the master de jure, if not de facto, of Byzantium. These are important facts, because they show
that the idea of the acquisition of Turkey does not merely
date from the time of Peter, but has been a fixed principle of action with Russian sovereigns ever since the fall
of the Lower Empire. We can not help considering the
other encroachments of Russia on the map of Europe as in
a measure incidental, brought about often by an unforeseen
concurrence of circumstances, at the same time eagerly
caught at by the nation as a means to this one great end,
the possession of Constantinople, and the centralization of
all the Russias and their dependencies in the great capital
on the Bosphorus. This has been and is the one definite
and distinct object of the ambition of the Czars, the avarice
of the courtiers, and the fanaticism of the people. That
Russia or her sovereigns ever had any distinct design of
conquering and absorbing the west of Europe we can hardly
believe, although such would doubtless be to her a consummation devoutly to be wished. For instance, Germany was
divided, bribed, and overawed, not with a view to immediate
conquest, but with a view to silencing her protest against
Russian aggression; and here Russia has fully gained her
point. Only one thing was wanted-the revival of the old
antagonism  between England and France, a thing which
seemed the easiest of all, but turned out, contrary to all
expectation, the most difficult-that Constantinople should
be once again the capital of the Eastern world."
It is only necessary to bear in mind the character of this
ancient quarrel between the East and the West, between
the Papacy determined to subjugate the Greek Church, and
that Greek Church equally resolved upon self-defense and
independence, to comprehend why Russia would guard with
most jealous watchfulness against any interference of the
Roman Catholic Powers with Turkey, and especially when
coming from France, which is now the most powerful, as
well as the most earnest defender of the Papacy in Europe;
France, which to gratify the Pope trampled out the Italian
Republic, and now with a Jesuit as chief adviser of the




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   127
Emperor, makes war on Russia in the name of civilization
and liberty. The "Eastern question," then resolves itself
mainly into the old contest between races and churches,
between the East and the WCest, between Russia as representing the Eastern Empire and Greek Church, and the
Latin Powers of western Europe, represented in France, to
whom, for commercial purposes, England has for the time
allied herself. The immediate struggle previous to the war,
was between France and Russia, on the field of diplomacy
at the court of the Sultan: France, by the aid of the Jesuits,
was endeavoring to extend the Papal influence over Turkey,
and through a Protectorate over one million of Roman
Catholics in the Ottoman Empire, to obtain a pretext for
interfering with its concerns at some convenient opportunity.
It was the old design, never abandoned at Rome, of adding ultimately Constantinople to its dominions. To carry
out this design France originated the strife concerning the
Holy Places at Jerusalem, and undertook to repair for Roman Catholic use a church which had hitherto been claimed
by the Greek Church. To effect these purposes some musty
claims, which had been sleeping a hundred years, were
hunted up and revived-by Louis Napoleon —and in these
questions, started by France for such purposes, the immediate causes of the war may be found.
[By the custom of several generations, the occupation of
the Christian churches and other "Holy Places" at Jerusalema had been divided between the Greek and Latin Churches,
but Louis Napoleon, by the aid of Catholic priests and
Jesuits, hunted up some old and neglected treaty stipulations
which the Ottoman Government had once made in favor
of the Roman Catholic Church, and then formally demanded
that the " Holy Places" should be controlled strictly according to the letter of the old treaty, which had been dragged
for the purpose out of its tomb.
To this Russia objected, and as Protector of the Greek
Church demanded that the existing state of things, so long
settled by custom, should still continue. Here was the




128    THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
originating point of the difficulty, the Papal Church searching out forgotten records in order to revive its old quarrel
with the Greek Church, and manufacture an occasion for
interference with the concerns of Turkey. Russia only
asked that the course of several generations should still be
pursued without disturbance. This very important point
in the history of that war and the Eastern question, should
not be forgotten. France, and not Russia, was the aggressor, and it began as a religious quarrel, precisely as Russia
has declared.
It was a collision between the eastern and western churches
produced by a demand of France, the very nature of which
shows every feature of Jesuit intrigue, and that it was designed as an entering wedge of difficulty. Let it be remembered, too, that France had succeeded in obtaining a
protectorate over one million of Romlan Catholic subjects
of the Porte, the intention of which was of course well
understood by Russia. Austria also, another Roman Catholic Power, had obtained from  the Turkish Government
stipulations in favor of Catholic subjects, while the rights
of Russia, in regard to twelve millions of Greek Christians,
rested on verbal promises and customs, instead of treaty
stipulations, excepting, perhaps, the treaty of YKainardcji,
the meaning of which was in dispute, the validity of which,
as interpreted by Russia, had been acknowledged by an
English minister, as previously stated.
With these evidences of a settled design on the part of
the Catholic Powers, and especially France, to secure exclusive advantages for themselves, and with the manifest willingness on the part of the Porte to yield to their demands,
what was the course of Russia? No opprobious epithet
has been spared in denouncing her conduct at this point,
and French and English talent has been lavishly employed
to exhibit her as worthy only of the scorn and hatred of
the world. What then are the facts? In regard to the
tfe Holy Places, Russia simply demanded that no alteration
should be made in the existing state of things, which had
been peaceably acquiesced in for "several generations,"




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   129
according to English authorities. This was so eminently
reasonable, that France did not choose to risk her reputation by refusing, and the question of the Holy Places was
thus settled by the abandonment of the claims of the
Papacy.
But France and Austria had obtained by treaty stipulation the right to a protectorate over the one million of
Catholics in the Turkish dominions, while the right of
Russia in her protection of twelve millions of Greek Christians rested, with the exception of the disputed treaty, on
a traditional privilege, custom, and the verbal promise of
the Porte, not upon express treaty, as did those of France.
With this Russia had been satisfied until the designs of the
Papal Powers had been disclosed in the matter of the Holy
Places, and until it was evident that the Roman Catholic
influence was likely to become the ruling one with the
Sultan.
Russia then asked that the privileges which she had
enjoyed, and which rested on custom, and promises, excepting only the disputed treaty of Kainardji, should now
be secured by formal contract, as those of France had
already been, thus placing her rights on the same footing
with the other Powers. She asked for herself no peculiar
or exclusive advantages; she demanded simply that the
Greek Christians should be placed on the same condition
as other Christian Powers, and that verbal promises and
custom should be ratified by assuming the form of a treaty.
It has nowhere been shown that Russia demanded any new
privileges, anything not previously enjoyed, but she only
desired that existing rights should have the solemn sanction
of a treaty.
This point can not be too strongly insisted upon, because
the charge was continually made against Russia, that after
the settlement of the question of the Holy Places, she
advanced entirely new pretentious, alike incompatible with
the honor of the Porte and the safety of Europe. This has
been brought forward on all occasions, to show that Russia
was pre-determined upon a rupture with Turkey, or upon
9




130    THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
forcincg her to accept such terms as would prove her ruin.
Let it therefore be remembered that the new demand of
iRussia was simply to be secured by treaty in the riqhts which.
she then possessed.
She asked nothing which had not been previously granted
and secured so far as customary use and verbal promise
could avail, but fearing that Jesuit artifice and influence
might induce the Ottoman Government to change its mind,
Nicholas chose to ask the security of a written document,
such as the other Powers had already obtained. This request, which history must yet pronounce a most reasonable
one, Turkey, advised by France and England, refused.
France, England, Turkey, all were willing, perfectly so,
to re-affirm existing treaties as Turkey construed them. But
all parties were aware that existing treaties while they secured
the rights desired by Roman Catholics, did not in like manner
provide for those of the Greek Church. You have our word
for it, was the reply of Turkey, and with that you should
be satisfied. We agree to place the Greek Christians on
the same footing with others. Let us have this in due form
of treaty, was the answer of Russia, and we are satisfied.
But Turkey refused.
We have the authority of the best English writers for
stating that the promises given to Russia and the rights
she enjoyed, did not differ from those of other Powers.
" That engagement with Russia did not differ in principle
"from any similar promise given to any other Power."  Such
is the language of the Edinburgh Reviezv, in speaking of
the engagements entered into between the Porte and the
European Powers, including Russia, concerning the Christians in Turkey. Russia then had claimed nothing unusual,
nothing which other Powers did not possess, and nothing
which had not been verbally, and as she claimed, by treaty
also, conceded to her already, and sanctioned by long use.
hWhat then was the point of difficulty so grave, so incapable of removal, as to produce this terrible war?  Once
more let it be repeated.
Turkey, by the advice of the Allies, refused to give Russia




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.   131
any formal written legal security for her acknowledged
rights, when this had already been done in regard to other
Powers. She was willing to be bound by formal treaty in
regard to the one million of Roman Catholics, when demanded by France and Austria, but she insisted that her
unsupported word was enough for Russia, and the twelve
millions of Greek Christians, and in this position she was
supported by England and France. They insisted that
Russia should not have a legal and formal right to privileges which all parties acknowledged; and, of course,
whenever France could persuade or overawe the Turkish
Government, they could be denied altogether.
It was precisely the case of a man refusing to give any
written obligation for a debt which he acknowledges to be
just, leaving himself the privilege of repudiating it at his
pleasure. No one could blame a creditor, under such circumstances, for endeavoring to secure himself; and history
will justify Russia, first, in believing that Turkey did not
intend to fulfill engagements to which she refused to bind
herself in due form, and second, for attempting to secure
her acknowledged rights-and more especially when every
movement showed that France was seeking to make it the
occasion either of quarrel or of reviving her supremacy in
the councils of Turkey.
" If," says the Edinburgh Reviewt, " the new demands of
"Russia were of a nature to confer upon her in a definite
"and legal form, rights of protectorate over the Christian
"subjects of the Porte, they were demands which called
" for the resistance of Europe." The world will be inclined
to ask why? Precisely such rights of protectorate had
already been granted to France in "definite and legal form;"
why then should they be refused to Russia, particularly
when for a long time she had enjoyed them without dispute, and " they did not differ in principle" from what had
been formally secured to others?
If Russia would be content with a mere " re-affirmation
of existing treaties," France and England would agree to
such a note; but all well knew that this settled nothing,




132    THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE EASTERN WAR.
because the very sense insisted upon by Russia in the treaty
of Kainardji was disputed by France, and finally by England also, when it suited her convenience, after her marriage
with France. Russia asked only a stipulation confirming
her construction of this treaty, but France and England
refused to admit this construction, and consequently this
proposal to re-affirm existing treaties was a mere specious
device. The clause in the treaty of IKainardji is in these
words: "' The Sublime Porte promises constantly to protect
the Christian religion and its churches."
This certainly in itself is sufficiently indefinite. But
when Turkey, under this general rule, enters into certain
specific relations with France and Austria, she fixes thereby
her interpretation of the clause, or of her general obligations to Christian Powers, and Russia, beyond all dispute,
has a right to insist upon a similar interpretation of the
rule in her own case. This was her only demand, and this
Turkey and the Allies refused.
When the blinding vail which diplomatic art has thrown
over this transaction has been removed by time, the world
will perceive that Russia was wronged by Turkey and the
Allies, and that her only course was to submit to manifest
encroachment, or prepare herself for resistance. But it
may be asked, what motive could have influenced France
and England to persevere, at the hazard of war, in resisting
a just demand of Russia. The explanation is easy, and is
given in few words by the Edinburgh Review: " That engagement with Russia did not differ in principle from any
similar promise given to any other power. Greater danger
attached to it in her case, from the alliance between the forms
of Christianity in Russia and in Turkey."
This furnishes the key to the whole. Because there were
in the Providence of God twelve millions of Greek Christians in Turkey, who could be influenced by Russia, and
only one million of Roman Catholics that could be used by
France, therefore if Russia should possess equal rights with
other Christian Powers, she would have an advantage over
them all; and therefore, while Roman Catholic interests




THE RELIGIOUS ASPECT OP THE EASTERN WAR.   133
must be secured by solemn treaty, Russia must rely upon
the unsupported word of the Porte, a promise which could
be repudiated at pleasure.
Such, when stripped of all the wrappage of diplomatic
mystification, appears to be the real state of the " Eastern
Question," in which the war originated, a war for which
the world will yet hold France and England justly responsible. Russia saw that she was trifled with, and with reason
felt that she was insulted, and she decided upon her course
accordingly. In the whole history of earth, it will be difficult to discover an example where the real merits of a case
have been more studiously concealed, and western Europe.
and perhaps most in America, have been led to believe
that France and England were forced, much against their
will, to enter into this war with Russia. In one sense this
is true.
They were forced into a war because Nicholas would not
consent, after the intrigue of France in regard to the IHoly
Places, to suffer his acknowledged rights to rest any longer
upon the mere word of the Porte, or upon the language
of a disputed treaty, where the similar rights of other Powers
were guaranteed in due legal form. They were forced into
a war, rather than permit an act of simple and manifest
justice toward Russia. From  their own testimony this
verdict will assuredly be rendered by history in due time.




134                  THE PAPACY
CHAPTER XI.
THE PAPACY IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE EASTERN QUESTION.
"War is going to break out between philosophy and
faith, between politics and religion, between Protestantism
and Catholicism; and the banner raised by France in this
gigantic struggle will decide the fate of the world, of the
Church, and, above all, of France herself."*
This feature of the religious aspect of the Eastern question is one which demands from us, as Americans, our most
serious regard. The activity and zeal of the French Government in its efforts to obtain a controlling influence at
Constantinople for the Roman Catholic Church, is only a
part of a vast design which Rome has conceived for regaining her lost ascendancy over the world. She is making one
last but mighty effort to place herself at the head of universal dominion.
She believes herself able even yet to carry out the design
of Hildebrand and the Innocents, and subject all nations to
her power once more. Americans should not forget that
this claim to rule the world in the name of God, and as his
only and proper representative on earth, has never for one
moment been abandoned by the Papal Hierarchy, nor has
their been an hour in her history, since the days of Gregory
the Great, when she has not both designed and hoped to
* De Custine's Russia.




IN ITS CONNECTION WITH' THE EASTERN QUESTION.  135
make it good. On this point no American should either
remain indifferent, or suffer himself to be deceived.
The one essential and unvarying claim of the Roman
Catholic Church is, that she is of right and by the appointment of God himself, not only the one true Church of the
earth, but the supreme power of the world; that, as the
vicegerent of Jesus Christ on earth she is, in the person of
the Pope, the rightful sovereign of all other sovereigns,
king of kings, and lord of lords; that all out of her pale
are heathen or heretics; that all dissenting governments
ought, as heretical Powers, to be subdued or exterminated;
that it is her duty to do this whenever and wherever she
obtains the power; that for this end, all means whatever
are justifiable in the sight of God, and her stedfast intention is to overthrow every government of earth, whether
monarchial or republican, that refuses to submit to her
powver.
The Roman Catholic Church has never abated one iota
of this demand in its widest extent, and she never will.
She can not surrender the very loftiest of the pretensions
without abandoning all. They constitute her life. Without
these demands, she would become simply one among religious denominations, or a local, national church, like that
of England or Russia, instead of what she now claims to
be —the one only church of God, and, as such, the sovereign
of the nations.
Noris it wise to dismiss with an idle sneer either the
pretensions or the power of the Roman Catholic Church,
nor blindly rely upon the boasted intelligence of the nineteenth century, nor trust implicitly in the present forms
and spirit of Protestant Christianity, as affording a sufficient
safeguard against the designs of the Papacy, without watchful and earnest effort. Few are now ignorant of the remarkable change which a few years have wrought in the attitude
and spirit of the Romish Church. But a short time has
passed since the Pope fled, a fugitive, from his capital, and
the hopes of the friends of freedom and of Protestantism
were raised to the highest pitch.




136                  THE PAPACY
It was thought that the Papal power was broken forever,
and the day of the world's deliverance had come. Yet in
how brief a period was despotism more firmly established
in Europe than before, and the very power that claimed to
be the foremost apostle of liberty, crushed out republicanism
in Italy, and reinstated the Pope upon his throne.
Nor has any thinking man failed to observe how, from
that hour, the boldest, the most impious pretensions ever
made by the Catholic Church have been revived, and doctrines which even the Middle Ages could scarcely bear are
openly proclaimed and earnestly defended in republican
America. A more vigorous life, a more hopeful and aggressive spirit,,is everywhere manifested by the Papal Power,
and the persecuting hierarchy of the dark ages has suddenly re-appeared upon the scene, throwing once more over
the nations its haughty shadow, breathing defiance and commanding submission.
Her priests and Jesuits are abroad in every land, a mighty
band animated by one spirit, and fired with one common
hope of victory, and revenge for the long dishonor of their
Church; unscrupulous in the use of means, versed in every
wile of diplomacy, and in every art by which the sources
of public or private influence are reached, citizens nowhere,
with no home or country, and bound by no feeling of
allegiance, except to the Pope and their Church alone, they
are making an earnest, world-wide effort for the complete
subjugation of the nations. The attempt which for years
has been made at Jerusalem and Constantinople, is but a
part, yet a vemy important one in the general design.
The revival of the old quarrel with the Eastern Church,
is one step only in a premeditated series of aggressions in
the East for the purpose of humbling and crippling Russia,
the representative of the Greek Church and empire, and,
as such, hated and feared. [Not from idle curiosity, but
front settled design originating with his Jesuit advisers,
did Louis Napoleon search through the forgotten records
of two hundred years to find an occasion against the Greek
Church, and the means of expelling it from its possessions




IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE EASTERN QUESTION.  137
in Jerusalem, and at the same time of striking a blow at
Russia.
It must be understood that national pride, ambition, and
commercial interests had also a powerful influence in this
movement, but behind all these, and using these as the instruments of their working, were the leaders of the Romish
Church, stirring up national pride and ambition, in order
through them to advance the interests of the Papacy. A
papal influence procured from the Porte concessions in favor
of Catholics, which at the same time it was induced to refuse
to Russia and twelve millions of Greek Christians, leaving
them to the bare word of the Turkish Government, while
Roman Catholic rights were solemnly secured by treaty. A
Papal influence has secured an alliance between France and
England for the crushing of Russia, the only formidable
foe of the Papacy in Europe, and England has been led so
to seek the gratification of her ambition, and to take such
measures to secure her commercial supremacy, as will if
possible check and limit the power of Russia, the defender
of a rival Church, and thus the whole power of Protestant
England has been made available to re-establish the supremacy of the Papacy in Europe.
Disguise all this as we will, these are the facts, and to
these conclusions the world ere long must come: but, possibly too late to avert a long train of calamities which now
are threatening Europe, if not Protestantism, throughout
the world. Every interest of Protestant Christianity, and
every interest of America, whether commercial or religious,
would have been advanced by the defeat of the Allies, and
the breaking up of the Anglo-French Alliance.
Their success tended to the triumph of the Papacy ir
Europe, and in all the East. In England the newly awakened vigor of Rome has been manifested in equally earnest
efforts to win back even this Protestant Power to her
embrace and control. These attempts and the powerful
influence which they have produced upon the English nation
are too well known to be dwelt upon here. Whatever may
be said of the soundness of the heart of the English nation,




138                  THE PAPACY
all of which it is hoped will prove true, the astounding fact
is before the world, that England has deliberately chosen a
Papal alliance in a war whose origin was a religious onethat in a struggle between the Greek and Latin Churches,
she espoused the cause of Rome, and coolly avowed that
the war, if successful, would strengthen the Papal power in
Europe, and that she preferred this to the progress of
Russia. She is therefore the ally of the Latin Catholic nations against the Eastern Church and Empire. American
Protestants may well inquire with some anxiety, what will
become of English Protestantism?
In our own country, this new struggle for Papal supremacy is no less earnest than at Constantinople. Armies of
foreign priests and Jesuits are not permitted to roam at will
in Russia, fomenting strife and intriguing against the government, and therefore fleets and armies, shot and shell,
are employed to cripple her; while our theory of liberty
has been that Americans have not even the right to protect
themselves or their institutions, lest it should abridge the
liberties of those who are endeavoring to subvert them, and
therefore the emissaries of a foreign despotism, and millions of emigrants wherewith they could work, have been
directed to our shores-and to them our subjugation has
been for the present entrusted. A concerted attack, as
carefully planned and as determined as that upon Russia,
has been made upon the very life of American institutions.
The very basis of American Protestant Republicanism,
our schools and our Bible-these have been assailed by the
combined talent of the Papal leaders here, aided by the
whole influence of the Pope, and by a liberal supply of
funds from Europe. The Jesuits in America, and those at
Jerusalem and Constantinople, are working in concert, with
one great common end in view-the universal re-establishment of the Papal authority, and a propagandism that shall
rule the world. The efforts of the Catholic bishops, priests
and Jesuits here, the intrigues in the Sultan's court, and
the batteries at Sebastopol, have but one general significance, though distinct commercial interests are connected




IN ITS CONNECTION WITH THE EASTERN QUESTION.  139
with the questions in the East. Nor should it be forgotten
that the present revived and threatening aspect of the Roman Catholic Church is, according to the view of many
intelligent students of prophecy, clearly foretold in the
Word of God.
They find it stated, as they think, in the prophetic record,
that previous to the final destruction of the Papal power,
there will be formed a new combination of the western Latin
nations in one new western Empire or confederacy, which
shall give its full support to the authority of the Pope, as the
Empire under Charlemagne once did, and that, possessed once
more of the needful power, Rome will again seek to glut herself with Protestant blood. The tendency toward such a result
in Europe is certainly sufficiently clear to arrest our earnest
attention. Napoleon, we know, dreamed of the restoration
of a Western Empire, and was crowned with the iron crown
of Charlemagne. His ambition also took an eastern direction, and he meditated upon an eastern dominion, resting
on the commerce of India.
Louis Napoleon is at least the heir of his uncle's ambition.
France is at this moment the head and leader of the Latin
(Catholic) Powers, and under her they are combined against
the Greek Church and Russia in the East, and tending toward a confederacy in the Wrest, which shall bear up the
Papal throne. The influence of Russia over Austria, and
her Sclavonic population, unfits her for a Catholic leader,
and renders her position uncertain; while France, with her
bayonets at Rome, her Jesuits at Constantinople, and her
arms at Sebastopol, has prepared herself to be the head of
Catholic Empire, while, at the same time, she stands in
Africa with her eye upon the East.
Still another important aim of this new movement of the
Roman Catholic Church is to retain its ascendency over the
western portions of the Sclavonic race. The Bohemians,
the Storraks, the Poles and Lithuanians (all Sclavonians),
at their conversion to Christianity, attached themselves to
the See of Rome; while the Servians, Bosnians, Bulgarians,
and Russians, (all Sclavonians, also,) united themselves with




140                  THE PAPACY.
Constantinople and the Greek Church. The Russians and
Poles are, therefore, of one race but different religions,
and the hostility of the Poles to Russia is stimulated by
Catholic influence, and were this withdrawn, the ties of race
would gradually unite again these now separated branches
of the same family. Hence the desire to wrest Poland from
Russia, and prevent this union. Let it be remembered that
if Poland is not controlled by Russia, she will be crushed
by the worse despotism of the Papacy. Roman Catholic
civilization curses whatever it touches.
Such being the state of Europe, and such the undeniable
position, hopes, and efforts of the Romish Church, it certainly requires no far-seeing sagacity to understand the
interests and dangers of the United States in this momentous struggle.




ENGLAND'S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA.       141
CHAPTER XII.
ENGLAND'S COURSE TOWARD RUSSIA IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION
AND THE CRIMEAN WAR.
The course of England towards Russia in regard to the
Eastern Question and in the invasion of the Crimea, was so
similar to her treatment of us, that the one explains the
other, and at the risk of partial repetition in some points, it
seems proper to present to Americans the main facts of that
chapter in her history, in order that they may compare
England then with England now, and learn that in her
course towards us she is governed by the same policy which
guided her then; that this is her national policy, to be
applied to Russia or America, as the case may demand;
and whether she strikes eastward at monarchy or westward
at a republic, her general purpose is precisely the same.
Particularly is it to be observed, that as France created a
cause for war, and forced Russia into the conflict with her,
so also England, on her part, sought an occasion for quarrel
with Russia, and, notwithstanding all the denunciations of
the British Press, it was England and not Russia who
began the war.
England sought a war with Russia, and nearly the whole
power of her Press was employed to cover this intention
by the most violent accusations against Nicholas and his
people, knowing all the while that the Czar desired more
than all things else peace with England, in the same manner




142        ENGLAND S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA
that the English Government stirred up the people to fury in
the case of the Trent, with the charge that we desired to insult and declare war upon England, when at the same time
they held in their hands official evidence that we were earnestly desirous of peace on any terms which would save our
national honor.
That England was the aggressor in the war with Russia
will be readily seen from the following facts and admissions
by the English Press.
The Emperor Nicholas was England's guest in 1844, and
while there he made certain propositions to the British
Cabinet as to the manner in which the Turkish question
should be settled upon the fall of that empire, an event that
he declared must necessarily be near.
In regard to this matter, one of the most influential of
the Eng.lish periodicals used the following language soon
after the death of the Emperor Nicholas:
"That it would have been most discreditable to England
to have made such pact is generally admitted-far more
to her indeed than to Nicholas, for the aggressive policy
southward was the tradition of his race, and he spoke in
the name of growing and expanding Russia. But we
hardly saved our honor in the transaction as it was, for the
ministry listened smilingly, and the Times wrote leading articles
on the sickness of Turkey. Let this pass. We only meant
to say that he (Nicholas) meant no harm to us, for we can
not suppose that the Czar could have ruminated on the distant closing up of Russia on England, like the iron prison
in its last fatal change on the victim of Italian revenge.
There is no doubt that we have acted wisely, most wisely,
in preferring the alliance of France to his, for France and
England are doing each other good every day of their
united lives; but still it is not fair that we should bear his
memory any malice, FOR IT WAS WE AND NOT HE WHO STRUCK
THE FIRST BLOW. He has done nothing to deserve at our
hands unseemly caricatures, or that his death should have
beei applauded in an English theater."




IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION.      143
In these few honest sentences there is much food for
thought, and many reasons are found why Americans, at
least, should hesitate to give credence to the specious declarations that England was forced into that war, in defense
of civilization and humanity, statements which have been
made merely to render the war popular, and to excite the
people against Russia, a work which has been so thoroughly
done that the English people disgraced themselves by savage
cheering at the Emperor's death. England having possessed herself, by her maritime superiority, and by her conquest of India, of the commerce of the East, adopted the
double public policy of securing to herself the advantages
she had won, and of excluding if possible other nations
from a participation in this lucrative trade.
It has been, therefore, one of her chief anxieties to establish, if possible, and hold for her own benefit, a monopoly
of the East, and for this purpose her jealous care has been
to prevent the re-opening of any of the old highways of
that trade whereby it could be diverted from  her own
marts, or to gain possession of them herself. While the
ocean route could remain the only or the main channel between India and Europe, by her ships and her possessions
in iindostan the monopoly of the trade would be hers, and
she would rest content. But when the question of establishing other communications arose, England was almost
omnipresent to secure herself against a rival. Hence her
intrigues in Central America, and her establishment on the
Mosquito shore, and her projects on the Isthmus of Panama,
for ship canals, in order that she might gain possession of
the American key to the Indies; hence, also, her fleet at
the mouth of the Nile when Bonaparte was in Egypt threatening to re-open and hold for France the old Red Sea route
to the East; which scheme, had it been successful, might
have restored to the cities of the Mediterranean their ancient wealth and power; and hence, too, be it remembered,
her anxieties for the fate of Constantinople.
Not sympathy for the Turk has ever moved the heart of
England, but every movement in connection with Turkey




144       ENGLAND S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA
has been made with anxious reference to her Eastern trade.
It is because she has not been contented to share this commerce with the rest of the world. She has coveted a
monopoly of its profits, and has been ready with her fleets
and her armies to prevent any other Power of earth from
building for itself a highway to India. She has endeavored
to frustrate the United States in Central America; she succeeded in forcing the French army from Egypt-and she
has also determined not only to prevent Russia from establishing herself at Constantinople, but to wrest from her
the control of the Black Sea, and prevent her from occupying the old northern road to the East.
Let it not be forgotten here that it is not the conquest of
British India at which Russia is aiming, or which she has
ever proposed, but to open for herself a commerce with
northern Asia by a route of her own; that she proposes
not war on England, but an honorable competition for the
trade of Asia; and this England opposed with a war whose
object was to destroy forever all hope of maritime or commercial prosperity for Russia, which done, she would hold
a complete monopoly of the richest commerce of the world,
while at the same time the manufactures of Russia would be
ruined, and she would again become dependent on Great
Britain.
It is now easy to perceive the real policy of England in
regard to the proposition made to the British Government
while Nicholas was in London. HIe frankly informed England that the time was near when the Turkish Government
must inevitably fall, without any external force, that it had
no vitality, was in fact already seized by death, and that
he desired some friendly understanding with England as to
the course to be pursued when that event should come, that
all of Europe might not then be embroiled, because other
nations would be constrained to abide by the joint decision
of England and Russia. It is understood that he proposed
that England should occupy Egypt, while the control of
Constantinople should be given to Russia.
Simply as a bargain between Russia and.England, this




IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION.     145
surely was not an ungenerous offer for Russia. The Czar
offered to surrender to Great Britain the best of all the
inland routes to India, the one which gave wealth and
magnificence to Egypt, and Jerusalem, and Tyre, the one
re-opened by the genius of Alexander, the one which she
has long coveted, and to secure which she fought the battle
of the Nile. It was a proposition which, to all appearance,
would have made her supreme in the West, holding, as she
does, Gibraltar, the Mediterranean key. Nor was it needful for her to be anxious in regard to the hostility of France,
it would seem, with Russia for her ally. The holy indignation which England has so abundantly manifested at
this proposition since war was determined on, was by no
means aroused when it was first advanced; on the contrary,
" THE MINISTRY RECEIVED IT SMILINGLY," then, and "THE' TIMES' WROTE LEADING ARTICLES UPON THE SICKNESS OF TURKEY." The offer was taken into friendly consideration, and
sympathy for Turkey was a rare virtue in England.
It is perfectly clear that the Czar had never received the
slightest official intimation that his proposal had been unfavorably received, and that his confidential communications
with Sir Hamilton Seymour were but the carrying out, on
his part, of the design which he had been led to suppose
was favorably received, and even virtually decided upon by
the English Government. The Russian Emperor was frank
and honorable in his dealings with England, and she, on
the other hand, receiving his advances with marked favor,
took them into long consideration, pondering in the mean
time whether even a better bargain might not be effected
in some other quarter, and so soon as she had decided upon
a French alliance, endeavored to excite the world against
Russia for proposing that "atrocious" partition of Turkey,
which the hightoned honor of England had so decidedly
rejected, though when presented, ministers had looked all
smiles, and the TIMES had written leading articles to prove
that Turkey was as good as dead, and it was time to determine England's share in the property. England at first
was strongly inclined to favor and accept the proposition
10




146        ENGLAND S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA
of Nicholas, and did not perceive its wickedness until the
newly projected alliance with France.
Then the cry was opened upon " barbarous Russia," which
was making war upon civilization, which had piratically
proposed to divide Turkey, and whose advance must now
be checked for the salvation of Europe. But this allusion
to the smiles of ministers and leading articles in the TIMES
is by no means the only evidence which shows that the
English Government was merely playing a part in its
affected horror at the proposition of Nicholas, and that so
late as 1854, the Czar had every public assurance that his
policy was approved, and would be defended by England.
A few facts will render this point sufficiently clear, while
they place the British Government in a most unenviable
position, when compared with the straight-forward frankness of Nicholas.
Since 1844, England had been in possession of the proposal of the Russian Emperor, without a word of disapproval, tacitly consenting. In 1853, when the affairs of the
East began to wear a threatening aspect, and when Russia
was assuming a position which showed that she intended
to resist the intrigues of France, Lord John Russell, on behalf of the Government, wrote as follows to the Czar:
" I-er Majesty's Government are persuaded that no course
of policy can be adopted more wise, more disinterested, and
more beneficial to Europe, than that which his Imperial
Majesty has so long followed, and which will render his
name more illustrious than that of the most famous sovereigns who have sought immortality by unprovoked conquest
and ephemeral glory."
In another part of this dispatch are the following remarkable words: " The more the Turkish Government adopts
"the rules of impartial law and equal administration, the
"less will the Emperor of Russia find it necessary to apply
"that exceptional protection which his Imperial Majesty has




IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION.       147
"found so burdensome and inconvenient, though no doubt
" PRESCRIBED BY DUTY AND SANCTIONED BY TREATY."
The admission of Lord John Russell in regard to the
correctness of the Russian interpretation of the treaty of
YKainardji, does not stand unsupported even by English
testimony. In a history of the Ottoman Empire, forming
one of the series of the Encyclopedice Metropolitana, published in 1854, is the following account of that treaty.
" The most fatal condition to the Turkish dominion, and at
" the same time the most honorable to Russia, was the re" cognition of the latter Power as Protectress of the Mlol"davians, the Wallachians, and of the Christians generally
"in the Sultans dominions.
At the time this sentence was penned, it is evident that
the learned authors of that history believed that the claims
of Russia were properly based upon treaty stipulations,
although in a closing chapter, written after the declaration
of war, Russia is denounced for adhering to such an interpretation of this treaty, though it was previously adpmitted
to be just, even by themselves.
HIere is the important concession made by a British minister in 1853, and by [British historians, that Russia was not
only right in her demands upon Turkey, but that this right
was already secured by treaty, precisely as Russia declared,
and as Turkey, instigated by France, directed-England
then testified that the demands of Russia were just ones,
and consequently she was not the aggressor in this war.
She was unjustly attacked, through the influence of Papal
France, and it is a war in defense of the rig'lts, the territory, the faith, and homes of Russia. Nicholas, in his
conferences with Sir George Seymour, in 1853, said, "We
"must come to some understanding, and this we should do,
"I am convinced, if I could hold but ten minutes' con"versation with your ministers.
" And remember I do not ask for a treaty or a protocol,
a general understanding is all I require-that, between
gentlemen, is sufficient."  The English Government replied
through Lord Clarendon as follows, in March: " The gen



148        ENGLAND S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA
"erous confidence exhibited by the Emperor entitles his
"Imperial Majesty to the most cordial declaration of opinion
"on the part of her Majesty's Government; who are fully
"aware that in the event of any understanding with reference
"to future contingencies being expedient, or indeed pos"sible, the word of his Imperial Majesty would be preferable
"to any convention that could be framed."  After the
British fleet had been ordered to the JBosphorus, Lord
Clarendon informed the Russian minister that the " British
"fleet had no hostile designs against Russia."
After the battle of Sinope, the British Government informed Russia, that "measures will be taken for preventing
" Turkish ships of war from making descents upon the coast of
" Russia."  In the opening debate of 1854, Lord Aberdeen
declared " that he saw nothing to find fault with the memo"randurn (containing the proposal of Nicholas), and that he
" looked upon it with great satisfaction."  Count Nesselrode,
in a letter to the Russian minister, speaks of " the late con1"fidential overtures which Sir -H. Seymour has been instructed
"to make to us," but in the publication of the dispatches
by the British Government all this was sedulously concealed.
The whole had been expunged.
In the light of such disclosures, how will England convince the world that she has not been guilty of treachery
to Russia, while Nicholas was honorable keeping faith with
her? And what shall be thought of her candor or her
generosity when at the eleventh hour, while Russia was
relying upon her declarations and her honor, having discovered, as she thought, that she might drive a still better
bargain by an alliance with France, she deserted the Czar,
called upon the world to admire the lofty honor that had
-rejected the proposals of Russia, and declared she was hastening to the defense of Turkey, and to protect civilization
against the barbarism of the North.
The value of such pretenses can now be estimated'at
their proper worth, especially when we add to what has
been stated already, the significant declaration of Lord
Palmerston, that England had designs in this war ulterior




IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION.    149
to the preservation of Turkey. What potent argument in the
way either of menace or of larger spoil was offered at this
juncture by the French Government, that induced the
change in English policy, lies hidden among the secrets of
diplomacy; but that there was a sudden change, and that
Russia was deserted and deceived, is too plain to admit of
doubt.
But it may be asked, what explanation can be given of
the course of England, except upon the supposition that
she was sincerely indignant at the proposal of Russia, and
that from truly lofty motives she had undertaken this war
to defend weak and tottering Turkey against her powerful
foe? First, it is quite clear that she was not indignant
when the suggestion was made, nor until she had determined that an alliance with France would be more valuable
than the friendship of Russia; and second, her policy is
more fully explained by another suggestion. England proposes to herself to become the manufacturer for the world,
and the chief factor of its commerce. The bearing which
any settlement of the "Eastern question" may have upon
this main purpose, is the important one in the opinion of
English statesmen.
At first view the possession of Egypt, and the route to
India by the Isthmus of Suez, would appear all that England could desire, controlling, as in that case she would,
two main channels to the East. But then a second thought
will show that with Russia holding the Black Sea and
Constantinople, together with the months of the Danube,
she might, with the eastern highway by the Caspian and
the Aral, soon become a formidable rival both in the eastern
and European markets; and there would be great danger
that Constantinople would absorb much of the trade coming
through the Red Sea. If, therefore, the power of Russia
could be broken in the Euxine, if her influence at Constantinople could be destroyed, and Turkey, as a nominally
independent Power, made by the free-trade system a mere
dependency, a province of England, it would be far more




150        ENGLAND'S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA
advantageous than if she should gain Egypt, with Russia
at Constantinople.
The interests of Turkey have been no more regarded in
this whole transaction by England than by Russia. Both
Powers have thought only of their own advancement. Another consideration seems to have influenced the English
cabinet. France was evidently preparing herself for some
new exhibition upon the theater of nations. She was providing herself with a truly formidable navy, and her military arrangements were upon a scale that were significant
of anything rather than unbroken peace. England was
made to feel her inferiority to her old foe, in military
strength; her ablest commanders pointed out the insecurity
of her position, should the French Emperor find it necessary to visit her shores in order to give employment to his
army; and the probability of a French invasion was gravely
discussed.
When, therefore, a French alliance became possible, it
was evident that two important objects might be accomplished: that the fleet and army of Louis Napoleon might
be drawn off from the English shores and their strength
exhausted, or at least employed elsewhere, and that in addition to this securing herself at home, a rival might be
crippled or crushed abroad. Although the secrets of cabinet councils are not disclosed, yet the actions of the British
Government indicate that such were the ruling motives
which led to the rejection of the proposal of Nicholas after
it had been under consultation since 1844, and the acceptance of the alliance with France. A secondary reason for
this choice may probably be found in the fact that France
had already at great cost established herself in Africa, and
might be disposed at some time, if not immediately, to dispute with her the possession of Egypt, while Russia at
Constantinople would be comparatively secure within the
closed gates of the Dardanelles.
The fear of the English Government, that France may
hereafter seize Egypt and Syria, was clearly revealed in the
debate in Parliament upon the Turkish loan.




IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION.      151
The proposition which the Czar made to the English
cabinet is a full disclosure of the main features of his policy.
He was willing to surrender all claim to Egypt in behalf
of England, and this of itself is conclusive upon one point,
that he had no sinister designs upon western Europe, and
that he desired simply a position from whence he could
safely prosecute his favorite Eastern policy, and establish
himself on the road to northern Asia. The right of Russia
to execute her design is, to say the least, quite as clear as
that of England to her acquisitions in India, or that of
France to those provinces of Africa which she has violently
wrested away. But Russia has not declared war upon Great
Britain because she has spoiled the East Indian peninsula, nor upon France because of her conquest of Algiers;
yet these, but lately mortal foes, allied themselves for an
assault on Russia because she is pursuing a scheme of
national aggrandizement, which, in its moral character, is
certainly no worse than their own. No candid man will
deny that the Russian Emperor was right when he spoke
of the dissolution of the Turkish empire as an event not
only certain, but near. Nor could any one doubt that when
this should occur it would surely convulse all Europe, unless
the whole question could be settled by some definite previous arrangement. It is difficult, therefore, to discover
anything very atrocious in the frank and open manner in
which Nicholas brought the subject to the attention of the
British ministers; and in his subsequent conversations with
Sir H. Seymour, England was certainly treated in an honorable manner, whatever may be said of the intention of
either government in regard to Turkey.
But let it once be conceded that an unavoidable necessity of making some disposition of Turkish affairs was near
at hand, and it will be difficult to show that the course of
Nicholas was more open to censure than that of the other
Powers who have made themselves parties to this conflict.
If it be granted that a radical change was imminent in the
Ottoman Empire, then it should be remembered that only
about one-fourth of the inhabitants of that empire are




152        ENGLAND'S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA
Turks, and that no less than twelve millions of them are
memnbers of the Greek Church, and therefore bound by religious affinities to Russia, and inclined toward her also by
a common Oriental origin, while between these same Greek
Christians and the Roman Catholic nations of the west,
there is cherished an irreconcilable and mutual dislike.
To extend the dominion of Russia over the Turkish Empire, would be to incorporate twelve millions who are
already in at least a partial sympathy with her, while with
either French or English rule would be introduced a different race and a different religion-and with France a religion
intensely hostile. These circumstances should all be taken
into consideration in explanation of the demands and purposes of Russia. They will show that her pretensions in
this Eastern question have at least as reasonable a foundation as those of her western rivals. The idea of a regeneration of the Ottoman Empire, with the Turkish element
predominant, is, in the opinion of the best informed in
Europe, a mere dream, contrary to every analogy in the
history of the world, and in the nature of things impossible.
This will be dwelt upon more in detail hereafter. But,
assuming here as true what will be proved in another chapter, that the dominion of the Turk is already virtually over,
then the twelve millions of Greek Christians will at once
be the predominant element in the population, and their
natural affinities lead them to Russia, as the head and
defender of the Greek Church. This certainly is the case
with all but the higher clergy, who, from personal ambition,
would dislike the control of Russia.
It may be safely asserted that an independent state on
the present territory of Turkey, composed of Greek Christians, could not be maintained by all the power of western
Europe. France, as a Catholic Power, could maintain no
influence there except by force of arms-the influence of
the conqueror over the conquered-and England, as the
ally of a Papal Power, made herself obnoxious to the whole
Greek Church, which regards this war as, in fact, a religious quarrel. The attempt to erect within the limits of




IN REGARD TO THE EASTERN QUESTION.      153
Turkey an independent Christian state, considering the elements that must compose it, would necessarily end either
in its speedy incorporation with Russia or in a continual
war, for the very same reasons which have originated the
former struggle.
The single fact that fifty millions in the Russian Empire
belong to the Greek rite, and that twelve millions in Turkey are of the same faith, is sufficient to show how the
Eastern question will be finally settled. And to prove that
the demands of Russia are by no means so preposterous
and unjust as France and England would have the world
believe, let it be supposed that twelve millions of evangelical Protestants, allied to the Americans by race and religious faith, were, for the present, held in subjection by five
millions of Mexicans, and that this Mexican rule was weak
and tottering-about to fall-would France or England be
allowed to prevent these twelve millions from being incorporated with. the United States? Would this Government
permit these to be made an independent state even under
French or English dictation, that it might be interposed
between us and the West India islands and South America,
hold us within such limits as they should prescribe, and so
preserve here the balance of power?
It is quite evident that there could be but one settlement
of such a question. The very existence of this Union would
depend upon the continent being freed from any such foreign control. Every American would declare that the free
development of the country should go on without let or
hindrance from any others, whose only interest in the matter would be that of checking our too rapid advance, and
keeping us to their own level of power.
This, in principle, is the very movement which we are
called upon to meet in the French occupation of Mexico.
The Emperor declares without reserve that he has seized it
to interrupt and prevent the future growth of the Republic,
and that this interference is in behalf of the Latin race,
and we cannot safely forget that England declared herself
to be in perfect accord with France in regard to American




154        ENGLAND S COURSE TOWARDS RUSSIA.
affairs, and that the French and English fleets were united
in the expedition to Mexico. Louis Napoleon has explained
his policy in words. Hacd English statesmen done the same
the record in substance would have been this: " Our trans"atlantic cousins are becoming too powerful, they must be
"taken down. They are pressing hard on Mexico, having
" already absorbed some of her finest provinces; and they
" will soon wrest Cuba from Spain, and so obtain control of
"the West Indian seas; and they are moreover construct"ing a railway to the Pacific that may endanger our East"ern trade, while at the same time they are building up a
" manufacturing system which will render them independent
"of our workshops, and enable them to meet us in the
" markets of the world, and we must therefore sever this
"Union or enable the rebels to do it; we must help the
"Confederates to annihilate their commerce, force their
"carrying trade into our own ships, and effectually cripple
"their power."  Thus the " Eastern Question" shows that
it has a Western phase also, and the Alliance, as Lord Palmerston declared, had designs " ulterior to the preservation'" of Turkey."




TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY.         155
CHAPTER XIII.
HAD THE ALLIES FULLY SUCCEEDED IN THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA THEY
WOULD HAVE HELD TURKEY AS A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY, AS ENGLAND
HOLDS INDIA, AND AS FRANCE INTENDS TO DEAL W1TH MEXICO.
Only about one-fourth part of the population of the Ottoman Empire are Turks, and these, as masters, hold the
remaining three-fourths in subjection, treating them as an
inferior caste, just in proportion as they are not restrained
by a fear of European Powers. A  very large proportion
of this subject class, perhaps fourteen millions, bear the
Christian name. This fact alone would be sufficient to
show that the days of Turkish dominion are numbered.
These millions of Christians could not be compelled much
longer to endure the broken yoke of the Mussulman, and
the Emperor of Russia only presented a most obvious fact
to the English cabinet, when he intimated that it would
be wise to make some proper provision for the approaching
change. It was, however, urged, both in England and by
those who sympathized with England here, that although
the power of the Sultan may be annihilated, and Turkey
proper disappear, still on the territory of the Porte a Christian State may be established, which, under the protection
of the Western Powers, may give a Christian civilization




156         TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY,
to the East, while barbarism and oppression would be the
result of the occupation of Russia. Thus it was declared
that the war was one of Christian civilization against the
barbarous fanaticism of the North. This opinion swayed
many Christian minds in this country, who dreamed of free
Christian states, perhaps republics, dotting all the East,
under the protection of England.
It is not very difficult, certainly not impossible, to form
an opinion of what the result of France and English dominion would be if extended over the East. Their position,
and wants, together with their past conduct and present
policy, surely afford the data for an accurate judgment of
the future.
No one certainly is credulous enough to suppose that
either of these Powers was carrying on war merely to deliver
the oppressed, or to promote in any way the general welfare of mankind, unless at the same time their own interests
were in some way to be advanced, or their own ambition
to be gratified. To builcl upon Eastern soil such a nation
or nations as France and England now are, rivals of themselves in wealth, civilization and power, to restore in short,
to the East its old prosperity, and infuse an independent
life into states to be erected there: this was not in all their
thoughts.
Nay, more, such a result is not only contrary to every
feature of their policy, but for no purpose would both England and France put their fleets and armies in motion
sooner, than to forbid and prevent the interposition between
themselves and eastern and northern Asia, of powerful and
independent states. Such a nation as the United States, if
one could arise there, would be attacked by the western
Powers, for far more urgent reasons than have moved them
to the war on Russia. In order to predict the results of
French and English rule in these regions, it is only necessary to study these governments as they are, and in the light
of their history.
In the very outset of such an investigation, a fact is presented whose importance settles all. Neither France nor




HAD THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA SUCCEEDED.      157
England can hold any territory outside of their present
home limits except as colonial dependencies, and this determines of course the policy of the government in regard to
them. Neither of these Powers desire, or would ever permit independent, self-developing communities in the East,
but dependencies only, in fact if not in form, from which
tribute could be in some manner gathered for the government and country at home. The object of these now Allied
Powers is to manufacture for all other nations, and to control for themselves the commerce of the world. What they
require then is raw material for their mills, and markets
for their products.
Let it be remembered that the rule of France or England
over the East must be essentially that of a foreign Power,
whatever the relation might be. There are no affinities of
race or religion which might produce or cement a union,
but, on the contrary, there are violent antipathies, especially in regard to France, which are not to be removed, or
even controlled, except by the arm of power. The connection between races thus politically united can be of one
kind only-that of masters and dependents. In similar
cases, then, what have been the results? What is the effect
of English dominion upon the one hundred and fifty millions which she governs in the East already? Turkey and
the adjacent regions may learn a lesson from British India.
From the Merchants' Magazine, than which there is no
better authority either here or in Europe, the following
statistical information has been derived, which will show
how India stands related to Great Britain, and how she is
affected by her rule:
"During the last fifteen years, there has been accruing
from this effeminate people the vast sum of ~340,760,000,
of which sum but ~5,000,000 have been spent in public
improvements. Its revenue in India is twenty-sevefi million pounds, of which but sixty thousand pounds are spent
for the education of children. Its military expenditures,
in 1839, were eight millions pounds; in 1852, twelve mil



158         TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY
lions pounds, or about forty-six per cent. of the whole
revenue. The taxes on the lands amount to twelve millions
pounds annually, averaging from sixty to ninety per cent.
of the whole production of the soil.  Wacges of a laborer
from six to eight cents a day. Salt is not allowed to be manufactured, and every pound consumed pays three-fourths of a
penny, tax."
In addition to other articles, India can produce more
opium than Europe consumes, and therefore England sends
a fleet and army to China, and says, " You must buy from
" me so much opium each year, or I shall lay your com"4 mercial towns in ashes."  China replied that this poison
was ruining her subjects, body and soul, and that she had
no need of opium, indeed, would be in every respect happier and more prosperous without it. England's answer
was, " I must realize a certain sum from my opium; it can
"not be done unless you buy, and buy you must. Here
"am I, with shotted guns and matches lighted."
This is a sample of the colonial policy of England, and
this is the prosperity and civilization which she confers
upon her present possessions in the East. Such, modified
only by circumstances, is her governmental scheme for
colonies.
Colonial policy, as a whole, may be regarded as a system
designed to convey to the coffers of the home or ruling
country the largest possible amount of treasure, with the
least possible expenditure. England needs colonies to raise
her raw material and grain for her workmen, and for these
she wishes to pay with her manufactured products, at prices
secured by a monopoly of the trade.
This would be the governing principle of her policy, as
well as of France, if they should gain control of Turkey,
and the regions around the Euxine and the Caspian. It
would be there, as in India, a system of oppression and
exhausting demands. These countries would be allowed
to produce nothing which could be supplied by the ruling
race.




HAD THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA SUCCEEDED.     159
Turkey would possess neither manufactures nor an independent commerce, and consequently neither a high state
of civilization nor wealth. She would be confined to agricultural labor, with wages at the minimum rate, to be paid
for by inferior goods at such prices as can be maintained
where competition is not allowed. Even now, England absorbs thirty-seven per cent. of the whole commerce of
Turkey, and she derives from thence one-fourth part of
all the grain that is imported for her operatives. Hence
her anxiety concerning the occupancy of the Danubian
provinces.
The term colonial policy is used here because, as has
been stated already, whatever external political form the
relation between the East and western Powers might assume, it would be virtually one of colonial dependency, because this is absolutely required by the commercial interests
involved.
Lamartine has declared that England would sacrifice all
Europe to her commerce, and the remark finds its reason
in her history. If any are disposed to believe that India
should not be cited as a fair example of her policy, let him
consult our own colonial history, and observe the systematic
and oppressive course pursued by the mother country to
repress manufactures and commerce here, loading us with
restrictions and prohibitions, and discouraging every description of industrial effort which looked either to independent. existence, or to the production of anything which
England could make or buy for us with her goods, and
grasping the profits of our carrying trade by compelling a
re-shipment in England of our exports to foreign countries.
What an able writer has said in regard to France and her
relations to the East, her designs upon Turkey, illustrates
with entire accuracy the policy of the western Powers.
Having stated that up to 1842 France desired the decay
and dismemberment of Turkey, he proceeds:
" The question recurs, Why has she changed her policy,
and why to-day does she help to rivet the chains by which




160         TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY,
twelve millions of Christians are made the slaves of a single
Turk? We answer at once, it is not the holy principles
of justice, honor, and right, but the desire of commercial
supremacy, that leads her to attempt to stifle the cry of
millions for the blessings of civilization, manufactures and
commerce.
" To prove this, let us examine the nature of the trade
with Turkey, and also its amount. By these tables (the
details are omitted here) it will be seen at once that the
trade of Turkey gives employment to a ninth part of the
mercantile marine of France; that it consumes her manufactures to the amount of twenty-seven million francs, and
above all, furnishes her with a raw commodity that is the
basis of her manufactures, and upon the supply of which
depends the prosperity of her cities and people. In addition to this, the increase of her manufactures is diminishing
her capability of producing grain enough to feed them,
and the failure of a single crop of grain might precipitate
the nation into a revolution.' The care of its present rulers, who are never too firmly
seated, is to provide labor and food for the people. INiow,
the raw materials and provisions must come from countries
where manufactures have no hold, and all are producers.
Prior to 1830, and even to 1840, Russia was one of the
nations which could supply her, and in all probability
would for years to come, to any extent in case of emergency. Bdt _Russia prohibited her vmanufactures in order to
encouraye her own, and a single stroke of the Czar's pen
could drive her peasants into rebellion."
Here, let it be remarked, is the true cause of this war,
aside from  its religious features and the Papal ambition.
Russia had been to England and France only as a huge
agricultural colony, supplying them with grain and raw
commodities, and receiving in return their goods. Tired
of this dependent life, which the Russian statesmen, and
more especially the comprehensive mind of Nicholas saw,
could never result in a real civilization, it was determined




HAD THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA SUCCEEDED.     161
to build up for Russia a manufacturing and commercial
system of her own.
If she succeeds, slie will not only consume her own raw
commodities and her grain at home, but with her manufiactures she will meet France and England in the markets of
the world. To prevent this independent growth, to repress
the expanding life and civilization of a sister nation, France
and England have taken up arms. It is a war whose desig'n is to hold Russia in a dependent and semi-barbarous
state, as a mere producer of raw commodities, and Russia
is fighting for independence and the right of self-development; while Jesuitism has taken advantage of commercial
interest to involve the world, and crush if possible the
great rival of the Papacy.
The writer already quoted goes on to say: "Turkey
"alone could be made to subserve her ends. She would
"receive her manufactures at three per cent., and pay for
"them in that raw commodity so necessary to France, and
"' then in addition to this, the rich fields of Moldavia and
1" Wallachia were loaded with grain waiting to be borne
" to a hungry people. As Lamartine remarks, Turkey is a
"' necessity to the existence of France.
" Let civilization with its magic power once be felt upon
her soil, and a Christian population would make the whole
nation resound with the sound of industry and manufactures; she would become the consumer of her own products
and raw material, and as a direct result, diminish the power
of France." Speaking of the Crimean war he proceeds as
follows-it would be well if every American would listen
to his words:
~'The war they (the Allies) are now waging is not to save
Turkey, but to cripple and destroy the commercial prosperity of Russia. They have combined to set bounds to
the progress of a nation that first opened to them and their
merchant-fleets the whole commerce of the Black Sea, and
which poured out the blood of her children like water in
order to wring from the barbarous Turk that great boon
11




162         TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY,
to trade and commerce. Both are leagued together that
they may monopolize the commerce of Europe and destroy
the commerce and manufactures of Russia. If they succeed in this case, to whom, let us inquire, will they next
prescribe the limits of their possessions and the amount of
their trade? Who appointed them to set limits to the progress of nations and the amount of their commerce? For
we must never forget that if France and England possess
the right to set bounds to the expansion of Russia, they
possess also the same right in regard to us. Are we told
that they are warring to preserve the integrity of an
empire?
"Who but these Powers robbed Turkey of Greece, and
threatened by force of arms to prevent Russia from aiding
the Sultan from bringing Mohammed Ali under subjection,
and thus save a flourishing state to the Empire? Hear the
official order of the British Government upon this topic of
the integrity of Turkey:'To maintain the integrity of' the Ottoman Empire in the sense sometimes attributed to'the phrase can never be a political duty, for the simple'reason that it is a political impossibility. Europe has been'maintaining this fabric for nearly a century; and how has' it been maintained?
"'Half its dominions have been lost. Algiers, Egypt,
Greece, the Archipelago, and Bessarabia, were once portion of the Ottoman Empire. To what governments do
they pertain now?  What justice did Turkey receive at
the hands of Europe when the Porte was excluded from
the provisions of 1815? when the Greek insurgents were
protected by the Allies against their legitimate mother?
when the Sultan was compelled by the five Powers not
only to pardon a rebellious vassal that had threatened the
very throne of Ottoman, but to confirm this rebel in the
hereditary possession of his Pachalic? In every instance
of intervention which has occurred since the decline of the
Turkish Empire, the interposing States have enforced conclusions theoretically irreconcilable with the rights of an




HAD THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA SUCCEEDED.     163
independent monarchy. Nor could it possibly be otherwise.
"'The plain truth is, that a dominion so universally
ruinous and unnatural could not really be maintained in
its integrity; nor can all the Powers of Europe do more
than mitigate the successive symptoms of decay, and avert
by prudent concert the consequences of a violent catastrophe.'
Such is the testimony of an organ that controls the public
opinion of England, and speaks the sentiments of its ministry."
This was its language while England was considering the
proposition of Nicholas, ere it was thought that a more
profitable connection could be formed with France, and
while England thought equally with the Emperor of Russia,
that the consequences of the sudden fall of Turkey ought
to be averted by "prudent concert," the very course Nicholas proposed.
"What," continues this writer, "was the declaration
afterward? They asserted that they were sick of talking
about upholding. Turkey, and they were warring against
Russia to prevent her from reaching the Bosphorus. Attempt to disguise the fact as we may, it is a war in behalf
of barbarism, at the expense of civilization, and incited by
a nation that has robbed India of every right she ever possessed, destroyed her manufactures, starved her people, and
plundered her treasures; the other Power robbed Algiers
from the Empire, obtained by means of fraud its ablest
defender, and to crown their claim to honor, burned in
caves the men who dared to defend their native soil.
"When France occupied Algiers, she said it was but a
counterpoise to England's Malta. Now, the two Powers
combine to forever exclude Russia from that sea to which
she has the same right as they. The entente cordiale existing between them is dangerous to every commercial nation,
for it is based upon an understanding that no nation that
they consider capable of being their rival in commerce.and




164         TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY,
trade shall extend its power beyond the limits they fix.
To-day the United States may feel indifferent as to the
result of the contest, but it affects our own security and
prosperity as a commercial nation. Let us remember that
for years England claimed the right to exclude us from the
East India trade. But she then lacked allies. To-day we
have obtained a foothold for our manufactures even in
Persia, where she sends yearly a million pounds worth. If
she can check Russia in her march to the ocean, then she
can summon us to leave the Persian Gulf, for now she has
an ally as grasping as herself.
"She can impress our seamen and search our vessels,
for she has declared, by her agent, and that lately, since
this war commenced, that while she assented to the declaration of Denmark's and Sweden's neutrality, she did not
relinquish her right of search, nor retract -her former definition as to the rights of neutrals. [These demands caused
the war of 1812.] No American can be indifferent to the
result of this war. It affects us as an expansive, acquiring
and commercial people; it affects us as a liberty-loving
and independent nation; for if it succeeds in drying up the
streams of a mighty nation's manufactures and trade, it
will check in it the development of civilization, the intelligence of the masses, and their approach to independence."
No more truthful words than these have been spoken in
America, even, concerning that selfish and ungenerous war.
How plain, in this light, appears Lord Clarendon's declaration, that the Alliance between France and England was
intended to control the affairs of both hemispheres; how
significant the threats borne occasionally from France and
England that fleets shall winter in the West Indian seas,
and that any vagaries of ours will be duly corrected, such
as a disposition to possess ourselves of Cuba, or any other
scheme not approved of by the self-appointed regulating
Powers.
Before dismissing this part of the subject, it may not be
amiss to add to what has already been said concerning the
preservation of the Turkish Empire, the opinion of the




HAD THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA SUCCEEDED.     165
Edinburgh Review, in 1836, before opinions and policy had
been warped by a French Alliance:
" Our fears and jealousies of Russia have been stimulated
beyond the reasonable pitch, while in order to afford an
imaginary counterpoise, we have been called upon to exert
our utmost energies in preserving the Turkish Empire.
To encourage us in so quixotic an enterprise, every effort
has been made to paint the Turks as employed in throwing
off the weight of centuries of bigotry and mismanagement,
and ready to assist us ably and zealously by reforming their
institutions.
"' We can not hesitate to express our conviction that of
all delusions, it is one of the greatest to expect that the
Turkish Empire can or will be long maintained in its present shape, bolstered up, as it is, by foreign support."
Now, England calls on all the world to execrate the
name and memory of Nicholas, because, in 1844, he made
the-same declaration to England, and invited her, as a matter of precaution, to provide for the result-a suggestion
which she then received with smiles, and did not reject
until 1853.
The Review, of 1836, proceeds as follows:
" History offers no one instance of an empire which, after
its strength and sinews have moldered away, has recovered
them again by the mere quiet process of internal improvement. Nor need we stop to show how absolute a barrier
the Mohammedan religion presents between the Turks and
European civilization; how utterly impossible it is for a
state not Christian to enter on equal terms into the civil
commonwealth of Christendom.  But apart from  such
general considerations, no one who has seriously observed
the national character and peculiar policy of the Turks, can
imagine the possibility of an empire possessed of European
strength and concentration, composed of them alone or in
conjunction with subject nations.




166         TURKEY A COLONIAL DEPENDENCY,
" They do not build, but destroy, They show no wish
to adorn the soil which they inhabit, or connect in any way
the existence of the present generation with posterity.
Their object in this world seems to be mere animal existence, as completely as that of the beasts of the field."
From what has been presented two conclusions seem to
be inevitable: first, that the Turkish Empire, as such, can
not be maintained, and that its preservation forms no part
of the policy of the Allied Powers, except as a mere dependency of their own; and, second, that whatever change may
occur in theform of the government, the settled policy of
France and England requires that the lands of Turkey
should form merely a vast plantation, worked for the benefit of its masters.
It may well be asked, therefore, and not without some
anxiety, what benefits will the world at large receive, and
how will the interests of the United States be affected, if
the colonial policy of the Allied Powers is extended over
Turkey, and if their fleets should control the Mediterranean
and the Black Sea?-  If the yoke of the Ottoman Power
could be broken off from the Christian population of the
Empire, and they be not only permitted but encouraged to
enter upon an independent career, and all the resources of
that glorious land could be made available by the power
of a true Christian civilization; then, indeed, there might
be reason for rejoicing if the march of Russia could be
arrested.
But in the present condition of Europe this can not be.
England and France have chosen to terminate that arrangement by which the Porte might have tottered on yet longer
in a state of merely nominal independence, and the only
question now remaining is, by whom shall Turkey hereafter be exclusively controlled-by the East or the West?
Another inquiry may be added: will it be better for other
nations, and for Turkey, that it should become virtually a
colony of the Western Powers, or that it should be incor



HAD THE ATTACK ON RUSSIA SUCCEEDED.     167
porated with Russia? Between these two alternatives there
seems now no middle ground.
Nothing is more certain than that France and England
intend to apply the principles of the Russian policy to the
western hemisphere, and they have seized upon the rebellion
as the entering wedge in American affairs. Could they
succeed, Mexico would first of all be shaped into a French
colony in reality, whatever the forms of the government
might be. Maximilian, if once seated there, would be
simply a crowned puppet-the imperial overseer of a French
plantation.
Texas would then be seized on the first pretext, and
gradually the South, if nominally independent, would become merely a colony to raise cotton, sugar, &c., for the
Allies, and the Pacific coast would if possible be wrested
from our possession.
The policy of France and England contemplates all this,
and all this we have good reason to believe was included in
the original scheme of the Anglo-French Alliance. It was
against America as well as Russia. It had, as English
statesmen said, reference to both hemispheres.
Our great war for national independence is yet to come,
and God is ridding us of our weakness, and bringing out
our resources, and consolidating our strength, that we may
be prepared. The question whether we are to be subjected
to the dictation of European Powers is yet to be settled.




168    FUTURE MOVEMENTS OF THE GREAT POWERS.
CHAPTER XIV.
FUTURE MOVEMENTS OF THE GREAT POWERS.
From this brief review of a portion of European history,
it is thought that not only can the present attitude of
France and England towards America be fully understood,
but that the future relations of the great Powers to each
other may also be foreseen.
The rebellion has shown us the deep-seated and now
active hostility of some of the chief European nations, and
we see clearly that this is the result of settled national
policy. The sudden development of our military strength,
and especially the rapidity with which we have created a
navy among the most powerful in the world, will cause us
now, far more than ever before, to arouse the jealousy of
Europe. These things, with the movement of France upon
Mexico, and the unfriendly temper of England, have brought
us within the disturbed circle of European operations and
policy, and henceforth we shall be compelled to act in reference to the movements of the great Powers that control
the world, because their ambition and jealousies will no longer
permit us to remain isolated and pursue an independent
course. They seem determined to apply to Americathe European system of interference, in order to preserve "the balance of power," in other words they propose to combine to




FUTURE MOVEMENTS OF THE GREAT POWERS.   169
strike down every too prosperous nation. If by our intelligence, our action, enterprise and resources, we are in the
estimation of France and England becoming too strong,
they propose in some way to interfere and arrest our progress. This is not a sudden passing caprice, but a settled
rule of national action, applicable to both hemispheres, as
the English have declared; and the same spirit which
made an English theatre ring with applause when it was
announced that the Emperor of Russia was dead, caused
the shouts of Englishmen on the sea when they saw the
flame of our ships, fired by a pirate fitted out in their own
harbors, and to congratulate each other upon the supposed
ruin of the Great Republic.
It seems evident now, that the four nations which will
control the destinies of the world in the immediate future,
are France and England, Russia and America. The armies
and the navies, the commerce, and the manufacturing power
of the nations, are mostly in their hands. They wield the
forces of the world, whether material or intellectual, moral
or religious.
They represent three grand divisions of the human race,
the Sclavonic, the Latin, and the Teutonic, and the three
forms of religion by which Christendom is divided, the
Greek Church, the Latin or Roman Catholic, and the Protestant.
These races are evidently drawing apart from each other
and preparing for a separate career. The Sclavonian race
tends to consolidate upon Russia, the Latins are drawing
around France, and while the Protestants of Europe have
as yet no recognized head, owing to the unnatural alliance
of England with a Papal power, the United States is the
Protestant head of the West.
These three forms of religion tend on all sides, not to
union and friendship, but to divergence and hostility. The
Papacy is incapable of alliance or true peace with any form
of religion. Her claim is ever the same-to be the one only
and exclusive Church, with the right and the duty to suppress every other whenever she has the power. As she has




170    FUTURE MOVEMENTS OF THE GREAT POWERS.
been, she will continue to be the active and uncompromising enemy both of the Greek Church and the Protestant.
Between the Protestant Church and the Greek or Russian, there is no hostility beyond that which has sprung
from local and temporary causes. Still, probably, these
will not coalesce, their mission and fields of action are different, and their work in the future will be apart, though
there appears no reason at present why they should be rivals
or enemies. Much will depend upon the future position of
England. Were she the friend of Russia, then England,
America and Russia, might together spread Christianity
over the East.
The only safety, however, of this nation lies in acting in
view of the present temper and policy of the leading powers
of Europe. The causes that led to the attack on Russia,
which leagued France and England in hostility to us, are
not only in existence still, but they will work with greater
intensity in the future.
Russia, at the head of the Greek Church, is more earnestly intent than ever upon carrying her government and
her religion over the East. She is fully determined to gain
back from the oppressing and usurping Turk the city of
the Eastern Empire which he wrested from her mother
church. Russia will not pause until another mighty effort
has been made to establish herself upon the Dardanelles
and the Mediterranean. Already, if the English Press is
correct, she has a new fleet upon the Black Sea, and the
Allies have done Russia a priceless service by compelling
her to substitute a navy of modern ships for the worthless
old "three-deckers" which were sunk at Sebastopol.
France is gathering to herself the nations which form
the Papal Church, and aiming to restore throughout the
world, west as well as East, the lost prestige of the Latin
Church, and obtain the power and the glory of its political
head. The United States aims to extend her political and
religious life, the power of Protestantism, and of free institutions over this continent. She demands room and liberty
to expand, unhindered by any power of Europe, over the




FUTURE MOVEMENTS OF THE GREAT POWERS.    171
whole field of her proper dominion; and while it is not
necessary that she should conquer either north or south of
her present territory, she will never permit, and cannot
without peril to her life, a hostile monarchial power to be
established on her border with the avowed purpose of checking her progress. It is somewhat more difficult to foresee
the future position of England. Her policy is not controlled
by attachment to a church or faith as Russia and the Latin
nations are; the commercial idea is her pole star, and this
fact alone deprives her of half her power, for no nation can
be truly great whose chief motive of action is the making
of money. In no case, however, is it safe for the United
States to trust for a moment upon the friendship or even
neutrality of England. She will cheer on every nation that
may attack tis, and aid them to the extent of her power,
and this will be done for a long time to come in spite of the
influence of the liberal party.
It is vain to suppose that England will ever be generous
enough to feel willing that we should become greater than
herself. Her desire to see us " taken down" will be stronger
with her than any other feeling. The present monarchial,
aristocratic England, cannot be the friend of the United
States.
It seems at first sight not improbable, that so soon as
France shall reveal somewhat more clearly her design of a
grand combination of the Latin Powers which might be
used against England, she might separate herself and seek
alliance with Russia or America, or both, against France.
Will she dare to do this? France is at her doors with
an army that she cannot match, and could either Russia
or America help her with troops upon her own soil? Could
they do this if disposed. Will not England find hereafter
her only safety in favoring the designs of France precisely
as she now does, and did in the Crimean war?
There is no safety for the United States, except to prepare herself to meet the hostility of France and England
united. It may not for the present manifest itself in actual




172    FUTURE MOVEMENTS OF THE GREAT POWERS.
war; that will depend alone upon circumstances, but not
far in the future the collision must come.
It is simply impossible that England and France, Russia
and America, should pursue their several lines of national
policy and not come into confict. These, policies, on the
other hand, cannot be abandoned; the national life is bound
up in them. Russia must go forward, to pause is for the
nation to die. France is urged on by the traditions, histories, and ambitions of a mighty race. England feels that
her existence is at stake, and no man can doubt the future
course of America in regard to foreign interference with
this continent who sees the determination of the North in
this war to maintain our nationality.
A great conflict then lies in the future. Let us carefully
study the resources and power of these four nations, beginning with the only one that promises to be our friend, perhaps our ally —Russia. It behooves Americans now, if never
before, to understand what Russia really is.




THERE SHOULD BE AN AMERICAN OPINION OF RUSSIA. 173
CHAPTER XV.
THERE SHOULD BE AN AMERICAN OPINION OF RUSSIA.
Although Russia has become the most powerful nation
of Europe, she remains in great degree unknown: Her
advance upon Europe and the East has been as steady, as
resistless, as mysterious, as the descent of a glacier from the
Alps. All the force of earth can neither turn the glacier
backward, nor divert it from its course, nor even arrest its
progress; nor can science fully explain the force that pushes
forward the enormous mass. There remains, however, the
fact, that year by year it encroaches more and more upon
the valley below. Each summer melts off a little of its
solid front, but still the icy boundary of to-day is beyond
the line on which it rested a year ago.
So with Russia. Her colossal proportions are expanding
still, her frontier line is moving on, plowing its way like
the edge of the glacier through all obstacles, and though
we hear continually of losses she incurs, and of defeats
which she suffers, we find that notwithstanding all, she has
been moving on, and has established herself in new possessions, at the very moment when the rest of Europe was
rejoicing over her supposed discomfiture. Statesmen, polit



174 THERE SHOULD BE AN AMERICAN OPINION OF RUSSIA.
ical economists, even historians, give no adequate explanation of this overshadowing phenomenon, no satisfactory
account of the interior life which is thus forcing the nations
aside to make room for the growth of Russia. Europe
sneers at the horde of northern barbarians, but then she
saw the best appointed army and the ablest commander of
modern times utterly crushed by them, and hurled in broken fragments over their frontier, and this, too, when up
to the startling result, it was declared that Russia was
beaten in every battle, that her capital was taken, and the
Empire was ruined. At the commencement of the Crimean
war, we were informed that Russia was exhausted by her
disasters in the Caucasus, that a small tribe there was sufficient to hold her power at bay, that she had no money
wherewith to prosecute a war, that her army was formidable only on paper, scattered through her vast territory in
disconnected detachments, incapable of combined action;
and many believed and asserted that Turkey alone was an
overmatch for her foe; and yet a formidable English fleet
spent two summers in the Baltic without daring to look
upon Cronstadt, and the most formidable armament that
the world perhaps ever saw, spent its force and exhausted
its skill for two years in vain upon a single Russian outpost.
England and France met not the unwieldy, stupid, almost
helpless giant which they have loved to describe and call
Russia, but the living power of a great nation, whose power
has been wielded with a skill and energy at least equal to
to their own.
Russia has made no great and sudden conquests in
Europe; she has poured no living deluge abroad for the
desolation of the world —a tide whose ebb follows quickly
after the swell of the flood; but she is the more formidable
for that very reason. She grows. Her progress follows the
law of a life, and its development is after the model of a
national idea. Herein lies her strength; and the power of
this life, yet young and vigorous, will carry her far into the
future.
Until recently, the Empire of the Czars has awakened




TIIERE SHOULD BE AN AMERICAN OPINION OF RUSSIA. 175
very little attention or sympathy in the American mind.
Its remote position, and the channels through which we
have obtained our scanty information, have prevented us
from forming any correct and well-defined idea of its prospects, resources and policy. Most Americans have been
led to think of Russia as a land of almost perpetual snow
and frost, of interminable forests, or uninhabitable plains,
and few perhaps have asked themselves, how in such frozen
wastes and forest solitudes, seventy millions of people have
not only contrived to exist, but have grown up into the
most formidable nation of Europe. Again, thousands regard her as an assemblage of boisterous hordes, having no
common life or bond, held together by the power of a military despotism, and ruled over by a half-savage tyrant.
Few have been led to inquire how, upon such a supposition,
we are to account for her rapid and steady advance to the
foremost position of the eastern world. It would not be
easy for a semi-barbarous people, with merely a military
tyrant at their head, to reach so eminent a station by the
very side of the civilization of western Europe, and in competition with such powers as England, France, and Austria.
The national policy of Russia has been represented to Europe
and America under the single idea of a perpetual longing
to rush on Turkey, and seize upon Constantinople. Nearly
all else has been vailed from view. The true character of
this policy and its real objects have been but partially understood. Russia has, moreover, been viewed with dislike
or indifference by Americans, because of the form of her
government, and her supposed hatred of a liberal and republican policy. She has been regarded as the determined foe
of the rights of man; as neither desiring for herself, nor
willing to admit in others, any other form of civilization
than such as may be produced by an absolute military despotism. It has been supposed that Russia and America
are the true opposites and even antagonists of each other,
the one representing a half-civilized oriental despotism, the
other rational republicanism. The thought once scarce
entered the American mind that a mutual regard might




1.76 THERE SHOULD BE AN AMERICAN OPINION OF RUSSIA.
spring up between the two Powers, and that they may yet
become the friendly representatives of the two leading ideas
of the world.
It is quite evident that the popular opinion of the great
Northern Power, does not correspond either with her past
history or her present position. Her power and resources
have been underrated even in Europe. France and England have miscalculated the strength of their antagonist.
Europe has misjudged her, because the sources of her vitality
are but imperfectly known. Yet it is manifest that she has
interior springs, whose copious flow supplies a broad and
steady stream of national life. Russia presents every external sign of a living organism-not merely an aggregation
of tribes, of fragments bound into a mass by present circumstances, which in any important change may fall
asunder. The resistance which, in 1812, she offered to
western Europe, was that of an organized body, animated
by a national life. There was a national heart beating with
hot enthusiasm in the midst of her snows; there was a,
national feeling smarting under a national wounld; there
was unyielding resolution-ready to sacrifice all things for
the preservation of their country, determined to make of
that country a desert, if the invader could not be otherwise
expelled; and it was the result of a living force that at last
swept her foes away. It was not a subdued or dispirited
people, not a people fired with no love of country, that
pressed upon and bore down the retreating forces of Bonaparte. Since that period there has been a steady enlargement and increase of vigor, as by growth from a strong
central life.




THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.   177
CHAPTER XVI.
THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.
In this age of the world, when civilization, instead of
being confined to a single luminous point, is diffused over
so large a portion of the world's surface, and a universal
empire is no longer possible, there are certain conditions
without which no great nation can come into existencecertain elements of strength necessary to procure for a
people the first rank among the Powers of earth. The first
of these conditions is an extensive territory. In the midst
of the powerful kingdoms of modern times, no petty state,
with limited domain, could exercise any important sway.
Greece, placed on her ancient territorial footing, and possessed again of her former resources, would now be but a
"little one" among the nations. Egypt could not now
sway the world's sceptre from the valley of the Nile, nor
could old Chaldea be in this age the " Lady of Kingdoms."
Even if Rome should arise once more, possessed of all her
Italian and Eastern power, leaving Russia, France, England, and the German states, as they now are, she would
no longer be the mistress of the world. To hold rank
among the present "great Powers" of Europe, a territory
is required, capable of sustaining a population of at least




178   THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.
thirty millions with the ordinary cultivation and modes of
life, and therefore the " four great Powers" must remain at
the head of affairs. But it is easy to see that if any one of
these should possess a territory capable of supporting a
population equal to that of France, England, and Austria,
combined, without being more densely peopled than they
now are, then, other things being equal, such a power
would hold all Europe at her control, because all know
that the other remaining nations could not be consolidated
into a permanent union, though they may become allies in
an hour of danger.
In estimating, therefore, the future position of the present
powers of earth, extent of territory and capacity for population must be the basis of the calculation; for a state of
thirty millions, of to-day, may, in a few years, stand in the
presence of another with one hundred millions of people.
But there must be not only extent of territory, but it must
be so situated as to be easily and safely controlled by one
central government. It is evident that India, Canada, and
Australia add little to the effective strength of England.
In proportion as they wax strong and prosperous will their
sympathy with the home government be weakened; and
therefore England, even with her great possessions, may be
regarded as having reached the zenith of her power-because she can not construct from her separated dependencies
one consolidated dominion. When it is said, however, that
she has reached her culminating point, the meaning is not
that she is now destined to an absolute decline; it is not
necessary, even, to suppose that she will make no progress
hereafter, but if another Power shall soon appear in Europe,
with one hundred millions of people, with a common
nationality, occupying one connected territory, and directed
by one sufficiently strong central government; if, indeed,
such an one has already taken its position on the theatre
of Europe, then, not only England, but France and Austria,
may be regarded as having passed the height of their influence, though their absolute power may yet continue to
increase. Against such a Power, the balance could not long




THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.  179
be preserved by any combination of western Europe. Moreover, to secure national greatness, based upon national
independence, the territory of a people should stretch
through so many degrees of latitude, and should embrace
such a variety of position and climate as to procure within
itself the main productions of the globe. In this respect,
neither England, France, nor Austria, are so situated as to
remain the very foremost nations of the world, though
France and England, but especially the latter, have thus far
been able to supply the deficiency by a command of the
open commerce of the globe. But it is easy to perceive,
that, in case of long-continued war, or if other states should
adopt a restricted commercial policy, every nation incapable of extensive home production, would suffer severely,
and perhaps be permanently crippled. A nation then, to
become not only great, but independent and secure, must
possess the means of a self-sustaining life, and this can only
be when its territory stretches through several degrees of
latitude.
Again, this territory must possess the means, natural or
artificial, of free and extensive internal communication.
Large lakes, or a chain of inland seas, and navigable rivers,
will probably always afoird the most important and cheapest
channels for commercial exchanges, and a country thus
furnished by the Creator will possess great advantages over
one not thus favored; for, although modern science has
put it in the power of any people to supply an adequate
means of cheap and rapid transit, yet navigable rivers, and
internal lakes and seas, are an additional advantage, conferring a superiority upon the nation possessing them.
Any country may be traversed by rail roads, but when, in
addition to these, God has scooped out the rivers and beds
of navigable waters, there is a double system and a double
advantage. Inasmuch, therefore, as God has designed the
earth as the theater of national life, we are led to believe
that those great divisions of its surface which are provided
with adequate systems of lakes and navigable rivers, bringing all parts into connection with each other, were thus




180   THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.
constructed in order to become the seats of national power;
and even though such a territory may be now unoccupied,
or but thinly inhabited, we are assured that the design
of God will be accomplished. The future of America may,
for this reason, be correctly inferred from the structure of
its territory, although large portions of it are lying waste,
without an inhabitant; and if we would form an opinion
of the prospects of Russia, we must study her systems of
rivers, and her general means of carrying on an interior
trade, by which her remote provinces may be united by
common interests, and bound to a common head.
Moreover, since modern skill and science have converted
the seas into the great thoroughfares of the world, no nation
with an interior position can hereafter hold the first rank
among the powers of earth. The great nation of the future
must have free access to the ocean —must not only hold
free communication with the sea from all points, but must
possess sufficient and convenient harbors as commercial
marts, and depots of maritime. power.
The admirable position of England, in the midst of the
seas, has given free scope to the genius of her people, and
enabled her to exert a controlling influence upon the affairs
of nations; but should a nation arise in Europe, with a
population many times greater than her own-equal in
intelligence and skill —with a proportionate control of the
ocean-in that case England, though still prosperous and
advancing, would hold but a secondary position; and this
would be equally true both of Austria and France. Whether
there is a probability of the rise of such an empire, will be
one of the questions to be discussed in these pages.
Again, a nation will be great and powerful, other things
being equal, in proportion as its growth is the progress of
a single race, instead of a mere aggregation of dissimilar
communities, brought by conquest under the dominion of a
single head. The one is a dead mass, tending ever to dissolution; the other is an animate body, unfolding a life, and
tending toward maturity. Every mighty nation of earth
has become great through the central life-power of one




THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.  181
dominant race; and the growth of power has been steady
so long as there was sufficient vitality in this center to mold
and assimilate all foreign material. Another important
question, then, connected with the prospects of the Russian
Empire is, whether its population consists mainly of one
race, which may supply a national life, and afford a true
basis of national unity. If such a race exists, speaking a
common language, bound together by the ties of common
ancestry, national memories, interests, and hopes, creating
a family pride and love of country; then it becomes important also to know whether this race possesses a clearly
marked individuality, and if so, whether in these characteristics we are able to discover the elements of growth and
greatness.
Still another element of national power exists, where a
nation is knit together by the ties of a common religion,
and when a deep religious sentiment pervades the public
mind. There may be a profession of a common faith, in
which the national heart feels little or no interest, where
even the doctrines of Christianity are coldly admitted, more
from the influence of tradition or early education than from
a conviction wrought into the heart; such a belief can not
be regarded as an element of strength, for the national soul
can not be roused for its defense-it can kindle no enthusiasm. But when a great people are controlled by a religious system in which they have an undoubting faith, and
which has power to excite and maintain a spirit of worship
in the popular mind, such a people can be roused to the
loftiest efforts of which man is capable, either for aggressive
war, for the spread of a national faith, or in defense of their
altars and their homes. In studying the characteristics of
Russia, we should therefore not forget to inquire concerning her religious faith, and the warmth and strength of the
religious sentiment among the millions of the empire, and
whether there is a deep national feeling of belief and worship that can be roused in a common cause. Finally, all
the elements of national power may lie through long periods
without being combined for any lofty purpose; or a nation,




182   THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF NATIONAL POWER.
even from the first, may seem to have some presentiment
of its destiny, and works on through centuries perhaps,
toward a distant end, dimly perceived even by itself, until
some mighty mind arises that comprehends the capacities
of his country, and institutes at once the proper methods
of awakening the national energies, and directs them to a
definite end. If then, upon investigation, we discover some
or all of these elements of power in Russia, it will then be
interesting to consider whether they are still lying like rude
materials yet unshapen by the hand of the artist, or whether
we find in the Emperor that greatness which has placed
him at the head of an era in his country's history, a genius
which has enabled him to mark out for his nation a noble
career, to conceive a great scheme bearing a true relation
to the capabilities of his empire, and then direct toward
this high end the whole power of his people.
With these thoughts before us, let us proceed to the
study of the great Northern Empire, and the policy and
character of the Czar. This character and policy will be
exhibited by presenting Russia as she is; for the Russia of
to-day has been mnodel-led according to the conception of
the late emperor, a conception to whose grand proportions
the empire will continue to shape itself in its future expansion. Nicholas formed the great idea of a Sclavonic civilization, with a territory for its theater stretching from ocean
to ocean, with the Greek faith and worship for its religious
basis, with a vast commercial and manufacturing system
for its support, and expanding not so much by conquest
as by growth from a central life.




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.       183
CHAPTER XVII.
GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
In accordance with the suggestions made in the preceding chapter, let us now inquire whether Russia possesses a
territory capable of sustaining a population that will give
her a controlling influence in the affairs of Europe. It has
been usual to speak of this empire under two great divisions, the one in Europe and the other in Asia, but we shall
obtain a clearer idea of its vast dimensions by regarding it
as one great whole. In fact, there is no great natural boundary to separate eastern from  western Russia, the Ural
mountains being little more than a long tract of elevated
land, the loftiest portions rising only to the height of four
thousand feet, the ascent and descent being so gradual
where the great roads pass as to be almost imperceptible.
We may then, without violence to any geographical feature,
consider the Russian territory as one unbroken whole.
Viewed thus, it stretches from the Baltic sea on the west,
across the entire breadth of Europe and Asia to the sea of
Okhotsk and to Behring's Straits, looking southward upon
the entire northern frontier of Europe, Turkey, Tartary,
and the Chinese empire. This territory contains no less




184        GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
than 6,750,000 square miles, or more than one-sixth part
of all the land on our planet. It has been the custom of
most to comprise the whole description of this immense
possession within the sweeping remark that most of it is
an inhospitable region of deserts and snows, incapable of
sustaining human life, and altogether without any important resources which can contribute to the growth of a
nation. The almost unequalled progress of the empire
within the last century is quite sufficient to expose the absurdity of such views, and yet in the one of latest American
work upon Russia is found the following: After speaking
of the great extent of the Russian dominions, and stating
that her territory is equal to two Europes, or the whole of
North America, the author adds, "But by far the greatest
"proportion of this prodigious superfices is almost unin"habited, and seems to be destined to perpetual sterility;
"a consequence partly of the extreme rigor of the climate,
"in the provinces contiguous to the Arctic ocean, and
"partly of almost all the great rivers by which they are
"traversed having their embouchure on that ocean, and
"being therefore inaccessible for either the whole or the
"greater part of the year."
What could the uninformed reader infer from this description but that "by far the greatest proportion" of all Russia
lies along the shores of the frozen ocean, and is therefore
condemned to a "perpetual sterility?" But how does this
idea accord with the fact that Russia, being somewhat less
in extent than the North American continent, has already
a population nearly double that of North America, and is
surpassed by the United States alone in the rapidity of her
progress.
Again the same author remarks, "The most distinguish"ing feature of Russia is her vasts forests. Schnitzler, who
"estimates the surface of European Russia at about four
"hundred millions of deciatims (2 7-10 acres), supposes
"that one hundred and fifty-six millions are occupied by
"forests. They are so very prevalent in the governments
"of Novgorod and Tver, between Petersburg and Moscow,




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.        185
" that it has been said a squirrel might travel from the one
"city to the other without ever touching the ground. In
"the government of Perm, on both sides of the IUral
"' mountains, containing eighteen millions of deciatims, no
"fewer than seventeen millions are covered by forests! The
"forests of Asiatic Russia are also of vast size."  These
may be facts, but facts thus presented without explanation,
and in connection with the statements which have been
mentioned concerning the sterile character of " by far the
greatest proportion" of Russia, serve only to lead the mind
of the inquirer astray. No long period has passed since
the most " distinguishing feature" of North America, particularly of the United States, was the almhnost unbroken
forest, and it was scarcely impossible one hundred years
ago for a squirrel to have passed from the Atlantic to the
Mississippi through one continuous wood; and yet on the
very site of the old forest now stand our populous States,
which indeed could not have sprung up with such marvellous growth had the forests been absent. These very
forests constitute a most important portion of the wealth
of Russia; they form a solid basis for her future progress,
and an element of growth with which she could by no
means safely dispense-as will be shown hereafter.
A fair comparison of the capabilities of the Russian Empire, so far as population is concerned, might be presented,
could we make even an approximate estimate of the extent
of territory within her limits, equal in productiveness to
other portions of Europe, and then calculate what the number of her people would be if these lands were as densely
settled as Europe now is. Sir Archibald Allison has attempted such a calculation, in which, as a basis, he rejects
two-thirds of Asiatic Russia as sterile and unproductive.
Having done this, he then proceeds to show that if Russia
in Europe were peopled as Germany now is, it would contain 150,000,000 souls; if as dense as Great Britain, the
number would be 311,000,000. He then adds, if that portion of Asiatic Russia which is capable of cultivation were
peopled even as Scotland is, it would sustain 200,000,000




186       GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
inhabitants; if as densely as the British Islands together,
more than 500,000,000 people. If, then, the agricultural
portion of Russia were populated only as Germany and
Scotland now are, her numbers would be 350,000,000;
if as densely as Great Britain, the population would be
more than 800,000,000. This seems at first glance mere
empty speculation. But let us consider that this would be
the number of the multitudes of Russia, when she has only
as many inhabitants to the square mile as Great Britain
now has, and reckoning only the productive portion of her
territory. The point to be observed here is, that with an
equal number of inhabitants on the square mile, the population of Great Britain would be some 28,000,000, and that
of Russia 800,000,000, and this without taking into account
the sterile lands of the latter country. This, therefore,
affords a fair comparison of the capacities of the two kingdoms, looking at this single point alone. Nor can it be
said that it is impossible that the agricultural portions of
Russia will ever support as many inhabitants on the square
mile as are found in Great Britain now, for out of about
57,000,000 acres in the British Islands, 22,000,000 are waste
lands. Besides, even the present ratio of increase in Russia
will give her in the year 1900. 130,000,000 people; in 1950,
the number will be 260,000,000; and one hundred and fifty
years hence, with simply her present rate of progress, her
population will be 520,000,000, and we have seen that her
territory is abundantly sufficient to support even this enormous multitude-that even then she will not be overstocked
with people, for the estimate is based upon her agricultural
and productive lands alone, and facts would seem to indicate that this portion of her country is much larger in proportion to the whole than has been hitherto supposed.
Indeed, in almost all our publications upon this subject,
from the elementary books and geographies of our schools
to the scientific lecture, we find only those sweeping generalities which are usually employed in the absence of definite
ideas and accurate information.
It will be conceded by all that the territorial possessions




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.        187
of Russia are sufficiently extensive to form the basis of an
empire more powerful than any now on the globe-superior
even to any nation of the past. But then we are at once
reminded that most of this vast dominion lying under the
frozen sky of the north is unfit for the habitation of man,
and is doomed to eternal rigor and sterility. If this is indeed so, then western Europe has little to apprehend from
the future growth of this northern Power, and the world at
large little to hope from the civilization of the Sclavonic
races. But it is better to study this subject in the light of
admitted facts than to be guided by theories hastily constructed, and which, like false quotations from some ancient
author, pass current for generations, sometimes without examination, and, consequently, without dispute. A few well
established facts relating to position, climate, and productions, will enable us to form an accurate opinion upon the
single point of the capacity of the Russian territory to
sustain a dense population.
By far the largest proportion of the Russian Empire,
whether in Europe or Asia, lies within the temperate zone,
and this alone would furnish strong presumptive evidence,
if not positive proof, that a small portion only of its lands
are necessarily uninhabitable or barren, on account of the
severity of the climate. Between the parallels of latitude
that enclose entire Europe, Russia has a territory equal in
extent to all the other European States, and from its southern limit, between the Black Sea and the Caspian, it
stretches northward through about eighteen degrees of latitude, before it reaches the northern extremity of Great
Britain, a distance equal to that from New Orleans to the
center of Lake Superior-or in general terms, equal to the
breadth of our country, from the Gulf of Mexico to British
America.
This fact alone is quite sufficient to show that, so far as
territory and climate are concerned, she possess the elements
of national greatness almost immeasureably beyond any
other single Power of Europe-holding a territory nearly
equal to them all, which lies in the same latitude as their




188       GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
own, beside her more northern districts, and her immense
possessions in Asia. The character of that portion of Russia
in Europe which lies north of the latitude of Great Britain,
and also that of her Asiatic dominions, may be understood
by Americans, if compared with our own country. In this
comparison, it must not be forgotten that the climate of
Europe is milder than in the corresponding latitudes in
America. The opening of the spring, the time of the
autumnal frosts, and the beginning of winter, will furnish
proper points for such a comparison. It would probably be
very near the truth, if the average time for the opening of
the navigation of the H-udson is fixed at or near the 1st of
April. The ice in the Penobscot, as was stated, began to
move this season (1855) on the 14th of April. At St. Paul,
Minnesota, the navigation of the Mississippi opens from
the 1st to the middle of April, and up to this time, also,
the ice usually remains in the harbors of our western lakes.
The period for the closing of these rivers and lakes, in the
autumn, is from the middle of November to the first of
December-the Hudson alone excepted, which often remains open until the last days of December. Throughout
the Northern States, the time for planting Indian corn is
between the first and 12th of May, and it reaches maturity,
with a profitable yield, in regions so far north that the
planting is delayed until June, while there, also, rye, oats,
flax, barley, potatoes and other roots, as well as a great
variety of fruits, grow in perfection. Now when it is considered that the most flourishing portion of our country is
that where the commencement of spring ranges from the
middle of April to the middle of May, and where the
autumnal frosts begin about the 1st of October, it is surely
a somewhat hasty conclusion that a country of Europe,
possessing a similar climate, must be regarded as doomed
to perpetual sterility, as a mere frozen waste. The ice on
the Neva, at St. Petersburgh, is usually broken up about
the 18th of April, while it again becomes stationary about
the 1st of December. Vegetation commences by the 1st
of May, and proceeds with a rapidity that outstrips the




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.      189
growth of more southern climes, and fully compensates for
the later opening of spring. By an examination of the
reports of various travelers, but especially the descriptions
of the accurate and scientific German tourist, Erman, we
learn that if we travel eastward from St. Petersburgh,
through Russia in Europe, and Siberia, to the Pacific Ocean,
we shall find that through all these immense regions, to
within a short distance of the arctic circle, the climate corresponds in general with that of the northern portions of
the United States, and the British American provinces;
that the commencement of winter and the beginning of
spring, and the range of the thermometer, are nearly the
same on both the eastern and western continents. It would
therefore be wrong to conclude that any portion of Russia,
either in Europe or Asia, south of sixty-two degrees north
latitude, may not support a dense population, when we have
before our eyes New England, northern New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Canada, with a climate essentially
the same, yet evidently possessing all the elements of rapid
growth and national greatness. In regard to the productiveness of the soil of Russia, our conclusions rest partly
upon conceded facts, and partly upon inferences. Little
need be said concerning the whole vast territory which lies
opposite to the main portions of western Europe, embracing eighteen degrees of latitude, for although much has been
said of the inhospitable and even uninhabitable steppes of
the southern portion of this region, Americans have learned
that a prairie land is capable of supporting an exceedingly
dense population, and the " detestable black dust" mentioned
by travelers in the Russian prairies, indicates, in a manner
not to be mistaken, the fertile character of the soil. This
region, then, lying side by side with western Europe, and
almost equal in extent to that part of the United States
which lies between the Atlantic and the Rocky Mountains,
may, perhaps, be considered as equal in productiveness to
the remainder of Europe. We have then to consider, in
addition, the more northern portions of Russia, both in
Europe and Asia. Here the winters are severe, and the




190        GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
summers are short; and, although the capabilities of the
soil have scarcely been tested at all, it is probable that cultivation must cease at a point about one hundred miles
south of the arctic circle. This opinion is founded chiefly
upon the observations of Erman, who found that the grains
of Europe had been brought to perfection within about
this distance of the frigid zone, and even in places where
the ground is perpetually frozen, a few feet below the surface. These northern regions, moreover, abound in immense
forests, particularly of pine, and soil which is capable of
supporting the growth of large forest trees will, by suitable
culture, produce food for man. These forests form no inconsiderable portion of the wealth of Russia, and will
materially contribute to her fuiture growth; and the truth
of this will readily appear when we remember that the
snows of the winter, and the countless streams in the summer, furnish precisely the means of transport for lumber,
which has been found so efficacious in America.
Some idea may be formed of the value of the forests of
Russia, from the following statements which are found in
Allison's IIistory of Europe: "The cold and shivering
"plains which stretch toward Archangel and the shores
"of the White Sea, are covered with immense forests of
"oak and fir, furnishing at once inexhaustible materials
"for ship-building, and supplies of fuel, which for many
"generations will supercede the necessity of searching in
"the bowels of the earth for the purposes of warmth or
"'manufacture, for the inhabitants of the empire." IHe
then quotes the following from  " Trans de l'Acadenzie
" Imperiale, de St. Petersburgh; Malte Brun and Bremner's
" Russia":
"The extent of the forests in the northern provinces of
Russia is almost inconceivable. From actual measurement
it appears that in the three governments of Vologda, Archangel, and Olonitz alone, there are 216,000,000 acres of
pine and fir, being about three times the whole surface of
the British Islands, which contains 77,000,000. In one
government alone there are 47,000,000 acres of forest.




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.        191
It appears from M. Herman's calculations, that there are
in thirty-one governments in the north of Russia, 8,195,295
firs well adapted to large masts, each being above thirty
inches in diameter-a number more than sufficient for a
long supply of all the fleets in the world, besides 86,869,000
fit for building houses. In twenty-two governments only,
there are 374,804 large oaks, each more than twenty-six
inches in diameter, and 229,570,000 of a smaller size." A
country thus supplied with such magnificent forests of timber, for ship-building, the construction of dwellings, and
all the purposes of the arts, and so abundantly furnished
with the means of transport by her net-work of rivers,
may not be carelessly described as a mere frozen, barren
waste; for these forests when they disappear, as the population increases, and civilization advances, will be succeeded
by grain fields, and orchards, and prosperous communities,
in the same manner in which we have seen the change
wrought on American soil. It is doubtless true, that there
is much waste land even within the limits of what has been
designated as the agricultural district of the Russian Empire, and the northern portions of her territory, even within
the temperate zone, can not be considered productive when
compared with the Danubian provinces, or with the valley
of the Mississippi; but then it should be remembered what
large tracts of land are found unfit for cultivation in every
country. How large a portion of the whole surface, for
instance, in New England, is occupied by mountains and
rugged hills that the plow can not visit; yet these very
mountains, covered with forests, sparkling with streams,
and filled with mineral wealth, afford the means of supporting an exceedingly dense population. The capabilities
of Russia have evidently been too hastily judged; her
rapid growth, unequalled except by our own, would indicate that no unusual proportion of her territory is waste
and sterile, and there are many proofs that the Russians
are subduing a continent, expanding themselves on every
side, and redeeming the wilderness, after the manner of the
Americans here.




192        THE RELATIVE POSITION OF RUSSIA.
CHAPTE R XVIII.
THE RELATIVE POSITION OF RUSSIA.
Whatever may be the extent of a nation's territory, or
the productiveness of its soil, it can have no extended
growth, or permanent greatness based on its own independent resources, if it is either hemmed in by other powerful nations, or excluded from adequate communication
with the ocean. A nation thus situated can become great
only by conquest or peaceful acquisition, thus securing to
itself advantages which did not belong to its original
domain. Russia has thus extended herself with astonishing
rapidity; but this enlargement of her dominion has been
not so much by overrunning contiguous countries as by the
expansion of an internal life, which has sought space wherein
to grow; and it is her present position, and what seems to
be her immediate and inevitable future, that is presented
for consideration here. Perhaps Americans may perceive
in the picture enough of resemblance to our own position
to awaken in them a new interest in regard to this Euro1pean America, and to inquire whether two great nations
now facing each other on the opposite shores of the Pacific,
are not hereafter to be brought into more intimate association.




THE RELATIVE POSITION OF RUSSIA.     193
Like America Russia reaches from ocean to ocean, stretching across the whole breadth of Europe and Asia, and
resting one wing on the Pacific and the other upon the
Atlantic. She is thus placed, at either extremity of her
empire, in communication with the commerce of the world.
Through the Baltic she connects herself with Europe, and
with the trade of the eastern coast of America, and eastward on the Pacific, there is opened to her the commerce
of China, the East Indian Archipelago, and the Pacific slope
of the American continent. From these two extremities the
trade of the world may be drawn inward toward the heart
of the empire. One acquisition has lately been made by
Russia in the East, which will change the whole aspect of
her eastern commerce, and will prove of the very highest
importance in connection with the progress of our own
population on the Pacific coast. This point will be made
clear by the following quotation from Alison, and by the
inspection of a good map: " The river Amoor, which flows' from the mountains of Mongolia into the ocean of Japan,
" by a course twelve hundred miles in length, of which nine
"hundred are navigable, in a deep channel, shut in on
" either side by precipitous rocks, or shaded by noble forests,
"is the real outlet of eastern Siberia; and though the Chi"nese are still masters of this splendid stream, it is as in"dispersible to Asiatic as the Volga is to European Russia,
"and ere long it must fall under the dominion of the
"Czar, and constitute the principal outlet of his immense
*' oriental provinces." Mr. Alison has underrated the size
of the Amoor. It is twenty-two hundred miles in length,
and navigable through a large portion of its whole extent.
The upper portion of this stream lies within the Emperor's
dominions, in the province of Irkoutsk, and with the Chinese in possession of its mouth, eastern Siberia is in a condition somewhat similar to that of the upper Mississippi
valley before the Louisiana purchase. Russia has lately
obtained the control of the valley of the Amoor to its
mouth, and it will at once become the channel of an extensive commerce, not with the East alone, but with the
13




194        THE RELATIVE POSITION OF RUSSIA.
Pacific slope of America. Siberia is traversed from north
to south by large navigable rivers, which empty, however,
into the Arctic ocean; but so soon as the trade of these
streams is carried on by steam vessels, changes will take
place, such as have occurred on our western rivers, and
these channels, united, as ultimately they will be, by railways pointing eastward and toward the valley of the Amoor,
will pour into the sea of Japan, the mineral and other productions of southern and central Siberia, and the northern
provinces of China, and bear back from other lands the
means of comfort and civilization to the heart of northern
Asia. On the shores of California and Oregon, and at the
mouth of the Amoor, and in the harbors of the sea of Japan, Russians and Americans will meet for the exchanges
of a mutual commerce, remote from the rest of Europe.
We shall scarcely overestimate the importance of the
trade which, at no remote period, will flow to and from
southern Siberia, and the adjacent provinces lately added
to the Russian territory, if we may credit a distingushed
English writer, who declares that the immense plains
"'~which stretch to the eastward along the banks of the
"Amoor, are capable of containing all the nations of
"Christendom  in comfort and affluence."  Again, by her
possessions upon the Black Sea, she is placed in direct
communication with the commerce of the Mediterranean,
and through the Mediterranean she has a third channel connecting her with the general trade of the world.
In this calculation, no notice is taken of her long line of
sea coast on the Arctic Ocean. In those frozen regions it
possesses less commercial importance. A country so vast
as Russia could scarcely touch the sea more advantageously
than she does, resting in the east on the Pacific, lying in
the west along the Atlantic, for the Baltic and the Gulf of
Finland are to her as to the Atlantic sea coast, while alone
the southern frontier of her European territory stretche,
the Black Sea. It is apparent that nothing more is wanting but the possession of Constantinople and the control of
the Dardanelles, to complete a territorial outline of the




THE RELATIVE POSITION OF RUSSIA.      195
most imposing character that earth has ever seen in the
possession of a single Power, and to which earth can afford
no parallel, except in North America. He who studies
aright the position, resources, and progress of Russia, will
see at once that the possession of Constantinople is merely, a question of time. The idea that the Powers of western
Europe are able to check permanently the advance of Russia
will not long be seriously entertained. The life of the
Northern Empire lies beyond their reach, and she needs
but to permit them to exhaust themselves upon her frontier
positions, and quietly wait until they are forced backward
by the resistless power of her growth. She is under no
present necessity of possessing Constantinople; she requires
only the power to control its owner, and shape for them a
policy in accordance with her own, and the most splendid
dreams of Muscovite greatness may then be realized, even
while the Golden Horn remains in the possession of the
Sultan.
It may not be uninteresting to the American reader to
pause a moment here, in order to bestow a passing glance
upon the general resemblance between the geographical
-position of Russia and North America, as well as a relationship of position-indicating, as it would seem, a closer connection between the two nations in their future career.
The comparison is instituted between Russia and North
America because nothing in the future is more certain than
that the North American continent, with its adjacent seas
and islands, will be controlled by a single government. If
the American Union continues, such a result will be reached
by the inevitable law of national development. Russia and
North America then are nearly equal in the extent of their
possessions, and each is capable of supporting a population
of a thousand millions, without overburthening its territory
or exhausting its resources. They both stretch from ocean
to ocean, each resting one broad wing upon the Atlantic
and the other upon the Pacific; and together, the arms of
their wide dominion reach round the globe. They face
each other from the opposite shores of the Atlantic, for, as




196        GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
has been said, the Baltic and the Gulf of Finland form for
Russia an Atlantic sea-coast. Again, the two nations lie
fronting each other on the shores of the North Pacificsuggesting a future influence over the East Indian Archipelago, scarcely anticipated now: a control of the commerce of the East, which our Government is preparing for
by her negotiations with Japan, and of which Russia is not
unmindful, as was evident from the watchful presence of
her fleet while our squadron was at Yeddo, and by her advancing to the valley of the Amoor. The eastern provinces
of Russia on the Pacific, and the western territories of the
United States on the same ocean, can furnish unlimited
resources, either for a navy or a commercial marine, and
therefore the trade of that " Exhaustless East" may yet flow
along two new channels, running in opposite directionsone eastward, through the heart of North America, and
the other westward, through the dominions of Russia.
Such a change in the world's commerce is surely not altogether improbable; indeed the course of events already
indicates such a result, and it requires no argument to
demonstrate that, if it occurs, the Powers of western Europe
will sink at once to a secondary position, and yield up forever the control of the world. Such a view suggests the
intimate relations which may hereafter be established between the United States and Russia; and the growing sympathy between the two nations may, perhaps, be regarded
as a foreshadowing of the future. Again, these two countries
resemble each other in their capacity for self-development
and independent support. They both enjoy every variety
of soil, climate, and production that can be found north of
the southern limit of the temperate zone, and therefore,
though they were shut out from all the world beside, each
could still maintain a vigorous natural growth from their
own domestic resources. Indeed, if it were possible for
the Powers of Europe completely to blockade every seaport of Russia and America for the next fifty years, they
would find, in the end, that so far from crushing the power
of either nation, they had only, in each, nursed to maturity




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.        197
a compact and homogeneous power, self-balanced on its
own resources, self-sustained by its own internal life, irresistible through its national unity and individuality of' character. Each of these countries is capable of becoming a
world within itself, independent of and even excluded from
the rest of earth. Vast as is the foreign commerce of the
United States, it is yet small when compared with our
domestic trade, and the complete annihilation of our trade
with foreign nations would not touch the sources of our
national life, nor even permanently retard our progress.
Russia and America are the only two Powers of earth that
might become great nations if shut out from the rest of the
world, and therefore the efforts of all other nations can
not long or materially obstruct the growth of either. Both
are impregnable on their own soil, and both may securely
develope their exhaustless internal resources, without the
possibility of being prevented by any. The two countries
also present some points of general resemblance in the
natural facilities which both possess for internal communication, as well as for the construction of artificial channels
for travel and for trade. Russia can boast of no such magnificent chain of internal seas as those of North America,
but she has the Caspian, eight hundred miles long, on the
east-the Black Sea along the central portion of her southern fiontier in Europe-and the Baltic, and the Gulf of
Finland, affording her a long line of what may be called
inland sea-coast, in the northwest, while her whole territory is covered, almost equally with the American continent,
by a pet-work of navigable rivers. In addition to these
natural avenues of commerce, the nature of the country
presents almost unrivalled facilities for the construction of
artificial connections, whether canals or roads. Russia may
be regarded as one vast plain, reaching from  the Atlantic
to the Pacific, and intersected by few mountain ranges, so
that no obstacle is presented to the establishment of railways in any required direction, while the material for such
structures exists in abundance. Both in the United States
and Russia, therefore, are found unlimited resources for a




198       GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.
home growth, the cultivation of an individual and independent national life. In the external features and relative
geographical position, then, of these two great nations, we
perceive enough of general resemblance to suggest the inquiry whether they are not to be in some manner more
closely associated than they have hitherto been-whether,
in the new aspect of the world's affairs, now opening around
us, they are not to act in concert, and possibly in united
self-defense, against the Pdwers of western Europe. Especially may we suppose that this might occur if England
and France should assume, as they now seem disposed to
do, the office of regulators of the concerns of nations in both
hemispheres, which, being interpreted, means simply that
they propose to combine to repress the progress of any
Power which, even in its legitimate growth, may overshadow their own. Russia and America have been prepared,
as it were, in the wilderness, away from the great theater
of European affairs. A little time since they were scarcely
thought of, much less consulted, in the moveiments of
nations; they have risen together to the position of great
Powers on earth, and henceforth they can scarcely remain indifferent to each other's condition and policy. Unaccountable as it may appear, considering the different
character of their political institutions, it is doubtless true
that Russia regards America with more friendly feelings
than she does any nation of Europe, and indications are
not wanting that republican America will ere long strongly
reciprocate this friendship of an'absolute monarchy. It is
believed to be quite impossible to estimate correctly, from
any descriptions which have been given, the actual extent
of internal navigation supplied by the rivers and lakes of
Russia. The country has, as yet, to a great extent, been
but imperfectly explored, unless by the government itself.
Foreigners are acquainted only with the larger streams of
the empire, and thousands of miles of river navigation may
probably exist, altogether unknown to any who have visited
Russia. The main streams which flow into the Baltic,
those which empty into the Black Sea, and the Caspian,




GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTER OF RUSSIA.       199
and the great rivers of Siberia, have been described in general terms, and we are informed that they are navigable to
certain points. These descriptions have been given mostly
by those who know little of river navigation as practised
in America. Those who are accustomed to see American
steamboats on our western rivers, carrying on a profitable
traffic, with a depth of water from fifteen inches to eighteen
inches only, will readily understand, from a map, that the
Russian territory will yet be traversed, in all directions, by
steamboats of light draught, such as now enliven the rivers
of the west, and that such capacities for domestic traffic,
and for reaching the seaboard, are ample for the development of the country's resources. A single statement, furnished by Ehrman throws, much light upon this interesting
subject.
This author, in describing the mines of the Ural mountains, and the amount of iron annually produced, states the
line of river navigation from  the mining region to St.
Petersburg, to be 3,350 miles. He also mentions that from
the upper Volga, from 4000 to 6000 barges descend annually to St. Petersburg, by a canal connecting with the Neva;
and when we consider that iron from the Ural, destined to
European Russia, requires about 1000 boats annually, carrying each nearly one hundred tons at the commencement
of the voyage, the cargo being increased at a certain point
below, we may form an idea of the amount of the present
internal commerce of Russia. Nor must we forget that
this trade is yet almost entirely carried on in such rude
boats as a few years since floated on the Mississippi and
Ohio, and it is not therefore too much to anticipate that in
the future progress of Russia, and in a period not remote,
such a change may be wrought by the introduction of steam
vessels upon her rivers, as we have already seen from this
cause in the Mississippi valley. She has begun, and completed to Moscow, one of her great trunk lines of railway
intended to concentrate upon her capital, and it is in progress and nearly finished to Odessa. Let but this be carried from Moscow, eastward to the valley of the Amoor, an"




200        THE RELATIVE POSITION OF RUSSIA.
enterprise only equal to our own Pacific Railway, and then
a trunk line will connect Moscow with the East Indian
seas, and from Moscow one branch will pass westward to
St. Petersburg, and the other southward toward Constantinople, striking the Black Sea at Odessa. These lines would
cross the whole system of the navigable rivers of the empire,
and would be to Russian commerce, both foreign and domestic, what the Pacific road and its branches will be to the
United States, passing the Ural and its boundless mineral
wealth midway, as the American road will the Rocky mountains. No one doubts that the American railway will be
completed at no distant period, and who that considers the
past progress and present power of Russia shall say that
she will not also construct a Pacific railway, aided by American skill and experience.
This, for Russia, would only be to construct the modern
iron road, with steam carriages, along the old highway of
her Eastern commerce, and certainly it would be an instructive sight to the boastful powers of western Europe if the
two nations who have been the chief object of their ridicule, one as barbarian, and the other as composed of backwoodsmen, should ere long present them with one continuous
line of railway and ocean steam navigation, reaching round
the globe and turning the commerce of the East through
the heart of America and Russia. Such a result is by no
means impossible.




RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.   201
CHAPTER XIX.
RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.
It has already been remarked that no extent of territorial
possession, however fertile its soil, or however dense its
population, will afford a foundation for true national greatness, unless it is a contiguous territory, or can in some
manner be bound into one whole, so that the remotest extremity will feel the influence of a central life. With such
methods of communication only as the ancients possessed,
no widely-extended government could long maintain itself
united and secure; and with these examples of failure and
dissolution before them, the wisest of the early American
statesmen felt little inclination to enlarge our national domain; and only a few years since, the idea of retaining a
united dominion over our present territory would have
been rejected by many, perhaps by most, as absurd. But
the steam vessel, the railway, and the telegraph, practically
condense a continent into the space of a province, and all
are now convinced that the magnitude of our country will
never destroy the efficiency or unity of the government.
That alone would not now prevent one central power from
controlling the two Americas. In examining, therefore,
the elements of power possessed by Russia, it is necessary
to consider more particularly than we have hitherto done,




202    RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.
the nature of these facilities for intercourse between different
parts of her empire, which she now enjoys, or may probably create hereafter, in the regular and natural development of her resources. We shall then understand whether
she is likely to remain a firmly-compacted whole, animate
with a single life, or whether she must be, regarded as a
mass of heterogeneous materials loosely cohering even now,
and soon to be separated entirely. A glance has been bestowed upon this point, in the brief comparison instituted
between the United States and Russia, but the means of
internal communication enjoyed by the latter demand a
more particular description. This may properly commence
with the rivers of the country. These may be separated
into five groups, viz.: the Pacific, the Arctic Ocean, the
Caspian, the Black Sea, and the Baltic. Beginning in the
east with the river basins which stretch from the southern
base of the Altai mountains, southeastward toward the Pacific, there is an extensive region of whose rivers little is
known, except the Amoor, and even in regard to that our
information is scanty and unsatisfactory, it having been
until quite lately within the guarded Chinese dominions.
It must henceforth be regarded as a Russian river, the
natural and necessary outlet of the whole eastern portion
of the empire. It is described as a " splendid stream," having a course of twenty-two hundred miles, for a large portion
of which it is said to be navigable. Such a river must, of
course, drain a territory proportionate to its own magnitude, and the glowing though indefinite accounts of the
wide and fertile plains that lie along its banks, together
with its actual magnitude and the distance for which it is
navigable, remind one of the Mississippi and its valley, below
St. Louis. Such a stream must also be sustained by many
important affluents of which nothing definite is known to
Europeans. Its whole course is through an attractive and
productive region, and it requires but a slight effort of the
imagination to present a picture of this great valley as it
will be, when fleets of steamers shall cover the Amoor and
its tributaries, not only bearing the production of the adja



RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.    203
cent countries, but interchanging the commodities of Europe,
Asia, and America.
This stream rises in the province of Irkoutsk in southern
Siberia, and flowing in a southeasterly direction into the
Sea of Japan, seems to have been formed with especial
reference to the trade of Asiatic Russia, reaching from the
Chinese seas to the head-streams of one of the largest rivers
in Siberia that empties into the Arctic Ocean, and is thus
prepared to receive the trade of the valley of the Lenawhich reaches to the frozen shores of the Polar sea.
This extreme eastern portion then of Russia, is a vast and
fertile river basin, stretching from the Sea of Japan northwesterly to south-eastern Siberia, traversed by a stream
navigable for more than a thousand miles, according to estimates of river navigation made before American steamboats
on our western rivers had shown how small a stream is
capable of floating a profitable commerce. On the headwaters of the Amoor, that vast plain is reached which inclines slightly to the Arctic Sea, and across which flow
some of the longest rivers of Asia. The traveler from the
Pacific, following up the valley of the Amoor, would strike
first in the province of Irkoutsk, the upper waters of the
Lena, then passing far westward, he would reach the valley
of the Yenisei, and finally at the eastern base of the Ural
mountains, he would find a third broad river basin, that of
the Obi. Each of these mighty streams is said to have a
course of more than two thousand miles. Along these vast
valleys, for about one-half their extent, the cereals of Europe
come to maturity; and he who knows what success has
crowned agricultural labor in Minnesota, and even much
further north, where the range of the thermometer is much
the same as in southern Siberia, will not hastily conclude
that the latter must be regarded only as a frozen, desert
waste.
The actual extent of arable land can not be estimated,
with our present means of information; but the value of
uncultivated lands in high northern latitudes, is almost
universally underrated. Immense tracts of natural pasture




204    RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.
spread over these great plains; heavy forests skirt the
streams, even within the Arctic circle, furnishing exhaustless supplies of valuable timber, while the fisheries of the
rivers, and the furs of the northern districts are of themselves the sources of a very important trade. On the western
frontier of Siberia, and along the western edge of the valley
of the Obi, rise the Ural mountains, embosoming a mineral
wealth without a parallel on the globe, except in the great
mountain ranges of America. These rivers and their tributaries are navigable for most of their course for about six
months in the year, and considering the resources and extent
of the country, it is easy to perceive what it may become
with a railway crossing these valleys, from the head of
steamboat navigation on the Amoor to the mineral regions
in the Ural, from whence there is already a river navigation
fitted for small steam vessels to the Caspian, the Black Sea,
and the Baltic.
Before any one turns away from such statements, as idle
and empty speculation, let him calmly consider the progress
of the United States within the last twenty years, and the
certainty that the whole breadth of our continent will very
soon be spanned by a railway having one terminus on the
Atlantic and the other on the Pacific, and then remember
that in rapidity of growth and improvement,Russia stands
next to America.  Siberia then, traversed from  north to
south by rivers whose magnitude compares with those of
North America, requires but a line of communication crossing them from east to west, such as a railway would supply,
to develope her great resources, and put her in connection
both with Asia and Europe. HIer third system of rivers
embraces those which fall into the Caspian Sea. Of these
the Volga alone requires to be mentioned. This is the
largest river of Europe, being two thousand miles in length,
one and a quarter miles broad at its mouth, and navigable
almost to its very source, or perhaps even, for steamboats
like those of our western rivers, through its entire course,
as it rises from a lake. It may be compared to the Mississippi, reckoning from the Falls of St. Anthony to the Gulf




RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.   205
of Mexico. It receives numerous important affluents from
the east and north-east, which connect the main stream by
navigable waters, not only with important agricultural districts, but with the mining regions of the Ural. In the
lower part of its course it approaches within about thirty
miles of the Don, at a point where the nature of the country
offers no impediment to the construction of a ship canal,
which has been often projected, and even commenced, but
not completed. By this comparatively small work, the
whole valley of the Volga and the western slope of the
Ural, would be connected directly with the Black Sea and
the Mediterranean.
One of the tributaries of the Volga, coming from the
northeast, has a course of one thousand miles, about equal to
the Ohio from Pittsburgh to the Mississippi, and another,
the Oka, on a branch of which is Moscow, is seven hundred
miles long, and navigable almost to its source. The Volga
is united by a canal with the Duna, which empties into the
G;ulf of Riga, and thus uninterrupted navigation is established between the Caspian Sea and the Baltic. Another
canal connects a tributary of the Oka with the Don, and
this opens an indirect communication between the Black
Sea and the Caspian. Still another canal unites the Volga
with the Dwina, which flows into the White Sea, and thus
another navigable line is formed from the southern extremity of the empire, through its very heart, to Archangel
and the Frozen Ocean. Yet another work opens a connection between the Volga and the Lake Onega, and St.
Petersburg, and this city is also united with Moscow both
by canal and railway. There are thus three main lines of
water communication across the entire breadth of European
Russia. One from the mineral region of the Ural to St.
Petersburg and the Baltic; one from the Caspian northward to the Arctic Ocean, and one fi'om the Caspian, and
also from the Ural, through to the Duna, to the Baltic;
and even yet another, by the way of the Oka and Moscow,
to St. Petersburg by the canal. This is quite independent
of that great number of smaller streams and shorter con



206    RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.
nections known only to the inhabitants of a country. Together, they present a perfect network of veins and arteries,
along which the tides of internal commerce flow. Next
are the rivers which flow into the Black Sea. Among these
are: the Dnieper, which is twelve hundred miles long, a
broad and deep stream, navigable for a large portion of its
course; the Bog, or Boug, which is more than four hundred miles long, and navigable; and the Don, which is also
a navigable stream, is about five hundred miles in length.
The lower portion of this stream will be the channel of
an inimense trade so soon as the canal is finished between
it and the Volga, a distance of about thirty miles; and,
finally, the Kouban, a shallow stream coming from the Caucasus, and navigable only for boats of a light draught. Its
length is about four hundred miles.
In addition to the rivers already mentioned, the Danube,
having sixty navigable tributaries, falls into the Blackl Sea.
Russia has obtained the control of the mouths of this important European stream, and her fortress of Ismail commands the commerce which passes by the northern or
Igilia branch. If, as is said, the bar across the mouth of
the Sulinah, or middle branch, is yearly increasing, the
whole trade of the Danube may be thrown into the northern channel, and must pass under the guns of a Russian fortification. Russia owns the north shore of the Danube as far
as Galatz, near which town it receives the Pruth, which,
in a course of more than five hundred miles, flows along
the province of Bessarabia. The fifth system of Russian
rivers is connected with the Baltic. Its streams are smaller
than those already described, but their commercial importance is, nevertheless, great. The Neva, on which St. Petersburgh is built, has its source in the Lake Ladoga, which
is one hundred and thirty miles long, while it averages
seventy-five miles in breadth. The shores of the Ladoga,
and the commerce of the streams which empty into this
lake, some of which bring the productions of the Ural,
make the Neva the channel of a very extensive trade. The
Duna discharges itself into the Gulf of Riga, and being




RUSSIA EASILY GOVEiNED FROM ONE CENTER.    207
connected by a canal with the Volga, as has already been
stated, it floats an extensive commerce. The Vistula is the
chief river of Poland, and at Warsaw it is about seven
hundred feet broad.
This completes a general, but by no means a full, survey
of the facilities afforded by the Russian rivers for internal
trade and travel. The government has already begun the
establishment of lines of river steamers of the American
build, and they are now running almost to the very base of
the Ural mountains. No long time will elapse before these
almost countless streams will present the aspect of our
American rivers, and business and towns will spring up
along their banks, as they have already done, by the use of
similar means, in the Mississippi valley. The flat boat and
the horse barges will disappear from Russian waters, as the
broad-horns have from the Ohio and the Mississippi, and
steam, both on the water and on the land, will convey the
traffic of the empire.
As already stated, the country of the Czar can boast of
no such connected chain of great lakes as are found in
America. Still it is a land of lakes, and gulfs, and inland
seas, which afford great facility for its commerce. On the
west and northwest, almost countless gulfs and bays shoot
inland from the Atlantic, giving long lines of interior seacoast,'and communicating with her navigable rivers. Lake
Baikal, in Southern Siberia, is about the size of Lake Erie,
and its valuable fisheries form the basis of an important
commerce. The Caspian Sea is but an immense salt-lake,
about eight hundred miles long; and the Black Sea, and
the Baltic, may also be regarded as merely interior seas, of
which Russia will ultimately retain the chief control, in
spite of the combined efforts of western Europe. The
lakes Ladoga and Onega are by no means inconsiderable
bodies of water, the first having an area of more than six
thousand square miles, and the latter being one hundred
and thirty miles long and fifty miles in breadth. Smaller
lakes, many of them large enough to become channels of
trade, are scattered through both European and Asiatic




208    RUSSIA EASILY GOVERNED FROM ONE CENTER.
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.




RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.      209
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
14 




210       RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.
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 misrepresented, and when we remember that




RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.       211
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, an&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




212        RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.
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



RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.       213
den, some of them scarce thirty miles distant, forms perhaps
their most important feature in a military point of view,
for from them, at any time, a descent may easily be made
upon the Swedish coast.
Cronstadt is, however, the most important Russian fortress in the Baltic, both as a naval station and as guarding
the approach to St. Petersburgh. It is situated at the head
of the Gulf of Finland, and only about sixteen miles from
the Capital. The fortifications are constructed principally
upon an island, on one side of which is a narrow channel,
completely commanded not only by the long lines of guns
upon the main island, but also by batteries placed upon various smaller islands and reefs, to say nothing of the powerful
fleet always stationed in the harbors. Of these harbors
there are three, or rather the harbor may be said to be
separated into three divisions. The outer one is probably
the most important naval station of the Empire. From
thirty to forty ships of the line may float here, in addition
to smaller vessels. The second division contains ship-yards,
docks, arsenals, warehouses, and all the stores and machinery
necessary not only for ship building, but for the equipment
and repair of the main division of the Russian navy. The
third harbor is devoted to trade, and can easily shelter a
thousand merchantmen.  The channel leading from the
Gulf to the INeva is said to be so narrow that a single vessel only can pass at once, and this passage must be effected
between lines of cannon that could annihilate in a few
minutes any ship that floats. Besides this, ships drawing
more than nine feet of water can not ascend beyond Cronstadt, so that St. Petersburgh is absolutely secure from the
visit of a hostile vessel, and the impregnable Cronstadt
must be annihilated before an enemy could occupy the head
of the Gulf. The population of Cronstadt, including the
garrison and the marine, is said to be about forty thousand.
The following very graphic description of Cronstadt, by
an officer attached to the Baltic fleet, and written on the
spot in 1854, and from personal survey of the works, will




214        RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.
give the reader a correct idea of this celebrated fortress,
and of the resources, science, and skill of the Power by
whom these defenses have been constructed:
"The island of Cronstadt lies in a bight betwixt the two
shores of the Gulf, and is nowhere distant more than about
six miles from the mainland on either side; and even this,
as a navigable distance, is so much straited by spits, shallows and mud-banks, that the actual passages are reduced
to very confined limits. This is the case especially with
the main channel, which runs betwixt the island and the
south shore, and is so narrow and shallow that its navigation alone, except under experienced and skillful guidance,
is a difficulty. It widens and deepens a little, however,
toward the southeast end, into a tolerably convenient and
spacious anchorage, and turning thence toward the south,
ends in an inner harbor, well locked, and sheltered by a
bend in the land, and partly protected by the Oranienbaum
spit, which juts out toward it from the south shore, and
which, being covered by only a few feet of water, offers an
effectual barrier to the approach of ships, and is impracticable for the advance of troops. Two passages lead from
this round the southeast side; but these are so intricate, so
environed by shallows and patches, that they are navigable
only by vessels of a small class, and afford no regular communication with the north channel, which is broader and
deeper in the center than the other, though it also becomes
very shallow at some distance from the shore. The island
itself is about six miles long, and a mile and a half wide at
the southeast, its broadest part. This part represents the
root, and hangs on, like a square piece, to the Tongue,
which shoots out narrow and narrower toward the tip,
until it ends in a few broken rocks, over which the waves
ripple. Slightly raised above the level of the sea, a little
barren tract of rock and sand, it would scarcely afford sustenance for a family, or feed a flock of sheep, yet now, cut
into docks, covered with barracks and storehouses, and




RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.      215
surrounded by forts, it is a prize which mighty nations
strive to win and to keep.
"Let us next see how art has so much enhanced the value
of the spot we have been surveying. A first object in the
design which sought to convert it into a naval arsenal was,
of course, to find a suitable site for the docks, magazines
and defenses, which must grow around the harbor and anchorage. The square end of the island was naturally
adapted for this purpose. It had a sufficient and compact
space for the building; it was surrounded by the sea on all
sides, save where it was joined by a narrow neck of land
to the promontory beyond, and would thus be protected by
a complete line of circumlvallation; and it offered, besides,
a facility for digging immense basins on its south side,
which might compensate for the smallness of the inner
harbor, or Little Road, as it is called. There are three of
these-the man-of-war, the middle, and the merchant harbor-all entered by regular locks from the Little Road. In
the two former a great part of the Russian ships lie during
the winter months, while their crews are transferred to the
barracks on shore.
"The next step was to defend these harbors, and, as a
consequence, the old-fashioned straggling fortress of Cronstadt arose. Then came Fort Peter; but, as time went on,
it was deemed necessary that the Great Road, and even
the entrance, should have their defenses. But the passage
into the harbors was about mid-channel, and could not
therefore be effectually commanded by forts on either shore.
This was, however no obstacle, no difficulty to a system
which has raised a city on a marsh; and straightway there
sprang up a succession of gigantic island fortresses, commanding every approach, and threatening at many points a
concentration of fire which must inevitably annihilate any
attacking force.
"We must review these forts in the reverse order from
their construction, and begin from the outside, as though
we were advancing to the attack. Let us suppose, then,
that we are making for their entrance. The first object




216        RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.
which presents itself is the Tulbuken, a tall, solid, beacontower, stanking on a rock, connected probably by a reef
with the island shore. We steamed onward, and on the
right hand, or south side, Fort Risbank rises before us, the
latest in construction, but not the least formidable of these
extraordinary erections. Like all the others, it is built on
a foundation formed by piles driven into the mud. It has
two tiers of casemates, and on its top are guns mounted en
barbette. The front facing the entrance obliquely, presents
a curve springing from the center, with a short curtain on
either side, which at the angles rounds off into towers. The
number of guns in this fort is variously stated, but we could
count fifty-six embrasures in this front beside the guns en
barbette, and those which may be mounted on the rear face.
In describing these fortifications, it is difficult to use the
proper terms of art, as their peculiar construction and peculiar purposes required many and wide deviations from general principles. We must therefore try to be intelligible
rather than scientific. A little farther on, on the left hand,
or north side, Fort Alexander greets us, a huge round work,
showing a semicircular front, bristling with four rows of
guns, one row being en barbette. This fort is said to contain
one hundred and thirty-two guns; they are of very large
caliber, and their fire would effectually sweep the entrance
of the channel, flanking and crossing that of Risbank.
Passing Alexander, we are fairly in the Great Road, and
come within range of Fort Peter, a low fortification, on the
same side as Alexander but nearer to the island. Two low
curtains, a large tower in the center, and smaller towers at
either end, comprise the front of this work. It is not equal
to the two others, either in dimensions or number of guns,
but is still very formidable from its enfilading position. On
the opposite side, just in front of the point of the Oranienbaum  spit, and flanking the mouth of the inner harbor,
Cronslott, or Cron Castle, threatens us. This the eldest of
the series, the first demonstration of the scheme of defense
which has since been extended and multiplied so vastly, is
inferior to its successors in design ang elaborate workman



RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.        217
ship. Though rather a crude effort it answered its first
purpose, as a single fortress, well enough, and even now
would play no mean part in the flanking and concentrating
combination which forms the main principle in the defense.
"Last, but not least, either in size or importance, Fort Menschikoff rises, vast and glaring, towering above all the
others with its four tiers and its massive walls. This was
evidently meant to be the crowning stroke of the inner, as
Risbank was of the outer defenses. Unlike its brethren,
it stands on terra firma, and is built near the mole-head, at
the south angle of the square end of the island. It is
apparently a square, solid mass of masonry, constructed
without any very elaborate or scientific plan, but presenting
a front of casemated batteries which would flank Cronslott,
and rake the approaches to the inner harbor with a tremendous fire. We might think that the achme of defense
had been attained by such an aggregation of fortresses; so
thought not the Russians, for they have moored some of
the line-of-battle ships of their fleet between Menschikoff
and Cronslott, thus effectually barring the entrance to the
inner harbors, and forming an overwhelming increase to
the force already concentrated for their protection. Beyond
this barrier line, and behind Menschikoff, are the basins
before spoken of, and behind them again are the great
magazine, the dockyard and canal. More to the north are
laid out the barracks and other public buildings. Such,
and so defended, is the southern channel of Cronstadt.
Such is the place which hair-brained theorists expected our
fleet to attack and take. English hearts are stout-English
ships are strong-English seamen are skillful; but the man
who would lead them against such fearful odds would lead
them to certain destruction, and leave the country to mourn
over a catastrophe greater and sadder than has yet clouded
her annals.
" Iet us turn to the north side, and see what are there
the characteristics of defense and the opportunities of attack. Passing round the Tulbuken, we trace a low glittering kind of rocks just rising above the waters; then a




218        RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.
broader belt of red sand, slightly sprinkled with trees; then
come houses, trees, and some glimpses of vegetation, until
the eye rests at last on a large, well-designed earthwork,
not yet finished, around and about the mounds of which
workmen are still busy with pickax, spade and barrow.
Tracking onward, we follow the long, low beach, along
which are rows of houses, masses of buildings, churches
with their gilded cupolas and spires, and all the varied objects which constitute the features of a town panorama;
while behind and above all appear the tops of forts and
masts of ships. Looking very closely and attentively, we
call detect at intervals small batteries mounting a few guns,
and carrying on a weak and broken line of defense, which
terminates at the northeast extremity in a larger and more
pretentious work.
" Nothing very formidable here as yet-nothing very obstructive, save the fact that large ships can not approach
within a less distance than three miles; but gun-boats and
small vessels might easily advance within fair range of
town and arsenals. Yes, this had been foreseen and provided against by a novel and ingenious expedient. From the
earthwork in the center of the island a barrier had been
run out obliquely to a distance of three thousand yards,
and then carried in a slightly deflecting line to the shore of
the mainland, extending to a length of six or seven miles,
and enclosing the passages opening from the north to the
east and south sides of the island. The barrier consists of
columns of' piles placed at a distance of eighteen feet, and
rising within two feet of the surface of the water. These
columns are formed of several piles driven into the mud in
a circle, the center being filled with rubble. This would
sufficiently secure the shore from sudden assaults, or the
town from the danger and annoyance of a distant fire; but
the passages-the weak and vital points of the northern
defense-could not be trusted to an obstacle so partial in
its obstruction, and which a daring effort might destroy.
Accordingly hulks, lightened for the purpose, were moored
behind the barrier-in some parts within point-blank range




RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.       219
-effectually covering it through its whole extent, from the
angle of the town to the main land. In rear of this, again,
a fleet of gun-boats, under steam and sail, moved about
ready to dash through the intervals and meet any assailant.
Thus was a triple barrier raised-the first part merely obstructive, the second defensive, the third motive, and capable of being made aggressive."
It might have been expected, that a careless or inefficient
government, without resources or military skill, or science,
such as Russia has been represented to be, and relying
upon the fact that the entrance to the Black Sea was closed
by the fortresses of the Dardanelles, would have erected
precisely such defenses as Oliphant would have the world
believe those at Sebastopol were. In such a position, if
anywhere, would be found the ill-constructed and neglected
batteries, whose walls, ready to tumble with their own
weight, could by no means stand the discharge of the guns.
Here should have been found Russian officers without
science or intelligence-here, admirals, such as Oliphant
mentions, who lose their way between Odessa and Sebastopol, and flag-lieutenants, who propose to go ashore and
inquire the way-instead of all which were fortifications
before whose massive strength the combined fleets of France
and England only made themselves ridiculous, and where
the utmost efforts of these Powers, with all the appliances
of modern warfare, were completely foiled.
The resources of the Russian Empire, in the East, require no labored description. Siberia and the valley of the
Amoor contain exhaustless supplies of timber and other
naval stores. The Siberian rivers supply abundant facilities for transportation, and with the commerce of the East
Indian seas open to her, and with all materials at her disposal, in positions inaccessible to an enemy, what shall
hinder her from establishing on the Pacific naval stations,
a mercantile and an armed marine which shall rival those
of the West?  Such a work would be naturally expected




220       RUSSIA HAS FEW VULNERABLE POINTS.
from what she has already performed elsewhere: it accords
with the general spirit and policy of the government.
The survey thus far made of the Northern Empire certainly presents it in a most imposing aspect, and exhibits
the necessary foundations of a national power, which, other
things being equal, would doubtless prove an overmatch for
all the rest of Europe. Whether other fitting elements of
strength and growth exist will be the subject of future inquiry. It is seen that her territory is capable of supporting
a population of hundreds of millions, without being more
densely peopled than the rest of Europe. This territory
occupies a commanding position in the temperate zone,
stretching between the Pacific and the Atlantic, open to the
commerce of Asia and Europe, and forming indeed a great
national highway between them, on one side of the globe,
such as America presents on the other. These vast possessions are traversed from side to side by channels of intercommunication, remote from hostile attack, while her few
exposed points, strong by nature, have been rendered seemingly impregnable by whatever military science can perform.
YWithin these defenses, warlike preparations of every kind
can be carried on secure from interruption, while her treasures of military stores, and even her fleets, if she chooses,
are placed beyond the reach of an enemy. In addition to
all this, if the seas are closed against her by a superior
maritime power, a large foreign commerce is still open to
her from  the East through her own territory, and her
domestic productions and home trade are so extensive as
to make her, so far as any nation can be, independent of a
foreign commerce.




RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE.       221
CHAPTER XXI.
RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE-THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL
LIFE.
It is evident, that however extensive the territory of a
nation may be, however productive its soil, or dense its
population, there will still be no solid foundation for great
and permanent national power if this population-is composed of diverse races, bound together by the force of circumstances only, or forced into contact, not union, by
external lashings of any kind. The moment the compressing bond is loosened in such a case, the discordant materials separate, and the whole mass of an imposing dynasty
will suddenly crumble into fragments, which are scattered
apart, because they are not the production of a common
central life. Such has been the fate of most empires that
have grown out of a succession of rapid conquests. Success has attended them, until the mass of material added
could no longer be assimilated, until the national structure
became a mere aggregation, not one living body, and the
constituent parts instead of being united by mutual sympathies were hurled asunder by mutual repulsion. It has
been fashionable to look upon Russia as occupying this
precise position, and to represent the Czar as ruling over a
rude mass of heterogeneous and discontented tribes, held




222        RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
in subjection merely by a cruel and relentless military despotism.
These views gave rise to the  expectation, that in
in any sudden calamity, or in case of the death of Nicholas, Russia would be separated into warring factions, and
the Colossus of the North would vanish like the spectre
of the Brocken.  France and England pleased themselves, and calmed in part their fears, by picturing the
inherent weakness of the Muscovite Empire. The general
tone which prevailed may be seen by the following extracts from one of the ablest English Quarterlies, the North
British, in November, 18.54. The writer refers to a former
article, in which was pointed out, as he says, " elements of
"weakness in the Muscovite Empire which had never
"hitherto been duly estimated."  I-e goes on to say, "We
"reminded our readers that the great conquests of Russia
"had been effected by diplomacy and not by actual fighting,
"and that these conquests were annexed merely-not assimi"lated. All things considered, it is by no means unlikely
"that if the present war continues, she may turn out to have
"been a gigantic impostor-that when tried by the severi"ties of a real struggle, she will prove weak, to a degree
"which will astonish those whom she has so long duped
"and dazzled; weak from her unwieldy magnitude-weak
"from her barbarous tariffs and restrictive policy-weak
" from the inherent inadequacy of her one-eyed despotism" weak from the rottenness of her internal administration" weak from the suppressed hatreds she has accumulated
" round her-weak in everything save her consummate skill
"in simulating strength." This was written in February,
1854; in November, 1854, the same Review says: " These
"surmises, which at the time they were uttered were con" sidered somewhat wild and rash, have been not only justi"fied but surpassed by the event. The feebleness every"where displayed by Russia, both in attack and defense,
"have been matter of ceaseless astonishment. *  *  * As
" soon as it was known that the expedition to the Crimea
" was resolved upon, we took for granted that the Crimea




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.      223
"would be conquered, and that Sebastopol would ultimately
"fall into our hands; but assuredly no one anticipated that' after months of notice, our armies would have been suf"fered to land without the faintest attempt at opposition;
"that our victory would have been so signal, so decisive,
"and so rapid; or that the greatest fortified harbor of
" Russia-probably the strongest in the world-would be
"taken on such easy terms, and in so brief a period. Hence"forth, the prestige of Russian military power is gone;
" Europe need dread her arms no more. The Czar, hitherto
" the great bugbear of Europe and of Asia, has been beaten
"on all hands."
In a subsequent portion of the same article, the writer
boasts and exults as follows, giving, as will be seen, also, a
highly significant side-roar of the British lion at the Americans, who, after such English victories in the Black Sea,
will, he thinks, be a " trifle less insolent and overbearing,"
when they remember that the Baltic fleet can winter in the
Gulf of Mexico:
" But if Nicholas had been less rash or less stubborn we
should never have been stirred into activity sufficient to
afford the world the astounding spectacle it saw in April
and May. In a few weeks time we sent forth the two
largest and best-manned fleets that ever left. our shores, and,
beyond all parallel, the best equipped army that ever sailed
from England on any expedition-both fleet and army provided with every new invention of science to which experience or judgment had given their sanction. * * The
Baltic fleet alone consisted of forty-two ships, twenty-two
hundred guns, sixteen thousand horse-power, and twentytwo thousand sailors and marines.
" In 1852 and 1853, there were doubts whether we had
either ships or men sufficient to defend our own shores
against a sudden descent. In 1854 we sent to our Ally
both land and naval auxiliary forces, which have checkmated, conquered, and despoiled his colossal antagonist.
All this, too, was done rapidly, silently, and easily; regi



224         RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
ments were recruited, and ships were manned, without difficulty; volunteers flocked both to the militia and the navy;
the moment there was a prospect of active service men were
forthcoming in ample numbers, and neither conscription
nor impressment had to be resorted to. This magnificent
spectacle will not be lost either on Europe or America, or
on ourselves. Already a great change of tone on all hands
is observable. Our foes have had a forewarning with what
sort of a people they will have to deal; our transatlantic
cousins will become a trife less insolent and overbearing when
they find that the fleet which summers in the Baltic can, without cost or effort, winter in the Gulf of Mexico."
In the summer, then, England proposed to amuse herself
with demolishing Russia, and in the winter she would be
occupied with checking the insolence of her "transatlantic
cousins." This, moreover, agrees with the declaration of
Lord Clarendon, with the corresponding semi-official statement of the French government of the far-reaching intentions of the English and French Alliance, viz: that it had
reference to the western as well as the eastern hemisphere.
The Review thus sums up the results of the first campaign,
up to November, 1854:
"Russia, the great bugbear of Europe, and the great foe
of free development, shorn of her prestige, baffled, beaten
back, blockaded and despoiled-deprived, in a single year,
of the conquests of half a century of intrigue and violence,
not only thwarted and checked, but humbled and crippled,
retreating across the Pruth in place of advancing beyond
the Danube; and paying for the massacre of Sinope by
the loss of Sebastopol and the Crimea. Such are the results
of the first campaign."
Such was the language, not of some vain, flippant traveler, but of one of the gravest and stateliest Reviews of the
British Empire, and when such a Quarterly as the North
British will indulge itself in such transparent folly, we are
led to believe that the British government really sent




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.      225
forth its fleets and armies in this same spirit, and with the
same opinions of Russia. What a scorching commentary
upon such an article subsequent events have given!
These things are not mentioned for the purpose of taunting or reproaching England, but as historical facts whose
significance ought to be calmly considered by Americans.
They show, first of all, the spirit of England in regard to
Russia, and the worthlessness of most opinions and statements which have issued from the British press concerning
their northern neighbors, and it should not be forgotten
that these views, most derogatory to Russia, which are
passing current in our country, have been derived from the
representation of England. These facts show, moreover,
the nature of the stake which the United States had in
that Eastern war, an interest quite different from  what
many seem to suppose. They demonstrate a cherished
purpose of England and France to interfere, not with Russia
alone, but with the too rapid growth even of America.
The English Review pleases itself with a view of the internal weakness of Russia and her eminent danger of being
rent asunder by domestic strife. Oliphant, writing in 1853,
dilates largely, and with evident satisfaction, upon this
same topic, and would have us believe that the whole
power of the Czar is needed to protect his throne against
the discontents and threatened uprisings of his own
subjects:
"But the Russian Autocrat is also keenly alive to the
critical position of matters at home. Before he decides
upon prolonging indefinitely a hazardous contest, he will
consider the present aspect of the internal condition of the
empire as attentively as its external relations. He can not
not forget that an extent of territory comprising one-half
of what is now called Russia in Europe, has been annexed
within the last sixty years-that, consequently, more than
half of the European inhabitants of the empire, having been
recently subjugated, are more or less disaffected; that of
these, sixteen millions, or about one-fourth of the entire population
15




226        RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
of Russia, do not profess the Greek faith; that his Mohammedan subjects alone amount to two millions and a half;
and that the protection of the Greek religion has been proclaimed as the ground upon which the present anti-AMohammedan crusade was commenced.
"' Such is the present condition of those provinces which
compose the Europ'ean frontier of this vast empire. From
the Baltic to the Black Sea-from the shores of the Danube
to the banks of the Phasis-extends an indissoluble bond
of common sympathy-a deep-rooted hatred of Russia,
which nothing less than the dread of incurring the vengeance of a despotism almost omnipotent could have restrained so long; and when at last the auspicious time
arrives for giving vent to this feeling, the flame will kindle
wildly in the recently-acquired kingdom of Poland, for
there the revolutionary spark has never been extinguished.
It is true that in the southern provinces of the empire all
hope of freedom has long disappeared, and terror and oppression have reigned so long that the inhabitants of the
thinly-populated steppe have lost much of the energy of
their Mongolian ancestors; but while they may hesitate to
start at once into open rebellion, they will not fail to use
measures of passive resistance, as a means of opposing the
designs of Russia. Opportunities will not be wanting to
insure some degree of success. When the presence of the
allied fleets in the Black Sea denies to the Czar transport
for his troops from the ports upon its margin, in any one
direction, divisions of the Russian army will often be compelled to march across the inhospitable steppes of the south;
and here, dependent for food and transport upon whatever
a barren and thinly-populated country can supply, it is
probable that they will find their wants altogether disregarded. The Tartars have only to remove their families
and their cattle out of the line of march to render the onward progress of the army a matter of the utmost difficulty,
if not altogether impossible; and thus they will be able to
gratify at the same time their natural hatred to the Russians, and their no less natural desire of retaining possession




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.     227
of their own flocks and herds. Even this dejected race
mi ght be stimulated to more active measures by the presence
upon their coasts of an overwhelming fleet hostile to Russia.
It is impossible to foretell what the result may be of so
novel a contingency. It rests with his Imperial Majesty to
decide whether it will ever arise; but whatever weight he
may attach to these considerations, and whatever may be
the conclusion at which he may ultimately arrive, the facts,
in so far as they illustrate the present internal condition
of the empire, are important; for if, on the one hand, they
combine to form any of the grounds upon which Russia
may ever be induced to acquiesce in conditions proposed by
the Allied Powers of Europe, a due appreciation of the
difficulties by which he is surrounded, and which have compelled her to pursue a course so repugnant to Muscovite
pride, must materially influence those upon whom the important task devolves of framing terms, the nature of which
will depend in some measure upon the relative physical
and moral condition of the hostile countries. But if, on
the other hand, the attitude of Europe remains such that
the Czar does not shrink from hazarding a war which must
test the inmost resources of his empire, then it is well for
the Powers who are engaged in the struggle to know what
those resources are, lest, measuring them only by a standard
provided by Russia, and judging of their value by reports
which emanate from a source totally unworthy of credit,
they forget that, when the different elements of which the
nation is composed are incohesive as sand, the extent of a
country which comprises scattered populations of various
kindreds, differing in faith, habits, and interests, is really its
weakness."
These quotations and statements may serve to show the
spirit of those who have for the most part been our teachers
in regard to the character and resources of Russia; they
may aid in guarding ourselves against prejudices derived
from such sources, and prepare us at least to do justice to




228         RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
Russia by a calm, independent, and candid study of her
actual condition and policy.
From what has already been stated, it is evident that the
Muscovite empire must be one of immense strength, if in
connection with its other advantages its destinies are in the
hands of one dominant race, whose social affinities are strong
enough to produce one compact national unity, and if this
race possesses an individuality of character which will not
prevent it from being absorbed by any contiguous families,
but which forbids even any essential modification. The
case will be all the stronger if such a race is found to possess
a vigor that displaces that with which it comes in contact.
The power which such a social unity imparts to a nation,
the tenacity of that national life of which it is the source,
is well illustrated by the example of the Jews, who not only
preserved through fifteen hundred years a clearly-defined
national individuality, but are still, after ages of dispersion
and oppression, distinguished by their national characteristics. The unexampled prosperity of America, and the
compactness and efficiency of her national power, are owing
mainly to the fact that her population has sprung principally from a single root, which is covering the land with
the vigorous shoots of one family tree, and the best guaranty
for the future which our country now presents is the newlyawakened determination to preserve our national characteristics, and perpetuate our individual national life. Still
the proportion of the population of the United States which
has descended from a single race is much smaller than it is
in Russia. For although the number of foreign-born may
not exceed two and a half millions, there are many more
than this who are not of Anglo-Saxon parentage.
The total population of Russia is differently estimated,
even by those who are considered to be the best authorities.
Mr. Hassel's tables give the number of inhabitants in
18238 as                                    59,263,700
Malte Brun believes this to be somewhat exaggerated, and estimates the number in 1827,
at        -                               59,000,000




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.     229
The London Quarterly, for April, 1854, states,
upon what it declares to be good authority,
the present population to be     -   -   70,000,000
Alison estimates it, in 1840, at  -   -   -   60,000,000
and states the annual increase at near one
million of souls, which would give now
nearly   -   -   -                        75,000,000
If we take Hassel's tables as the basis, and
reckon according to the conceded rate of increase, the present population of the empire
will appear to be about -   -   -   -   93,000,000
If we adopt Malte Brun's estimate, the present
number would reach about  -   -   -   90,000,000
The calculation made by the English Reviewer is, it appears,
very considerably below the estimates which other good
authorities have supplied, and in the present condition of
things, and the known temper of English writers in regard
to Russia, we may safely assume the possibility at least of
an under-estimate of the population of the empire. The
mean of the four estimates given above is a little more
than 80,000,000. But because the classification which is
found in the tables of the Quarterly makes it convenient to
follow them, they will be mainly adopted, though the evidence seems conclusive that the number of inhabitants is
greater than the reviewer has stated, and the subject demands a further examination.
According to this English authority, of the seventy millions now in the Russian empire fifty-eight millions belong
to the Sarmatian race, of which fifty-six millions are of the
Sclavonic branch, and forty-nine millions of these are
Russians.
Here, as is seen, are fifty-eight millions belonging to one
race, fifty-six millions that have sprung from one branch of
that race, and, as we learn from authority quite as good as
the English Review, fifty millions bound together by all
the ties of one family connection. Nowhere else in Christendom can be found such a mighty, compact national unity
as this. We may well illustrate it by supposing the




230        RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
population of the United States to be seventy millions,
composed of native Americans, fifty millions; of Englishmen, eight millions; and of all other races twelve millions.
In such a case, it would at once be seen that the central
dominant power would not only control but absorb the
rest. The absurdity of all prophesies of the separation of
such a nation on account of difference of race would at once
appear.
iBut, in estimating this feature of the strength of Russia,
another important circumstance should not be overlooked.
The Russian race proper occupy, geographically, the heart
of the country, while the tribes which belong to the other
races are distributed along the frontier. They are, therefore, both from position and from character, incapable of a
combination among themselves, and are, moreover, under
the full influence of the assimilating power of the dominant
race. By this influence, directed by the steady policy of
Russia, the Finnish tribes have been almost completely
transformed. Russia seeks everywhere not merely to annex, but to engraft and assimilate. She strives to diffuse
everywhere the central Russian life, and to mold all that
she gains into one homogeneous national body. That
policy which now brings out so wide and hearty an approval
from the American nation has been long and steadily pursued by Russia, and with marked success. She has stren gthened, by all methods within reach, a Russian sentimentan attachment to the soil and to the national religion, a
national pride, a national ambition. The vigorous pulsations of the national heart are felt at the remotest extremity
and the universal tendency is the substitution of the one
Russian life for the individual life of the separate tribes of
the frontiers, and there is a gradual melting of these individualities into the one national life.
The native Russian holds the same relation to the other
inhabitants of the empire that the native Americans do to
the other population of the United States. The active,
energetic, " pushing" man everywhere in the country is the
native Russian. For him others make room. The Russian




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.     231
may be properly called the Yankee of the East. By no
means exhibiting now the lofty qualities of the AngloSaxon mind, there is yet in him a true life, whose power
and destiny can not as yet be accurately measured. One
might unite an American idiom with a Russian phrase, and
say that the Russian is "bound" to "find out something."
The man whom the Americans call " shiftless" the Russians
describe as "one who can finld nothing out."  This may
be regarded as indicating a national characteristic, an unmistakable sign which points to future destiny. Fifty
millions of people who are intent upon "finding something
out" are not likely to play a secondary part in the affairs
of Europe, while yet expanding with a vigorous life, and
with an almost unlimited territory still unoccupied, abounding with the sources of national wealth and power.
It ill becomes any of the Powers of western Europe,
and least of all, England, to predict a dissolution of the
Russian empire because her population is composed of a
variety of races, when a comparison is instituted between
her situation and theirs. In Great Britain are only about
nineteen millions of Englishmen out of thirty millions of
inhabitants, and in France are but thirty-two millions of
Frenchmen out of about thirty-six millions of inhabitants.
Austria, it is said, has with her Germans some seventeen
millions of Sclavonians, while in Russia are no less than
fifty millions that present an almost complete family identity, nearly forty millions of whom speak exactly the same
language, from the highest in society to the lowest. Such
a social unity is presented in no other spot among civilized
nations, and it forms an element of power, whether for
defense or offensive war, which, with the aids of an appropriate civilization, would be perfectly irresistible. What
the characteristics of Russian civilization really are, and
what promise it gives for the future, is a question which
will be considered hereafter.
This immense mass is not only bound together by family
ties, not only speaks one language, but the uniformity of a
single national household prevails in the manners and




232         RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
customs, including even dress, among nearly forty millions of
the people, manifesting one great Russian nationality. To
these interlacing bonds must be added another, stronger
than them all, that of a common religion, which has a deep
hold upon the national mind, because with the Russian
people the age of faith has not yet passed away. The
skepticism of western Europe has, as yet, exerted little influence upon Russia. The doctrines of the church are to
the mass of the people solemn verities, and in the religious
ceremonies there is to them, as yet, a solemn meaning.
Bigotry and superstition doubtless, to a great extent prevail; but as an element of power, as well as a basis of
national life, a deep, sincere, though misguided religious
sentiment, is far superior to the infidelity of France or Germany: a skepticism indeed, which almost universally now
underlies the forms of the Roman Catholic Church. As a
bond of union, and as an exciting cause whereby to arouse a
national enthusiasm, and knit a people into one firmly compacted body, the religion of Russia bears some resemblance
to the Roman Catholic Church in the days of its strength
and vigor. Russia is capable of being aroused and maddened for a religious war; and the course of the government now shows most clearly that it fully understands, and
is prepared to use, this truly terrific power. Another tie
which unites in one the great Russian family, is an attachment to the soil, or rather, as the distinction is properly
made by Haxthausen, an ardent patriotism; and this idea
perhaps, has never been so well expressed elsewhere, as by
him in the following extract from his work:
" Their country, the country of their ancestors, the 1Holy
Russia, the people fraternally united under the scepter of
the Czar, the communion of faith, the ancient and sacred
monuments of the realm, the tombs of their forefathersall form a whole which excites and enraptures the mind of
the Russian. They consider their country as a sort of kinsmanship, to which they address the terms of familiar endearment. God, the Czar, and the priest, are all called Father,




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.     233
the Church is their Mother, and the Empire is always
called Holy Mother Russia. The Capital of the Empire is
Holy Mother Moscow, and the Volga, Mother Volga. Even
the high road from Moscow to Vladimir is called' Our
dear Mother the high road to Vladimir.' But above all,
Moscow, the Holy Mother of the land, is the center of Russian history and tradition, to which all the inhabitants of
the empire devote their love and veneration. Every Russian entertains all his life long the desire to visit one day
the great City, to see the towers of its holy churches, and
to pray on the tombs of the patron saints of Russia. Mother
Moscow has always suffered and given her blood for Russia,
as all the Russian people are ready to do for her."
If Baron Haxthausen, whose book is admitted to be the
best extant on Russia, has not painted this picture in colors
somewhat too warm, then the civilized world has cause to
regard Russia with the liveliest interest. Fifty millions of
people animated by such a spirit are capable either of blessing or cursing the world, to an extent to which history
probably can furnish no parallel; because this tremendous
power, thus treasured as it is in fifty millions of hearts-a
spiritual force-has at its disposal all means of destruction
or defense that are known to modern war. Such a people
may not possess the impulsiveness of the French soldier,
which hurls him like a shot on his foe; they may not be equal
in individual prowess to the English, but there is a selfsustaining power of endurance that exhausts and wears out
its enemy, that clings obstinately to its purposes, rising
afresh from every defeat, prepared for, and undertaking or
resisting a new attack. This patriotism, that suffers all
things sooner than permit an invader to rest securely on
their soil, this spirit that waits and watches, and suffers
long, until its opportunity shall come, has been manifested
too often to be doubted any longer. When Russia has been
reported through all Europe as beaten continually, in battle
after battle, when all the nations are summoned to exult
over her ruins, then the issue has ever been the overthrow




234         RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE;
of her adversary. The Russians have thus far in the end
shaken every invader from them, and made reprisals upon
their foe.
The grand army of Napoleon fell before this inextinguishable love of country, which preferred the sacrifice of
all rather than endure the presence, on their own soil, of
foreign troops, and despisers of their religion; to which
the ruins and ashes of Smolensko and Aoscow were a less
mournful sight than a hostile army trampling on their consecrated places and the graves of their fathers. It is
perhaps consoling to French and English feelings to devise
hard names for such a spirit, to call it fanaticism, bigotry,
superstition, etc.; but it should not be forgotten that, notwithstanding this gift of hateful epithets, its qualities remain the same, its power is undiminished, and the soldiers
stand as steadily to their guns, and throw their shot and
shell with an aim as fatally accurate, as if they had applied
to them terms of admiration and endearment. The characteristics of the Russian people, their determination to
defend their country to the last, are not to be changed by
bitter language, or by railing at the Czar as a bigot, or
coward, or hypocrite, or fanatic, or unmanly rejoicing at
the news of his death. Still another element which serves
to produce a national unity in Russia, the influence of which
is likely to extend far beyond the present limits of her
dominions, is a national vanity and a world-wide ambition,
which no one can approve of, and a traditionary belief that
the Sclavonian race is yet to rule the world. Every Russian,
it is said, high and low, entertains the undoubted opinion,
that his race will yet control the destinies of the nations,
and regards all events as only sweeping on toward this
ultimate end. This may be condemned or ridiculed as
mere vanity, as an absurdity, demanding no serious attention; and yet it is a fact, and in connection with other
things it becomes an important fact, not to be disregarded
in the calculation by which we would measure the power
and determine the future of Russia. Though we may be
disposed to reject the idea, that what individuals and




THIS GIVES HER A TRUE NATIONAL LIFE.     235
nations perseveringly believe themselves capable of they
do generally accomplish, this national characteristic must
not be forgotten as a chief element of national power.
The misleading character of most of the statements concerning Russia is clearly seen in the light of these facts. Nothing could be further from the truth than to represent this empire as unwieldy and inefficient, as a mass of crude material
cohering so slightly as to be in perpetual danger of falling
into fragments, or of being rent asunder by internal dissension. Those who thus represent the Muscovite nation
either know nothing of the real Russian, and are painting
the creature of their dreams, or for special purposes they
studiously misrepresent. The central homogeneous mass
of Russia, its compact and vigorous nationality, as compared with the various tribes that skirt its wide frontier,
may be regarded as a mighty continent with a fiinge of
islands scattered along its shores. This shows also how
vain are all expectations that the death of a Czar will
essentially modify the settled policy of the Empire, or
endanger its peace. Russia has evidently entered upon a
career which is the combined result of her geographical
position, the nature of her resources, the condition of
Europe, her national religion, and the genius of her people.
These have prescribed for her. under the guidance of the
God of nations, a national mission, which the west of Europe
will not prevent her from executing. A national policy,
with its general features very clearly defined, has become
inwrought in the public mind of Russia, and that policy
will not be suddenly changed, much less abandoned, because
the characteristics of a great nation can not be at once
obliterated. Although the character of him who wears the
crown may accelerate or retard the progress of such a nation,
it will, under any leader, still move onward toward its
ultimate goal. Like a staunch and well-appointed ship,
with a competent crew united in the determination to prosecute a definite voyage, that pauses not even though its commander dies, so the national career of fifty millions of united
people belonging to one family will not be abandoned on




236         RUSSIA CONTROLLED BY ONE RACE.
account of the loss of any one leader. Her national unity
is capable of being extended safely from the Atlantic to the
Pacific, and the Powers of western Europe will not be able
to arrest even her southward march by underrating her
strength and resources, nor by sneers at her barbarism, her
fanaticism, or her despotism. Her barbarism is found
strangely connected with the very highest military science,
her fanaticism appears very much like an enthusiasm for
religion and country, and her despotism has not driven the
people from an ardent support of the throne.




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS.     237
CHAPTER XXII.
CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
It will not, perhaps, be uninteresting to the American
reader to look at a few short passages of history, in which
the character of the Russian soldier may be studied on the
field, and as it was almost half a century ago. It is probable that no portion of Russian history presents in a clearer
manner the real character of the people, and the qualities
which distinguish her army, whether soldiers or officers,
than the record of the French expedition to Moscow. A
study of that attack, its progress and results, will enable us
to form an opinion as to the issue of any future assault by
the Powers of western Europe, while, at the same time, the
capabilities of Russia, and her national characteristics, will
appear. Whether one regards the unrivalled qualities of
the commander of that expedition, or of the army under
his command, it will not be considered probable that the
Northern Empire will again be compelled to meet upon her
own soil so formidable a foe, while, at the same time, its
power of resistance has been immensely increased since the
invasion of Napoleon.
A glance at a few of the chief points in that memorable
attempt at the subjugation of Russia, can not be without
interest in the present crisis. In the first place, it is




238         CHARACTER OF TIHE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
necessary, in order to understand what the Russians really
acconmplished, to consider the relative strength of the opposing Powers, at the commencement of the campaign. The
total effective force with which Bonaparte entered the Russian territory, as quoted by Alison from the imperial muster
rolls, was as follows:
Total effective force which entered the Russian territory: Men,   -   647,158
Horses,                                                  187,111
Total number of cannon,    -    -    -    -    -    -    1,372
To this force the Russians had opposed as follows:
Infantry.   Cavalry.  Artillery.  Cossacks.
First army of the west, -   -   111,194    20,434    12,985    9,000
Second army of the west,   -  42,804    7,852     4,165    4,500
Third army of the west,  -   -   34,996  9,852    3,185    4,500
Grand total,   -   188,994    38,138  20,335   18,000
SUMMARY.
Infantry,   -   -    -                      188,994
Cavalry,                                     38,138
Artillery,   -                            - 20,335
Cossacks,  -          -    -    -    -    18,000
Total,    -      -      -       -    265,467
The immense disparity of the forces at the commencement of the campaign should be allowed to have its full
weight with those who are accustomed to think of the Russians as being driven before the French onward to Moscow.
The whole French army was 647,158, matched against a
Russian force of 265,467-less than one-half the number of
Napoleon's troops.   The  French  cavalry  amounted to
96,579, while this part of the Russian regular force was
only 38,138, and, including the Cossacks, amounted to but
56,138. Such was the relative force of the combatants when
the grand army entered the Russian territory, to which
must be added the matchless ability and reputation of Napoleon himself. The state of the Russian people, in view
of this overwhelming assault upon their country, is thus
stated by Alison, on the authority of Boutourlieu: "The
"intelligence of the invasion," and the addresses of the
Emperor, " excited the utmost enthusiasm in the people
"and the army.  It was not mere military ardor, or the
" passion for conquest, like that which animated the French




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.       239' army, but a deep-rooted resolution of resistance, founded
"on the feelings of patriotism and the spirit of devotion.
"Less buoyant at first, it was more powerful at last;
founded on the contempt for life it remained unshaken by
disaster, unsubdued by defeat. As the French army advanced, and the dangers of Russia increased, it augmented
in strength; and while the ardor of the invaders was
quenched by the difficulty of their enterprise, the spirit of
the Russians rose with the sacrifices which their situation
required."  This may be regarded as describing a permanent characteristic of the Russian nation; from the earliest
period of their history to the siege of Sebastopol, this
long endurance and gradual but sure accumulation of
strength to surmount an obstacle, has been conspicuous.
In the two first inconsiderable actions of this war of invasion, the French were defeated. In the attempt which
followed to separate two divisions of the Russian army,
Napoleon was out-maneuvered by the Russian generals,
and failed to accomplish his purpose-he, however, charging the blame upon his brother Jerome. The first considerable battle was at Mohilow, a strong position held by the
French Marshal Davoust with thirty thousand men, the
difficult defiles of the forest being filled with artillery. This
strong post was attacked by an inferior force of twenty
thousand Russians, who fought for hours at the entrance
of the defiles in a perfect storm of grape-shot and musketballs, and then retreated in good order, and with "little
molestation," the loss on both sides being nearly equalabout three thousand for either army. The object of Napoleon at this point was was to cut off Prince Bagration's
forces from the other divisions of the Russian army, and,
although he employed for this purpose two armies each of.
which was as powerful as the Russian division, he was foiled
in the attempt  The Russian general, Barclay, having
assembled eighty-two thousand men at Witeysk, had resolved to wait the attack of Napoleon at the head of one
hundred and eighty thousand, and Bonaparte felt himself
sure of his foe. As he retired on the night of the expected




240       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
battle, he said to Murat, "To-morrow, at five, the sun of
Austerlitz."  The two armies lay facing each other, their
watch-fires shining on each other's camps. During the
night the Russian general received intelligence that decided
him to alter his plan, and retreat upon Smolensko.
The manner of effecting this retreat exhibited not only
consummate skill, but the highest state of discipline in the
Russian army.  To break up a regular encampment of
eighty thousand men is not a small matter under any circumstances, but to do it in the night, almost under the very
eyes of a watchful enemy, and to do it so silently, and in
such perfect order as not to awaken even a suspicion of
what was being done, to accomplish the object so perfectly
that at day-break when Murat went forward to reconnoiter,
not a man, not a baggage-wagon, not a weapon, not a solitary straggler out of eighty thousand men, could be found;
this evinced a skill and a military science which filled the
French officers both with astonishment and mortification.
There was in such movements thus executed no promise of
easy victories. The advanced guard of the French army
sent in pursuit were unable at the separation of the roads
of St. Petersburg and Moscow to determine which an army
of eighty thousand men had taken. At length, when the
Russian rear-guard was discovered marching in perfect
order across the plain toward Smolensko, it was attacked,
but the assailing party was utterly destroyed.
The influence of the religious sentiment upon the Russian
people is well exhibited by the reliance which was placed
upon it by the Emperor, in rousing the nation for defense.
The language of his address was, "The national religion,
"the throne, the State, can only be preserved by the greatest
"sacrifices."  He added also to this an appeal to the love
of race: "Holy clergy, by your prayers you have always
"invoked the Divine blessing on the arms of Russia;
" people, worthy descendants of the brave Sclavonians, often
"have you broken the jaws of the lions which were opened' to devour you. Unite, then, with the cross in your hearts,
"and the sword in your hands, and no human power shall




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER       241
"prevail against you."  The result showed that the emperor
knew his people. The population of Moscow voted a levy
of ten men in the hundred; the merchants agreed to arm
them at their own expense; they agreed to a pro rata tax
for the public service, and then made an additional subscription of nearly one million of dollars.
The attempts which have been made by some European
writers, to throw discredit upon this heroic spirit of the
Russian people, exhibit neither truthfulness nor generosity.
They have been represented as acting only through the influence of constraint and fear, as offering to make sacrifices
because they knew that otherwise their property would be
wrested from them by a relentless government. To an unprejudiced mind, one willing to do justice even to an adversary, every feature of the case presents an unqualified contradiction to such statements as these. Every step of the
Russians under their alarming circumstances, shows not a
cold reluctant support of the Emperor, but the spontaneous
movement which springs from the glowing heart. The
Czar appealed to his people both as a father and as the
head of the State, and they responded with the affection of
children, and the enthusiasm of patriots. No sacrifice appeared to them great or unreasonable, if by it their religion
and country could be preserved. It reminds one of the
spirit which pervaded our own country in the time of the
Revolution. The whole power of the empire was brought
to bear upon the execution of a single purpose to rid their
soil at any cost of the presence of a foe. The religious
character which was given to the war, the deep religious
spirit everywhere excited among the people, of whatever
rank, were made the subjects of mirth and ridicule in the
infidel camp of the French, though not by Bonaparte. His
knowledge of human nature was far too profound to treat
with contempt a scene which excited both astonishment
and apprehension. The next combat in this contest for
power and conquest on the one hand, and for home, religion, and country on the other, was one in which twentyfive thousand Russians were opposed to twenty-seven
16




242       CHARACTER OF TIIE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
thousand French, and the French were defeated with a loss
of four thousand men. An affair which soon after occurred
while both armies were directing their march upon Smolensko, will show how little occasion there is for sneers at
the valor of the Russian soldier. A small body of Russians
consisting only of six thousand infantry and twelve hundred horse, which had been detached for a particular service
from the main army, found themselves suddenly surrounded
by eighteen thousand French cavalry, and cut off from all
possibility of obtaining assistance. These troops were new
levies, who had never been in action. The Russian general,
Newerofskoi, determined not to surrender, even uinder such
appalling circumstances. He formed his little company
into a hollow square, and commenced his retreat across the
plains, perfectly open as they were to the operations of cavalry, that hemmed him in on all sides by this dense squadron. With constantly-repeated charges, the French hurled
themselves upon the bristling bayonets with a headlong
valor equalled only by the steadiness of their foe; sometimes driven back by the constant rolling fire blazing on all
sides of the square, and sometimes bursting through the
closed ranks, dashing their horses into the centre of the
living masses only to be slain or driven back, the everdiminishing number of the Russians still moving on, and
still closing up their ranks and presenting again an unbroken outer line of men and steel. Forty times during the
day did the French cavalry charge that Russian square,
and as many times were they driven back, until at nightfall Newerofskoi extricated himself entirely, though with
the loss of more than a thousand men. The manner in
which the choicest troops of Wellington withstood the repeated charges of the imperial guard at Waterloo has been
the theme of many a warm and just eulogium, but it was
fully equaled by the unflinching bravery of these Russian
raw recruits, exposed through the whole day in the open
plains to nearly three times their number of the veteran
cavalry of France. It surely is unwise, to say the least, to
speak slightingly of the military character of a people that




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.      243
can supply soldiers such as these. Such articles as within the
year 1854 have appeared in some of the leading British Reviews and Journals, whose object is to disparage the Russian
army, to represent the Russians as a nation of traders and mechanics, and essentially unwarlike, to prove that most of her
distinguished generals are and have been foreigners, that
the walls of her fortifications are ready to tumble down, that
the Russian fleet is most unseaworthy, with other similar
statements, are far more dishonorable to the English than
the Russian name. The noblest and the best of England
are superior to such studied detraction, but when writerswho are seeking both popularity and remuneration from
the British public, pursue this course, the only rational inference is, that they believe that such sentiments will be
agreeable to the public sentiment of England, that they will
meet and gratify the wishes of the people. By a similar
course toward America, as impolitic as it was unjust, England created in the American heart dislike and resentment
which half a century has not removed. The wanton injury
which English journalists are inflicting upon the feelings
of the Russians will yet recoil upon her, it may be feared,
in the hour of her great need. Had England, during
the trials of our early career, shown toward the United
States a magnanimous spirit, it would have bound us to her
by ties of sympathy which would have made the two nations
one. She chose instead to gratify her pride by scorn and
ridicule, and she has already met her reward in the mortification and disappointment with which she perceives the
lack of American sympathy.
The next great event in the march of the French army
was the battle at Smolensko. The fortifications of this ancient city bore no resemblance to those modern defenses
within which Russia has now entrenched herself. An old
but massive wall surrounded it, but this had only the armament of fifty old guns, in bad condition, and without carriages. A citadel of modern construction was yet incapable
of proper defense, having, like all the works of the town,
been neglected in this interior spot, where no enemy had




244       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
been expected. The town, indeed, was no longer of any
consequence among the defenses of the modern empire,
though it once occupied an important position. The first
attack at Smolensko was by Marshal Ney upon the citadel,
from which he was promptly repulsed with great loss. In
the meantime, the main body of the Russian army hastened
to the relief of the city, which at first was held by only
nineteen thousand Russians. But after entering the city,
it was resolved by the Russian general not to hazard a
general battle, when a defeat might cut him off from supplies, and he began a retreat toward Moscow, leaving thirty
thousand men as a rear guard to hold Smolensko, and thus
cover his retreat. The Russian commander had placed a
stream between himself and the main army of the French,
which Napoleon in vain endeavored to ford when he saw
the retiring columns, and then, as a last resource, ordered
a general assault upon Smolensko. Napoleon here commanded in person. HIe had at his disposal about two hundred thousand men and five hundred pieces of cannon. Of
these, seventy thousand were led against the walls defended
by thirty thousand Russians, who had now placed two
hundred pieces of heavy cannon upon the ramparts. The
French army fought under the eye of Napoleon, with their
accustomed enthusiasm. Preceded by a heavy artillery
force, they advanced unwaveringly under the terrible fire
from the ramparts, and were wrapped in the sheets of flame
that burst from the walls. After an obstinate battle they
forced themselves within the suburbs, and then one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery were brought to bear upon
the walls at point blank range. But, notwithstanding, they
were foiled in every effort, and at evening Bonaparte was
obliged to draw off his troops with a loss of fifteen thousand
men. The French howitzers had set fire to a part of the
city during the day; the remaining portion was fi[red by
the Russians in the night; the magazines were destroyed,
and the Russian army, with its wounded and a great part
of the inhabitants, withdrew before morning, leaving only




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.       245
ashes and ruin behind them-beginning a work that was
completed at Moscow.
The two armies next met at Valentina, where was the
rear guard of the Russian army, under Touezoff. A small
stream divided the combatants who first engaged. The
French first drove the Russians from their position, and
forced them  across the rivulet. But when they crossed in
pursuit, they were themselves defeated, and driven back
over the stream. In the course of the day thirty-five thousand French were opposed to twenty-five thousand Russians, and at the close of the battle the Russians remained
masters of their position, and had lost six thousand men,
while the French loss amounted to eight thousand. Such
was the conduct of Russian armies up to the bloody battle
of Borodino.
In the campaign, thus far, there is certainly little occasion
for sneers at the Russian people as an unwarlike nation, or
at the ability or conduct of their generals. Every strategical maneuver on the part of Napoleon was met by a
promptitude and skill quite equal to his own, and history
does not show a more admirable instance of the display of
military science and discipline than was exhibited in the
manner in which the Russian forces retreated towards Moscow. Every effort of the army was nobly seconded by the
inhabitants. Cities, villages, mills, stores of provisionswhatever could, by any possibility, give aid or shelter to
the invading host, was unhesitatingly destroyed. An enthusiastic attachment to their country which nothing could
shake, which prepared them for any sacrifice and any effortindignation at the presence of an enemy on their native
soil —such feelings pervaded all ranks, and fired every
heart.
Under these circumstances a marked national characteristic was exhibited. Thoroughly aroused, almost nmaddened,
as the heart of Russia was, there were no rash counsels, no
hasty, impetuous action. Instead of risking all in one great
effort, when failure would have been ruin, the army of Napoleon was subjected to a long, slow, but certain process of




246       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
exhaustion, by which it was wisely foreseen that his destruction, though longer delayed, would be certain and
complete in the end.  With this general policy decided
upon impatience was restrained, and they watched and
waited the time when the host of Bonaparte should be so
reduced as no longer to be an overmatch for themselves.
The name of Napoleon was a terror everywhere; it had of
itself a power to overmatch thousands of men, and the Russian generals may well be excused for being even somewhat
over-cautious in meeting such an enemy. But the Russian
commander, after retreating as far as Borodino, felt that
unless a blow should now be struck in defense of Moscow,
that the spirit of the whole nation would be depressed, for
Mioscow was regarded as the Mother of the Empire, and
every Russian heart beat with strong affection for the Holy
City. Iutosoff felt that a defeat would be less disastrous
than a refusal to meet the enemy.
The battle of Borodino was one of the most bloody, as
well as among the most important conflicts of modern
times, and exhibits the qualities of a Russian army when
engaged on the grandest scale of modern war. It will serve
to prepare us to estimate aright the defensive power of
Russia. To all human wisdom, it seemed as if on the field
of Borodino not only the fate of Russia but of Europe might
be decided. The defeat of the Rlussians would open the
road to Moscow, and once in the magnificent Capital of the
Old Empire of Muscovy, Bonaparte supposed that he should
be absolutely secure, and that the Emperor and his nation
would be prostrate at his feet. The two armies were in
numbers nearly of equal strength, each numbering about
one hundred and thirty thousand men. But ten thousand
of the Russian troops were fresh recruits who had never
seen a battle, and seven thousand were Cossacks. The
French force were therefore really superior; besides, they
had thirty thousand cavalry, the finest in Europe, and this
gave them  an immense advantage.  The Russians were
superior in the number of their artillery by some fifty pieces5




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.      247
and they also occupied a strong position, and had the advantage of awaiting an attack.
This position may be made intelligible in its general features, if the reader conceives a strong redoubt in front of
the center of the Russian lines, in the rear of this a second
and much larger redoubt, called the Great Rledoubt; then
in the rear of this, crowning several eminences, stretched
the long lines of the main army-all these heights as well
as the redoubts being defended by artillery. Opposed to
this Russian force was the greatest commander of his age,
whose reputation alone had in it the power of an army,
and at his command troops unsurpassed by any in Europe,
in courage, experience and skill, led on by officers who had
scarcely known defeat in any great battle. Whatever
talent, reputation, science, skill, or courage could supply,
the French army undoubtedly possessed, and these must
be considered in estimating the results of the conflict.
Toward evening, on the day preceding the decisive
struggle, an attack was made on the smaller redoubt in
front, which was defended by ten thousand men and twelve
pieces of artillery. This attack was led by Murat, at the
head of a very heavy body of cavalry, attended by two
divisions of infantry correspondingly strong. The French
artillery as they advanced poured a storm of grape. shot into
the redoubt, while the ranks of the assailing columns were
momentarily thinned by the answering fire from the Russian guns, until the attacking party stood within sixty feet
of the redoubt. There for a time each gave and received
a destructive fire of musketry, till finally, by an impetuous
charge, such as few but [French soldiers are capable of, the
Russians were driven from their intrenchment, and the redoubt was taken and partly filled with French troops. But
in a moment more, the tide of battle rolled resistlessly back,
those within the redoubt were utterly destroyed, and once
more it was in the hands of the Russians. Another gallant
charge and the Russians were hurled back again, and masses
of the French once more filled the space within its low
walls, but still again the returning Russians came like an




248       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
avalanche and swept their foes away, and the eagles of the
Czar waved once more above the bloody spot.
Three times thus that outpost was taken and retaken,
until in the evening it remained in the hands of the French,
and after this desperate struggle the first point was hardly
won. On the following day the same skill, courage, and
impetuosity in attack, and the same obstinate valor in defense was displayed by two hundred and sixty thousand
men, with more than twelve hundred cannon. Whatever
Napoleon could accomplish with troops worthy of such a
commander was done; and as the result of one of the
bloodiest fights the world has ever seen in civilized war,
the French army had twelve thousand killed, and thirtyeight thousand wounded-fifty thousand in all; while the
Russians had fifteen thousand killed, and thirty thousand
wounded-forty-five thousand in all-and two thousand
more had been taken prisoners.
At the close of the action the Russian army was entrenched
in a new position, stronger than that from which the French
had driven them, and Napoleon drew off his forces from
the battle-field. Neither army was in a condition to renew
the battle, and the Russian commander deemed it prudent
to sacrifice Moscow rather than risk another engagemnent
before receiving reinforcements. Bonaparte entered Moscow only to see a city of three hundred thousand inhabitants, first utterly deserted and silent as a city of the dead,
and then blazing, as the funeral pyre of his hopes, then
ashes and ruin, as his hopes were doomed to be. Kutosoff
threw his army between Moscow and all supplies, while,
from the rich provinces in his rear his own troops were
refreshed, and from all sides reinforcements were continually pouring in.
It is needless to pursue the history of this campaign.
The object for which these few incidents have been introduced is accomplished. In a few weeks more the grand
army was annihilated, and scarce an individual of that
mighty invading host remained on the soil of Russia. Such
a vengeance had been taken as causes men's ears even now




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.        249
to tingle with the recital. The facts here presented have
been mainly derived from  the most reliable sources of information, such as the most candid of English historians,
so far as RussiaJs concerned, deemed to be authentic. They
present a picture of the character of Russian soldiers which
it would be well for any nation, however powerful, to consider, before entertaining high hopes of crushing a Russian
army with ease, under any circumstances whatever. They
should bring a blush to the cheek of any man who titters
a scoff at Russian courage or efficiency. In all the history
of the world there is not a story of a more enthusiastic
devotion to country, or of a more heroic defense, nor of
one more skillfully conducted. The Russian conduct of the
campaign was in the main admirably suited to their circumstances, and its ultimate and complete success justifies
the foresight with which it was planned, and adds lustre to
the skill with which it was conducted.
Such an army, whether we consider its numbers, its equipments, its experience, its commander, or its general officers,
can not now be led against Russia by her present antagonists, while she, according to the conceded rate of her
growth, must have increased her population since 1812 by
at least two-thirds of what it then was, while, at the same
time, she has been perfecting herself in the science of war,
as the fatal superiority of her artillery at Sebastopol has
abundantly proved. These facts, taken in connection with
the events of the Crimean war, are quite sufficient to indicate the probable results of any invasion of the soil of
Russia. The combat with a Russian army, and especially
a conflict with the empire, as a whole, has ever been a deceitful one. The manner of resistance which is assumed,
partly by the force of the national characteristics, and partly
because they rely much upon the aid which the nature of
the country affords them, wears the appearance in the first
stages of the conflict of inaction or timidity, sometimes
even of continued defeat? Bonaparte seemed to be driving
the Russian forces like sheep before hiTm on his march to
Moscow, and yet he could never break the perfect order of




250       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
their retreat, even with the matchless cavalry which he
commanded, nor could he succeed, in a single maneuver,
by which to separate the divisions of their army or prevent a junction, or to cut them off from supplies. On the
other hand, he found himself imprisoned and starving
in Moscow, and then not only compelled to retreat, but to
march back along the very desert that his army had made in
its advance, and thus, and by successive actions, where either
nothing was gained or victory was purchased at too great
a cost, his army was annihilated, and he transformed into a
solitary fugitive fleeing for life.
In like manner we heard of uninterrupted successes both
by the Turks and the Allies at the commencement of the
Crimean war. The Allied troops could hardly obtain an
opportunity to show their valor, the enemy was so easily,
even disgracefully beaten, and the English people were
busying themselves with the question what should be done
with Sebastopol and the Crimea-how this Russian possession and the other should be disposed of-soberly making
a new map of Europe, and declaring what they would and
would not accept or offer as terms of peace, and endeavoring to decide how much humiliation Russia would safely
bear, when at once they find the whole force of France,
England and Turkey, arrested effectually before a single
fortress, around which most of those splendid troops that
originally landed in the Crimea are now lying in their
graves. The most extravagant accounts of the new engines
of destruction carried out by the French and English
armies were sent round the world. It was expected that a
hostile fleet would be almost instantaneously destroyed at a
distance that would preclude a return shot, and Lancaster
guns were, in like manner to batter down fortifications,
themselves entirely out of the reach of the cannon of the
fortress.
Instead of all this, it has been stated by English writers
that the first siege batteries opened by the French were
silenced by the Russian guns in three hours, and their
whole artillery proved itself superior, both in construction




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.      251
and in the manner in which the guns were served. A resistance which sustains itself indefinitely, which becomes
more formidable as a campaign advances, and which wears
out its foe and overwhelms him in the end, is the characteristic of Russian war when their own soil is invaded.
The world, however, is informed that the sudden setting in
of winter and the destruction of Moscow were the causes
of the ruin of Napoleon's army, that frost and snow, and
not Russian skill or weapons, were its destroyers. But a
candid examination, not of partizan statements or of elaborate eulogies of Bonaparte, will show that his destruction
in Russia was inevitable aside from these causes. The
people that burned Moscow were equally prepared for any
other similar sacrifice, and Napoleon was expelled from
Russia because the nation was resolved that cost what it
might, he should be forced back across their frontier or be
destroyed.
The following observation of the elegant English historian who has had the courage and magnanimity to present
facts in regard to Russia will exhibit this matter in its true
light. When' Bonaparte commenced his retreat, the Russian commander first by a most skillful maneuver forced
him back along the path which he had made a desert in
his advance, while at the same time the Russian army pursued him not in the rear, but on a parallel line of march,
through a district abounding with supplies. Upon this
Alison remarks as follows:
" Justice requires that due credit should be given to the
Russian mode of pursuit, by a parallel march, a measure
which was unquestionably one of the greatest military
achievements of the last age. Had Kutosoff pursued by
the same road as the French, his army, moving in a line
wasted by the triple curse of three previous marches, would
have melted away more rapidly than his enemy's. HIad he
hazarded a serious engagement before the French were
completely broken by their sufferings, his own loss would
have probably been so severe as to have disabled him from




252       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
taking advantage of theirs. Despair rapidly restores the
courage of an army; a disorderly crowd of stragglers often
resume the strictest military order, and are capable of
the greatest efforts when the animation of a battle is at
hand.
1" The passage of the Beresina, the battle of Corunna, the
victory of Hanan, are not required to demonstrate this important truth. Well knowing that a continued retreat
would of itself weaken his enemies, the Russian general
maneuvered in such a manner as with hardly any loss to
himself to make prisoners of above half their army, and
that at a time when the storms of winter were making as
great ravages in his own troops as in those of his antagonists. Had he not pursued at all, Napoleon would have
halted at Smolensko, and soon repaired his disasters; had
he fought a pitched battle with him on the road, his army,
already grievously weakened by the cold, would have
probably been rendered incapable of pursuing him to the
frontier.
"By acting a bolder part he might have gained a more
brilliant, but he could not have secured such everlasting
success; he would have rislked the fate of the empire, which
hung on the preservation of his army; he might have acquired the title of conqueror of Napoleon,'but he would
not have deserved that of savior of his country. But it
would have been in vain that all these advantages lay within
the reach of Russia, had their constancy and firmness not
enabled her people to grasp them. Justice has not hitherto
been done to the heroism  of their conduct. We admire
the Athenians who refused to treat with Xerxes after the
sack of their city, and the Romans who sent troops to
Spain after the Battle of Conneo; what then shall we say
of the general who, while his army was yet reeking with
the slaughter of Borodino, formed the project of enveloping
the invader in the capital which he had conquered? what
of the citizens who fired their palaces and their temples lest
they should furnish even a temporary refuge to the invader?
and what of the Sovereign who, undismayed by the fires of




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.      253
Moscow, announced to his people in the moment of their
greatest agony his resolution never to submit; and foretold
the approaching deliverance of his country and the world?
Timle, the great sanctifier of events, has not yet lent its halo
to these sacrifices; separate interest have arisen; the terror
of Russia has come in place of the jealousy of Napoleon,
and those who have gained most by the heroism of their
Allies are too much influenced by momentary considerations
to acknowledge it. But when these fears and jealouses
shall have passed away, and the pageant of Russian, like
that of French ascendancy, shall have disappeared, the impartial voice of posterity will pronounce that the history
of the world does not afford an example of equal moral
grandeur."
There is one remark in the foregoing extract which is
worthy of special attention; that those who have gained
most by the heroism of Russia in breaking the power of
Bonaparte, have been since unwilling to acknowledge it.
Had Napoleon not been checked in Russia, that threatened
French invasion of England might long since have become
to her a very sorrowful reality, and it ill becomes her now
to speak in terms of scorn and disparagement of that gallant people, who at such a fearful cost interposed itself between Bonaparte and the rest of Europe.
But it is insisted by English writers, that however formidable Russia may be at home, aided by the defenses of
her climate and country, she is incapable of maintaining an
army abroad, and of carrying on successfully an offensive
war. We are told of the total inefficiency of her commissariat, and of the immense losses which her armies sustain,
and we are pointed to the campaigns in the Caucasus, and
latterly to the unsuccessful siege of Silistria, as proofs of
inefficiency and unskillfulness. More than one point here
is worthy of consideration. In the first place, will the operations of the Russian army abroad compare unfavorably
with those of England herself, even when England has the
command of the sea, and the means of transport. Has a




254       CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.
Russian army often suffered more from the want of order,
skill, and efficiency in every department, than the English
army in the Crimea, if their own witnesses are to be credlted? Has any campaign in the Caucasus been more disastrous or ineffectual than the efforts of the Allied troops?
Russia need not shrink from a comparison with those who
affect to despise her.
But again, if the whole time of the foreign operations of
Russia is considered, where has she been successfully and
permanently driven back?  On all sides, her frontier has
been continually extended, and at what point has she
failed to maintain herself? She has been driven back, it
is triumphantly said, from  the principalities, across the
Danube, across the Pruth. But the end is not yet. Will
she remain there? A question which her past history
perhaps will answer more correctly than present temporary
appearances.
Again, it is not in accordance with the genius or policy
of Russia to make aggressive war for the sake of extensive
and sudden conquest. It is by no means necessary for her
to do this in order to become a great military Power. She
need not attempt to march her armies over the prostrate
thrones of Europe after the manner of Bonaparte; this is
not her mission-not thus is her ultimate position to be
won. It is only necessary for her to possess and wield with
skill sufficient military power to defend herself against the
combined assault of western Europe, and then, under God,
her future is secure. She requires only the means of protecting her natural growth. Within certain limits she
intends to displace or control all. It is in this point of
view, and with this purpose of hers before the mind, that
the military capacities of that great Empire are to be
studied.  She is not to be extended simply or mainly
by conquest alone, by the direct application of military
power to the acquisition of territory. Her vast military
resources are demanded to protect her growth, to shield
her from  foreign  aggression.  As an  attacking force
pushes its columns forward, under the cover of its guns,




CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER.         255
so Russia grows out on every side with continuous enlargement, under the cover of her military power. Behind
her fortifications, and the lines of her army, within her
impregnable home, she cherishes and makes strong her
interior life, that swells ever outward by a resistless
vigor.




256J         THE ARiMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.
Hiaving in the preceding chapter presented some facts
and statements which show the real character and capabilities of the soldiers of the Northern Empire, it becomes
important to inquire how many such soldiers a Russian
Emperor can command for offensive or defensive war. Certainly her military power must be regarded as of the most
imposing character, if the number of effective soldiers is in
the usual proportion to the population of the country; if
they are well armed and disciplined; if the munitions of
war are abundant, and of suitable quality; and if stores
and troops can be readily transported, and accumulated at
points where they are required. These points will be the
subjects of investigation in the present chapter, to which
will be added also an account of the size, position, and condition of the Russian 1Navy. It is by no means an easy
matter to ascertain, even with an approximation to accuracy,
the actual military force of the Muscovite nation. While,
on her part, national pride and ambition would lead her
to present to the world an imposing array, on the contrary,
those who fear or dislike her find their interest, as they
think, in reducing as far as possible by all manner of deductions, the published statements of the condition of her




THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.         257
military establishment, and after reducing thus her armies
within reasonable limits they proceed to show, either that
it can not be supported in the field, or that its different
corps are so widely separated that they can not be concentrated upon any single point; and again, that the vast extent of territory to be defended absorbs in its protection a
large part of the available force of the empire. It is also
asserted that the state of the country is such as to render
the transport of large bodies of troops from point to point
exceedingly difficult-indeed, almost impossible.
These statements are founded rather on the past than
the present condition of the Russian Empire, and, though
not wholly without foundation, must be received with due
caution, when we remember under what strong temptations
those who control the press of western Europe now are to
underrate the power of their formidable antagonist, and to
vail somewhat from the people the actual condition of
things. By a comparison of the various estimates of the
population of Russia, it would appear that her numbers are
nearly or not quite equal to those of France, England, and
Austria.
So far, then, as mere numbers are concerned, she should
be able to present a military array nearly or quite as formidable as the three combined. What the power of Russia
was in 1812, when the immense army of Bonaparte was
swept away, not alone by frost or the fires of Smolensko
and Moscow, but equally by the courage and skill of the
defenders of their country, is now a matter of history, and
well known to the world. Since that period she has spared
neither effort nor money in augmenting her strength, and
giving to it all the efficiency which can be derived both
fiom science and discipline. She has brought to her aid
both European and American skill and experience, and
has been steadily and silently perfecting her army, her fortifications, and her navy.
Within the last quarter of a century, no state in Europe
has augmented its forces in numbers proportionate to the increase of Russia, nor has any other Power so much improved
17




258         THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.
the quality of its troops. During his long reign, Nicholas
applied himself with unremitting ardor to perfect the whole
military organization of the empire. Both his capacity
and his resources proved fully equal to the task, and, while
we heard only of the poverty of Russia, of her barbarism,
of the inefficiency of every department of the public service,
of the corruption of her officials, and the system of peculation and fraud everywhere established, she has built and
equipped a navy which places her in the foremost rank of
naval powers, equalled by England, France, and America,
alone; she has established arsenals and depots of wood and
other military stores, unsurpassed, to say the least, by any;
her fortifications show the perfection of military science;
her military schools have no parallel anywhere, and her
army is, beyond all comparison, the most formidable in
Europe, taking into consideration its numbers, its discipline, and the resources fiom which its losses may be
repaired.
The support of such a vast military establishment must
press heavily upon the general industry of the nation beyond
all doubt; military despotism, and the necessary hardships
of a soldier's life, are constantly doing their cruel work,
but whether this burthen presses disproportionately upon
Russia, as compared with the establishments of other
nations of Europe, does not yet appear. The magnitude
of her army is scarcely beyond the due proportion of her
population, as compared with other military Powers, while
she can maintain her troops at home at less expense than
any other nation of Europe. The cost of maintaining a
foot soldier in the different armies of Europe has been
estimated as follows:*
~. s.
Cost of a foot soldier for a year in Russia,  -   5  00
"4         "6          "4     Austria,    -   9   8
ig         it         it      Prussia,   -   10  00
6c         "           " i    France,    -   14   6
"6         "c         "c      ~zEngland,  -   21  14
* Marmont's Voyages.




THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.         259
This shows an immense difference in favor of Russia,
and much of this is owing to the fact that the food of the
common people, and consequently of the soldier, is abundant and cheap. A late German writer, Ilaxthausen, describes the Russian peasantry as physically a fine race of
men, generally, indeed, eating meat only once a week, but
having a variety of other food, and well contented with it,
comfortably and even expensively clothed. This proves
that the small cost at which the Russian army is maintained
is owing, not to their being ill-fed and scantily clothed, but
because the means of supporting life with comfort are easily
obtained. The vast extent of the empire, and the difficulty
which is always experienced in moving large bodies of
troops by land from point to point, led the Emperor Nicholas to the adoption of two very important measures, one
of which is completed, and the other is urged forward as
rapidly as circumstances allow. The first was the arrangement of the whole army into different corps, stationed according to the geographical character of the country, and
where they would be needed either for attack or defense.
The English and French governments would probably
have avoided their mortifications in the Crimea, had they
possessed themselves of reliable information concerning the
actual strength of Russia, the character of her defenses, and
the condition of her army. By stationing it at the different
points of the empire where it will be needed most in case
of attack, Nicholas obviated to a great extent the sudden
movements of large bodies of troops when the late war
began. His force was ready to enter the Principalities,
ready to defend Sebastopol, and equally prepared to cover
St. Petersburg and support the garrison at Cronstadt.
But a measure far more important than the one already
mentioned, having a bearing upon the internal commerce
and general development of the country's resources, as well
as upon the transport of armies, is the construction of a
system of railways already begun, and which, when finished, will greatly increase the military efficiency of Russia. A grand trunk line is already in operation from St.




260         THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.
Petersburgh to Moscow, about four hundred miles, and
from Moscow to Odessa the work is in progress, and now
nearly finished. These two lines alone through the heart
of the empire, crossing, as they do, so many navigable
streams on which steam navigation is already begun, will
enable Russia to transport troops, munitions of war, and
supplies of all sorts, with great facility from the Baltic to
the Black Sea, and between her southern frontier and the
extreme north. These two railways, as any one will see at
a glance by consulting a map, would, by their connections
with a network of navigable rivers and uniting canals,
command almost all the resources of the Empire, either for
the Black Sea or the Baltic. Indeed, with fleets of light
steamers on all her navigable streams, she possesses means
of transport from and through every portion of her country,
even without railways, such as no other country on the
eastern continent can boast; and those who believe that she
will yet fail from inability to place troops and supplies at
any threatened point will be sorely disappointed.
But the world is constantly reminded of the poverty of
Russia, of her limited revenue, and her exhausted treasury,
and that therefore she can not maintain her military establishment in an efficient position. Those who favor us with
such statements forget that the achievement of the Czar
show as yet no evidence of want. He has expended money
on the most enlarged scale upon every public project, and
everything has been done in a manner which France and
England may imitate with advantage. Take the admitted
fact that for a hundred years no country has made so rapid
a progress in all that constitutes a great nation as Russia;
that her population doubles in about fifty years, that this
is not caused by immigration, but is mainly caused by the
natural increase of the people; and add to this that in the
meantime Moscow has been rebuilt, the ravages caused by
the invasion of more than six hundred thousand men repaired, one of the most magnificent capitals in Europe has
been created, an army of more than a million completely
organized and fully armed, not with the arms of barbarism,




THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.         261
but with the most formidable weapons of destruction known
to modern war, that a first-class navy has been produced,
and fortifications erected which have defied the utmost
strength of the two great nations of western Europe, that
at the same time long lines of railway are constructed,
schools start into being, manufactures increase, and agriculture is improved, and it must be allowed by all who are
capable of a candid judgment, that we behold on all sides
evidences of prosperity rather than of ruin. One important
fact should not be forgotten in this connection. It has been
the steady policy of the government to foster to the utmost
its own industry, and to render the nation independent by
a self-sustaining power.
Of the actual strength and resources of such a country
it is difficult to judge, and they are generally underrated,
and especially by such a commercial people as the English.
The North American colonies made but an insignificant
figure in the world's tables of wealth and power when each
farmer of New England manufactured for himself his clothing fromr materials raised on his own farm, and when his
food was produced in a similar manner; but when England
thought to crush them she was met by a power that did
not appear in statistical tables, and there was a solid and
available wealth in our country that commerce could take
no note of, and which was sufficient for successful defense.
There is in Russia a vast amount of home manufacture,
of home strength and resources, which can not be expressed
by figures, and which does not appear in official reports.
In such a state of society there is power which does not lie
on the surface. The condition of Russia can be more
readily understood by an American than by most Europeans, for a similar process in reclaiming wild lands, and
filling up a new country, and carrying forward improvements, is going on there as here, though our national character and our free institutions have imparted greater vigor
and velocity to our movement. The descriptions of the
log-houses, the lines of unbroken forests, the log, or




262         THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.
"corduroy" roads, forcibly remind the American reader of
home scenes.
It has cost our " transatlantic cousins" some painful experiments before they could be convinced that a vigorous
national life, a substantial and most formidable national
power, could clothe itself in such rude forms, having only
the aspect of poverty and discomfort. It was necessary for
them to receive lessons from the broadsides of our " fir-built
frigates," and from behind earth walls and cotton-bags, before they could comprehend how a country of forests and
cabins, and log-roads, and mud-roads, could possibly be a
powerful country; how troops could be mustered, or fed,
or clothed, or paid, or transported. Similar mistakes are
evidently made in regard to Russia, and they may be corrected in a similar manner.
Again, those who are disposed to amuse themselves with
the poverty of the Northern Empire, should not forget that
the gold-mines of the Ural are for Russia what California
is to the United States-what Australia is to Great Britain,
and that the produce of these mines is to a great extent
under the control of the government, which has a deposit
of treasure of its own, whose amount is known to the chief
officers of the realm alone.
A country capable of performing such things, and at the
same time preserving a rate of advance beyond that of her
neighbors, and which has had her whole military establishment on the war footing since 1848, was not likely to sink
suddenly from exhaustion, with only that same army to
support, as before, on her own soil. Besides, if Russia was
so soon to suffer national collapse, with but a slight addition
to her armies, and with her fleets lying in her docks, what
should be said of France and England, with their common
expenditures vastly increased, maintaining immense fleets
in foreign seas which afforded them no supplies, and vast
armies, far from home, on a spot where nothing could be
obtained for man or beast-armies whose diminished ranks
were to be constantly filled up by fresh drains on the population at home.




THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.         263
These statements of the wretched condition of the Russian
army, of the sufferings and privations of the troops, of the
terrible ravages of disease, of the inability of the government to sustain its establishment on a respectable footing,
which have filled English and French books, Quarterlies and
newspapers, have been shown to have originated either in
utter ignorance of the facts, or in the vain hope of increasing the chances of success by a deliberate system of
detraction.
The Turkish Empire, withering under the curse of God,
tottering near the goal where the unerring word of prophecy
declares that it must fall, was exhibited to wondering Europe
and America as a nation freshly set out on a new career of
civilization, having in itself a recuperative vital energy,
which would place it alongside of western nations, and which
might be able soon to cope single-handed with Russia, if a
little help were offered it by the Allies, while the Russian
forces were represented as flying before the victorious Turks
without the courage or skill to meet an enemy anywhere,
and the only complaint was that victory was too cheaply
won, and then these journalists sat down to a revision of
the map of Europe as confidently as to the carving of a
turkey for their dinner. The folly of such proceedings
was most satisfactorily shown, in a manner which England and France will have cause to remember through long
years. It is now evident that the retreat of the Russian
forces from the Principalities was decided upon before the
failure of the siege of Silistria, and was determined by' this
event; that the Russian officers foresaw in due season the
real plan of the campaign decided upon by the Allies, and
their troops were therefore withdrawn, and placed in a
position to be within reach of Sebastopol.
The course of the Russian army there was in perfect
keeping with  the well-known  national characteristics.
Their enemies were constantly shouting victory and progress, but at the same time they were being exhausted, and
fresh supplies of troops, ammunition, guns, and warlike
stores of all kinds were constantly demanded from home.




264         THE ARMY AND NAVY OF RUSSIA.
The Muscovite empire exhibited its ancient and proverbial
power of resistance, united with a science, skill, and fertility of invention and resources, not displayed in previous
wars, and this is shown by the testimony of those before
the walls of Sebastopol. The result, if it brings no lesson
of wisdom to European writers, should at least teach Americans to be exceedingly cautious in regard to testimony
thus furnished against Russia. She shows by her course,
that she is expanding by a vigorous life, and the character
of this life, and the relations which America may sustain
to its future developments, should become for us a matter
of earnest consideration. Giving due weight to the most
reliable testimony in the case, it seems but a fair conclusion
that the statements which exhibit the Russian army as
numbering about one million, are open only to such common reductions as would be made in estimating the military
strength of any other European Power, and that in determining her relative power a force of a million may be taken
as a standard nearly correct.




THE NATIONAL SENTIMENT OF RUSSIA.      265
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE NATIONAL SENTIMENT OF RUSSIA AS AFFECTING NATIONAL POLICY
AND DESTINY.
One of the most suggestive facts taught by history is,
that very often individuals who have reached positions of
commanding influence have early felt a consciousness of
their powers, and have apprehended the general features of
their allotted task; a fact which, perhaps, gave rise to the
remark of a distinguished English writer, that, in general,
a man's aspirations may be taken as the measure of his
capabilities. The remark has doubtless truth for its foundation, though it must be received only with important
qualifications. The same thing is true of some nations
which have held a sovereign's place among the kingdoms
of the world. It appears that in some manner, none, perhaps, can tell how, a national sentiment has arisen pointing
to some specific ultimate destiny. Its beginnings and its
progress seem removed from all ordinary causes, till a welldefined public opinion pervades all classes-becomes, as it
were, the national soul, and shapes the national policy.
And, whatever extravagance human pride may attach to
such popular convictions, there is often a most remarkable
general resemblance between such national anticipations
and the results actually reached. When once such a sentiment has been established, and become inwoven with the




266        THE NATIONAL SENTIMENT OF RUSSIA
national faith-when it has been handed down as a traditional belief from the fathers-it is readily seen that its
power is almost resistless. It shapes all national action,
because the national mind is ever reaching out for the accomplishment of destiny. It prompts ever to effort, at the
same time that it gives to power a definite direction. It
sustains the courage of a nation under the severest reverses,
because it believes that a superior power has already determined its ultimate success. It is national faith which, as
in- the individual, prompts to effort, and goes far to make
achievement sure.
The doctrine of "manifest destiny" may not be dismissed
with a sneer. Faith in her destiny has given a specific
direction to the national energies of Great Britain, and has
made her so long mistress both of the seas and of the commerce of the world. Faith in destiny rolled the fiery,
bloody deluge of Mohammedanism into Europe. Faith in
manifest destiny established the Western Empire, under
Charlemagne; it had made Rome before; and it has upheld
the Anglo-Saxon race in all its wondrous career. The
American mind expands with a vast idea-its "manifest
destiny." Thousands condemn, and thousands ridicule,
and yet the conception has its origin in the circumstances
of national position, and in national character; it has
shaped itself to existing wants, and even existing probabilities, and its very existence is the herald and guaranty
of future accomplishment.
The fact that such an idea may possess the mind of a
nation, and may become a reality in the course of its progress, does by no means determine its moral character, or
prove that the steps are justifiable in themselves by which
a great national end is finally reached. God causes the
wrath of man to praise him, and national sins will no less
be punished because committed in working out a previously
appointed destiny. Connected with this subject another
fact should be remembered. No nation, probably, has been
conscious of the hour when it passed its culminating point,
and when its mission was accomplished, but, on the con



AS AFFECTING NATIONAL POLICY AND DESTINY.   267
trary, retains in the decay and infirmity of old age the
brightest anticipations of its youth, and all the pride of its
day of vigor and of power. It refuses to perceive that the
scepter has passed into other hands, and still pompously
commands the obedience of the world. It is not generally
difficult to determine whether such a national sentiment is
connected with a youthful and expanding life, or whether
it belongs to the empty and powerless vanity of old age.
If now, with these facts in view we turn to Russia, we
find all travelers testifying to the existence of two national
opinions, which may be said to be universal with the fifty
millions of the Russian race. One opinion is, that they are
to possess Constantinople, and the other, that they are destined to become the most powerful nation of the world, and
to control all Europe, at least, if not the world. Upon fifty
millions of minds the impression seems to have been made,
whether true or false, whether pointing to a reality in the
future or not, that Russia is entrusted with a great mission
in the social regeneration of the world. Whence this impression has arisen who shall pretend to say; that it will
find no corresponding reality in the future who will venture
with confidence to declare? That the national, or it may
also be called the traditional, policy of the empire is founded
upon these ideas, is now known probably to all. That fact
alone is worthy of attentive consideration, because it shows
that the course of Russia is the result of a national impulse,
and that no change of rulers can essentially alter the policy
to which the nation has committed itself, and may admonish the Powers of western Europe that it is no easy matter,
even by severe reverses, completely to annihilate the pride
and the hopes of fity millions of people, subvert an allpervading national sentiment, and compel a great empire to
a new line of policy.
In estimating the influence of these sentiments as elements
of power in a national movement, it must not be forgotten
that they are found not alone in the breasts of the Emperor
and the nobles, or a few restless and ambitious men, but
they are cherished and firmly believed in by the lowest of




268       THE NATIONAL SENTIMENT OF RUSSIA.
the peasantry, and made the basis of a truly national anticipation-they are but the expression of a national thought,
and the determination of a whole people; and when to this
is added the fact that this hope stands inseparably connected
with the spread of their national religion, it becomes evident that this idea of " manifest destiny" is the source of
a power whose importance can scarcely be overrated. It
renders Russia most mighty for the accomplishment either of
good or evil. The following is an extract from a late American writer, who regards everything Russian with a somewhat unfavorable eye, and presents his opinion of the
character of that race upon whom the national sentiment
alluded to is working with greatest power.
"The great Russian lives to an extreme old age, longer,
upon an average, than the man of another country. Iis
generative power is remarkable. In central Russia the increase of the population is beyond all former precedent in
Europe; while the natives of the conquered provinces are
diminishing with fearful rapidity, the population of the
whole empire, refreshed from this exhaustless source, counts
every year another million among its multitudes. Thousands and tens of thousands, in a perpetual stream, flow
from this fountain head into the vast regions of the north,
south, east, and west. In every country, and among every
people beneath the scepter of the Czar, the Weliki Russian
will be found, asserting the supremacy of his race, and
showing his skill and cunning. All the tribes with whom
he comes in contact yield to his activity, and dwindle in
significance before the progress of his encroachments. lie
even penetrates beyond the frontiers of the empire. While
he profits as a merchant, he is often the secret agent of the
government. His advance precedes the march of armies,
and his aggression pave the way to conquest."
When the idea of a definite national mission or destiny
has taken full possession of such a race, it is very likely to
produce important results. The portrait drawn by this




AS AFFECTING NATIONAL POLICY AND DESTINY.   269
author can scarcely fail to remind one of many of the characteristics of the American race; and when he adds that
these Russians are ignorant and dishonest, it should be
borne in mind that the Yankees have by no means escaped
imputations of this kind, and yet New England is the work
of Yankees. And if, as the author affirms, the Russian in
his superstition imagines that a great work has been committed to his country, in the social regeneration of the
world, it must be confessed that a similar superstition has
seized also on the minds of Americans. It would perhaps
be interesting to study the present prevailing national sentiment in the prominent nations, and inquire how far these
presentiments may shadow forth the actual future. The
following is probably near the truth. Russia and America
are full of boundless hope, and even confidence of ruling,
each over half a world. They think of nothing less than
expansion on every side, and progress reaching far into the
future. France hopes to head a combination of western
States. England is filled with apprehension, and no definite future opens before her. The preservation of what
she possesses is prQbably the prominent thought. Austria
and Prussia are nearly in the same position, while Turkey
is oppressed with a sense of approaching ruin. Will not
these sentiments be very likely to produce a corresponding
reality?
Certain it is that England is no longer the head of western Europe. She follows in the train of Catholic France,
and we are led anxiously to inquire to what extent she may
yet put on the Papal yoke, when such a man as Lord John
Russell, with his suite and family, attends high mass with
all signs of sincere devotion. W.hen those who are at the
head of the affairs of England stand in such relations to
the Papal power, and she deliberately allies herself with the
Latin Church, choosing as she declared, a western combination in favor of the Roman Catholic Church, rather than
the progress of Russia and the Greek Christianity, American Protestantism may well find cause to rejoice in the traditional sentiment of the Muscovite Empire, which has




270       THE NATIONAL SENTIMENT OF RUSSIA.
placed it as the present sole bulwark in Europe against this
new advance of the Papacy.
The world may well hope that both Russia and the
United States may attain unto what they consider their
manifest destiny, because they are the only great Powers
of the world now, which can be fully relied upon in the
present struggle with Rome. With the religious aspect of
the Eastern war fully and clearly before her, England has
espoused the quarrel of the Pope, and with this evidence of
her spirit presented to the world, who shall say that in the
terrible struggle for principle, and for faith, upon which
the nations have apparently entered, she will again ally
herself to the right.




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    271
CHAPTER XXV.
TILE 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, ini
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 describing 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




272     THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.
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




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    273
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
Michael,                                   8,733
Pupils at Navy Board Schools,  -      -     2,224
Total,     -                           10,957
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,
18




274     THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.
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 legitimate 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




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    275
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 education 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 Constantinople; 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




276     THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.
general preparation for war. A single fact is sufficient to
show the practical character of the instruction in the naval
schools-the senior class of cadets annually take in pieces
and rebuild a large model of an American frigate. The
instruction in these schools embraces the higher mathematics, and their application to military and naval architecture, and navigation, drawing in all its departments, both
the theory and practice of the construction of fortresses
and ships, with modern languages, history, and general
literature.
The children of soldiers, and especially the orphan children, are particularly cared for by the government, placed
in schools, and educated for the army. At St. Petersburgh
there is the Miner's School. It occupies a magnificent
building, in which more than three hundred pupils are constantly studying under competent professors, with every
facility for obtaining an education having great breadth
and thoroughness.  In this institution the pupil spends
eight years, and then, with as perfect a training as science
can impart, he is sent to superintend the government mines
in the Ural; and this school and the number of its pupils
is enough to indicate the importance of that portion of the
resources of Russia.
Attached to this important school is an immense and
very complete collection of whatever can illustrate the
sciences of geology and mineralogy, but particularly that
of Russia. These several museums, rich, it is said, beyond
comparison with any similar collections elsewhere, contain
minerals, geological specimens, and fossils, from the most
interesting localities, not only in Russia but from other
parts of the world, and here also are collected models of
machinery, and implements, and even models of mines themselves. The completeness of the education which the government bestows upon its servants, and the enlightened
character of its policy, may be seen in the expenses incurred
and the pains which have been taken to prepare those who
are to have the care of the public mines and the imperial
mint.




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    277
In addition to what has been already described, artificial
mines of various kinds have been constructed by the actual
excavation of subterranean galleries, such as are found in
the real mine, and a fac simile of a mine in the Ural is produced, with the real earth, rocks, and imbedded ores and
minerals, precisely as they are found in the distant mountains. Here the Geological student beholds the iron, the
copper, the coal, the precious stones, and the gold, in their
natural position, and precisely as he will meet them in his
future operations in the actual mines. Certainly no more
admirable device could be found for preparing the students
of this school for the duties of real life. Is there any government in the world which has undertaken the developement of its mineral resources on so magnificent a scale, and
in a manner so thoroughly scientific and at the same time
so practical?
The Academy of Fine Arts is a building four hundred
feet long and seventy feet high, in which is not only a magnificent picture gallery, but a school of Art, in which three
hundred pupils are supported and educated. A school of
the Arts is also maintained by the government, in which
two hundred students, the sons of tradesmen, receive not
only a general education, but also special instruction in the
mechanical arts, and who are sent for the general improvement of the country by directing its various branches of
labor. There is a Normal School of importance; the University, with five hundred students and fifty-eight professors; a Medical College, with five hundred pupils; a Female
Institute, in which four hundred young ladies are gratuitously educated; and there are also theological, commercial,
and other schools of various character.
Among these the Agricultural School deserves particular
mention. A farm of seven hundred acres has been laid out,
under the direction of the government, and on the premises,
an agricultural school has been established, where both the
theory and the practice of agriculture are taught to two
hundred young peasants. An extensive museum is attached
to this farm containing whatever relates to the occupation




278     THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.
of a farmer, including all descriptions of agricultural implements, even to the latest improvements known in America.
Here also the finest breeds of cattle are collected, and
model cottages are introduced, with the design of improving
the architecture of the Russian farmers, which resembles
very much the log-cabins of our own " backwoods." Each
province is allowed to send annually a certain number to
this school, and each year fifty graduates are distributed
through the country, bearing abroad the skill and science
which they have obtained in a four-years' course.
The pupils are also taught here the various trades which
may be either useful to a farmer remote from markets, or
which can be followed as a business by the pupils. Blacksmiths' and carpenters' work, cooperage, the construction
of agricultural implements, tailoring, shoemaking, and cabinet making, are included in the course of instruction,
and connected with the school is a foundry, a brick-yard,
a pottery, a tan-yard, and a wind-mill.
As by the testimony of candid travelers this establishment is well conducted, its influence must be extensively
felt in the development of the agricultural resources of the
country. Great care is taken in this school for farmers
to show how the principles of agricultural science shall be
applied to particular localities, so that the education of the
pupils becomes eminently practical and available. At the
conclusion of the course each graduate is presented with a
farm and one thousand roubles to stock it, and the government encourages them to become, by theory and practice,
the teachers of the neighborhood in which they are located.
Baron lHaxthausen, whose notes on Russia are among
the most reliable sources of information, made a close examination of one of these farms, and describes it as in a
good state of cultivation, and as having exercised a marked
influence upon the adjoining country. He found the farm
house "'comfortable and scrupulously clean"-there were
books indoors and flowers without, and all the furniture of
the house, as well as the farming tools and machinery, had
been made by those who occupied the farms.




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    279
A second government school of this description, on a
very extensive scale, is now in a flourishing condition at
Lipezk, in south Russia, and, in addition to this, a horticultural school has also been established by the emperor,
and placed in charge of some German teachers. Separate
from these schools for special purposes, is a school system
for the empire, yet in its youth, but which promises great
results for the future, and is indeed already exerting a
transforming power upon the character of the nation.
The whole of Russia is divided into university districts,
with a district university in each with subordinate schools
attached, and at the head of them all is the National Univerity at Moscow. All the schools of each district are
under the charge of the district university. It is a completely organized national system, which when fully carried
out, will make the means of education universal in Russia.
The following statements, condensed by the London
Quarterly from the " Notes" of Baron Haxthausen, will be
found interesting, as affording accurate information concerning the schools, and some of the institutions of Moscow, and throwing light 4upon the spirit and aims of the
government:
" Few capitals can boast so many educational institutions
as now exist at Moscow under the crown patronage. Beginning with the University, the Baron speaks of the upper
professors as fully acquainted with all that has been written
in other countries on their respective subjects, nor is he less
pleased with the state of the numerous schools subordinate
to this University. Other schools are, those of commerce
(partly supported by the Merchants of Moscow), of drawing,
for soldiers' orphans, and for cadets; but the greatest of all
seems to be the Imperial House of Education, founded by
Catharine II. It has at least twenty-six thousand children
belonging to it, either within its walls or put out to nurse
in the country-all of them  orphans of officers, or foundlings. Of the children in the house, the boys are brought
up to be schoolmasters or to be sent to the University;




280     THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.
the girls to be governesses-learning German, French,
drawing, dancing, history, geometry, and music, besides
sewing, knitting, etc. Places are found for them, by-andbye, but not in either of the capitals, which are thought
unsafe for " unprotected females."  They are watched for
six years, and if marriage comes in their way proper inquiries are made about the swain. Attached to the institution is a school of Arts, the pupils of which are thoroughly trained in the practice of some one of the different
trades that figure on the list, and which are in number
seventeen."
Among the educational institutions of Russia, the public
libraries of St. Petersburgh should not be omitted. The
Imperial Library is one of the largest in the world. It
contains four hundred thousand volumes, and fifteen thousand manuscripts. It is open daily for the use of the public.
It is a curious fact that some of the most valuable of the
state documents of France are now found in the Russian
Imperial Library. During the Fren'ch revolution, these
treasures of the French government were seized by the
populace and sold to the highest bidder, who proved to be
a Russian, and by whom they were forwarded to St. Petersburgh. There has been gathered here-partly by purchase,
partly by presents, and also by the spoils of war-one of
the very best collections of oriental works to be found in
the world. The library of the Academy of Science contains one hundred thousand volumes, and that of the IHerinitage has one hundred and twenty thousand.
The present condition of Russian literature, and the activity of the public mind, may be shown from the fact that
in the ten years next preceding 1843, seven millions of volumes of Russian books were printed, and nearly five millions of volumes of foreign works were imported. In a
single year of this period, eight hundred and eighty works
were printed and published within the Russian empire, and
only seventy of these were translations from foreign tongues.
The whole subject of education is committed to one of the




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    281
great departments of state, at the head of which is the
Minister of Public Instruction.
This is necessarily an imperfect sketch of the educational
institutions, in which many details are necessarily omitted,
but enough has been exhibited to enable the reader to judge
of the justice of the epithet "barbarian," so constantly
applied to the empire of the Czars. No one will fail to
perceive that these are only different parts of one grand
and harmonious system. There is an admirable compactness and unity in the whole design, and two main ideas
have evidently both originated and shaped the whole-first,
as most important, the defense of the empire, and, secondly,
the development of the national resources and the encouragement of domestic manufactures. In regard to the first
of these many an invective has been hurled at Russia, because, as is charged, she consumes her strength in the
equipment and support of an immense military force wherewith to threaten or overrun all western Europe; whereas
instead, as is maintained, she should have devoted herself
to the arts of peace and of internal growth. [But a candid
observer of the condition and progress of Europe from the
time of the French revolution, will perhaps be inclined to
admit that Russia has neither gone too fast nor too far in
her military preparations, and that her policy has not only
been a prudent but a necessary one. The invasion of 1812
was an admonition not soon to be forgotten, and Nicholas
was too keen and too intelligent an observer of passing
events not to foresee that a second attack on his nation
was certain to be made, sooner or later, either by the infidel
democracy of Europe, or if the republican movement should
fail, then from the western Powers, directed by the Roman
Catholic Church.
The control of the Black Sea is essential to the growth
and even safety of Russia, and no Russian statesman has
been ignorant how restive both England and France have
been at the predominance of the power of the Emperor
there. Under these circumstance Russia certainly showed
a true sagacity in holding herself prepared, and the event




282     THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.
justified the wisdom  of her policy. What would have
been the fate of the nation now, unless western Europe had
found her with her harness on awaiting their approach.?
Russia can not preserve her nationality, her existence,
far less execute the mission which she believes has been
entrusted to her, unless she maintains a military force capable of resisting the combined power of western Europe, or
at the very least, as the event has shown, the united strength
of England and France. She maintains her immense force
to secure herself from  successful attack, not for foreign
conquest. Instead of sacrificing internal development to
the support of an army and navy, she maintains them in
order that within their circling lines and guns the works
of peace may make secure progress in the heart of the
empire. France and England have intruded themselves
where they have no right to interfere with the growth of
Russia, which has been more legitimate, more reputable,
and marked with less injustice to the weak, than the progress of either of her adversaries. As has been well observed by an English writer, France made more aggressions
upon neighboring nations in the space of ten years than
Russia has done in as many centuries; and when England
complains of Russia let her think of her East Indian exploits. These things do not lessen the guilt of Russian
aggressions, but they ought to silence these her special and
busy accusers, who arraign her at the tribunal of public
opinion, as if they alone were innocent of ambition, or
oppression, or robbery.
After the safety of the nation has been cared for, the
government turns its next care to internal national development; and certainly no nation in the world can boast of a
more enlightened, thorough, or scientific system of instruction than Russia herself has established. The great sources
of her national strength, and from which she derives her
vitality, are agriculture, her mines, and her manufactures.
Constructing as a basis of educational operations a complete
national sytem, which is extending itself regularly with the
progress of the country, she has then provided schools of




THE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF RUSSIA.    283
the most magnificent character, to give the minds of the
Russian youth that special direction which is demanded by
the character and policy of the country; and from these
schools, as centers, an influence is diffused through the
whole nation by which the resources of the empire are
sought out and developed by a combination of science with
mechanical skill.
It is doubtful whether any other nation of the world has
studied its own resources more carefully, or instituted a
more effectual method for making them available. A
nation capable of such designs, and of executing them on a
scale of such grandeur, deserves not the name barbarian.




284    THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.
CHAPTER XXVI.'THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT,
Having made a partial exhibition of the elements of
greatness which belong to the Russian Empire, it may be
well to pause before the introduction of additional statements
on these points, and bestow some attention upon the mental
characteristics of the race in whose hands these resources
and advantages have been placed in the providence of God.
This, perhaps, will enable us to determine the probable
character of Russian civilization, and its future influence
upon the destiny of Europe and America. Two interesting
questions here present themselves. Will Russia assume a
form of civilization, individual and national-a Russian or
Sclavonic civilization-and if so, what will be its distinctive
characteristics? It is a common remark of French and
English writers, that Russia produces nothing original, that
she is destitute of the creative power of genius, and possesses only the imitative character of some of the oriental
nations, and is therefore doomed like them to the inferior
life of a mere copyist of western Europe. She is represented as wearing the garments of civilization after the
manner of a savage; a European exterior, which can not
conceal the barbarian. No intelligent opinion can be formed




THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.    285
of the future of this great empire, until we decide whether
such representations are true or false. In the very beginning of such an investigation it should be remembered that
even the highest forms of genius must operate with materials already in existence, that strictly speaking it creates
nothing, and that its most signal triumphs are won by presenting familiar things in a new light, and throwing them
into original combinations.
1very modern nation to a great extent is necessarily an
imitator. Our age is the heir of the past, and has come
into possession of the treasures of thought and art accumulated by preceding generations, and the only question which
remains is, whether from this stock of material, common
to all Christendom now, a nation can rear a social, political,
and religious structure, which shall exhibit a distinctive
and individual character? The nations of the modern
world are all the inheritors of the mingled Greek and Roman civilization, and these forms of national life have been
developed, in western Europe, from the materials thus supplied-the Latin, the German, and the Anglo-Saxon. These,
however, are being now mingled, and the original individuality by which they were distinguished is disappearing, and
a constantly increasing intercourse is sweeping away the
peculiarities of each. It would appear impossible, under
present circumstances, for any one of the nations of western
Europe to work out hereafter a separate and individual
destiny, or to pursue a strictly national policy. Each is
molding each, and society must become the resultant of
conflicting forces. Europe can neither be English, nor
French, nor German, nor can either nation retain the
sharp distinctness of its own original outline.
It remains to be seen what excellencies these mingled
elements may exhibit as they combine. Still Germany,
France, and [England, stamping their own characteristics
upon the materials furnished by the ancient world, have
each produced a national form of civilization, a form which
France shares with the other branches of the Latin family.
In the same manner the Roman forms received the impress




286    THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.
of the Grecian mind, and thus Greece herself softened and
adorned the stately gigantic grandeur of Egypt. Nor will
it be easy to discover any nation this side the deluge that
has originated, strictly speaking, its modes of thought and
expression, and its form of national life. Wherever we
search we find something still due to the past; a former age
has bequeathed its legacy of wisdom and experience.
If, then, Russia is able to avail herself of the materials
which the age affords her, and can construct from them a
national edifice which shall bear the impress of a distinct
national character, the world must then admit that she possesses an originating power, and can produce a Russian
civilization which, in the end perhaps, will assume the more
definite, as well as more comprehensive name, Sclavonian.
This she may do, although the style of her architecture and
dress, her manufactures, tools, weapons, etc., have the European form. America presents an example of what is here
intended. Through forms which, with the exception of
the political structure, are essentially European, there appears an individual, an American life, which, with each
succeeding year, will become more distinct and dominant,
till the ultimate result is reached, not an Anglo-Saxon, but
an American civilization, separate and peculiar.
The people of the United States are continually reminded
that they are mere blind imitators of what others perform,
that they have no literature, or art, or science, of their own,
or independent national life or character. Doubtless this
is to a great extent true, or rather it has been true. Still
it should have been remembered, that nothing less than a
miracle on the most extended scale could have enabled an
English colony, with the task of subduing a continent on
their hands, to present at once all the phenomena of an
independent national existence. The question should rather
have been, whether a germ had been planted here, which,
in its maturity should have not only a territory but a name,
a character, a history of its own.
Such considerations should not be lost sight of in forming an estimate of the present condition and prospects of




THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.    287
Russia. For although, if we adopt the mere reckoning of
years, Russia may be considered old, yet her true national
career dates back not more than a hundred years; and indeed it was not until the reign of Catharine II., that she
first appeared as a great nation upon the theater of Europe.
At the time of the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth the
population of the Empire was about twelve millions, at the
death of Peter the Great, in 1725, about twenty millions,
and at the ascension of Catharine II., in 1763, about twentyfive millions. One hundred years, then, is quite as long a
time as can reasonably be assigned as the true national life
of the Muscovite nation, for the impulse given to the nation's
growth by Peter the Great was subsequently lost in a great
degree, and the attempt to improve the country was made
in a new direction. It is then quite too soon to charge
Russia with a want of original power; the capabilities of
the Sclavonic race are yet but in the germ.
In studying the future of this nation, we should regard
not so much the Russia which now is, as that which is so
rapidly forming itself front the mass of accumulated material. Travelers have deceived themselves and misled otherb
by dwelling upon and magnifying the fact of the existence
of many races within the limits of the empire, describing it
as a mere aggregation which must soon fall asunder. They
forget that there has been a rapid acquisition of territory and
population, and that sufficient time has not yet elapsed to
secure a complete consolidation of the mass. But had they
looked a little beyond the external aspect of things, and
studied with some care the actual movement of the forces
which shape the course of the nation, they would have discovered a central life power which, with an almost unexampled energy, is diffusing itself through the whole national
mass, assimilating or displacing whatever it touches, and
aided in its operations by the settled policy of the government. They would have discovered one dominant race,
compacted by every tie that can bind a people together,
inspired by common hopes and a common ambition, wielding a power before which all else disappears, either by




288    THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.
incorporation or removal, and which, unless arrested by the
providence of God, will inevitably fill the vast territory of
Russia with one single family, with one language, one
literature, one government, and one religion.
Of the mental characteristics of this race, then, we should
gain, if possible, a distinct idea, in order to estimate the
future-because the future will be the work of their hands.
There are three methods of estimating the mental characteristics of a people. They may be studied, as exhibited in
individuals, or in those public manifestations which are the
expressions of national thought, or in the characters of
those great men who sometimes stand forth as the exponents of their age, an individual expression of the characteristics of a nation. The true Russian possesses in an eminent degree energy, activity, and fertility of resource. He
is found in every part of the empire, as a merchant, a mechanic, a pedlar, a speculator, and in all society his is the
ruling spirit; he is the shrewd, successful man, to whom
others give place-removed from his path by superior skill,
or force, or fraud, as circumstances seem to demand. Society receives from  him  its impulse-new  schemes are
hatched in his brain-he drives the sharpest bargain-and,
like other sharp men, he overreaches and deceives. Some
travelers speak of him in terms that might have been borrowed from the descriptions given by southern men of the
pedlars and clock-sellers from New England. The Russian
universally thinks or says he can. His disposition is to surmount obstacles, or sweep them from his path. He endures
the toil, and labors hopefully on.
De Custine, who was filled with true French disgust every
moment while in Russia, who saw almost nothing that he
could approve, has, nevertheless, recorded this national
characteristic as a noble trait. He says, "One of the most
"attractive traits in their character, at least in my opinion,
"is their dislike to objections; they refuse to recognise
"either difficulties or obstacles. With his hatchet in his
"hand, which he never lays aside, a Russian peasant
"triumphs over accidents and predicaments which would




THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.    289
"altogetner stop the villagers of our own provinces, and he
"answers' yes' to everything that is demanded of him."
In such a character there are at least the elements of power,
and a capacity for progress. The native force of the mind
may, in the uncultivated and unregenerate mlan, break forth
in acts of unkindness and cruelty, but this same strength,
if properly directed, might also be employed in creating a
national power that would bless the world.
HIis versatility of talent and power of imitation render
the IRussian a most successful scholar, and he makes rapid
progress in whatever he undertakes. The raw recruit is
transformed, in an incredibly short period, into one performing correctly the evolutions of the regular soldier, and
assumes with great facility the air of the camp. He is
capable of being metamorphosed as suddenly into a tradesman, a mechanic, or a pedlar. I-e is crafty, and to a
remarkable degree insinuating in his address, and without
being distinguished for muscular strength, is capable of
great endurance.
The Russian can scarcely be considered as possessing the
military spirit in the ordinary acceptance of that phrase.
I-is nature does not prompt him to arm himself and sally
forth in quest of adventure and conquest. HIe is neither a
sea king, to rove the seas for booty, nor a knight errant,
fighting for renown and the mere love of battle. He plans
no revolutionary uprisings for the rights of universal
humanity. He is more inclined to the peaceful arts of
agriculture, manufactures and trade, wherein his skill and
cunning can be exercised, and where success is obtained by
superior activity and address rather than by blows. As a
fighter he is distinguished more by resistance than aggression. His enemy shouts as victor in the first onset, but is
generally exhausted by victory, and in the end destroyed.
He conquers not in the assault, but in his defense.
The Russian army, therefore, has heretofore been far
more formidable at home than abroad. For although the
Russian prefers peace to battle, he defends his property and
his country to the last extremity. No, candid man will fail
19




290    THE CHARACTER OF TIHE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.
to perceive that a race possessing the qualifications which
observers attribute to the true Russian, is capable of a
higher form of civilization than the nation yet has reached.
Fifty millions of people, with these characteristics, can not
fail to make an impression upon the world. And, although
the highest forms of genius have not yet been manifested,
there are germs of intellectual power, whose future expansion may surpass the present expectations of the world.
Russia needs the development which another century will
give her, before her capabilities can be correctly estimated.
The progress of the nation for the last hundred years corresponds, in a remarkable degree, to the course of the individual Russian. What he is to individuals of other races,
Russia has been, and is, to the nations on her frontier. She
has made an aggressive progress, and without direct wars
of conquest, has continued to absorb one portion of territory
after another, till she has swallowed up the contiguous
countries, or important portions of their domain.
Another method of determining the mental qualities of
a people is by observing the public manifestations of thought:
in which the general mind of a people will embody itself,
such as their public works and institutions, their national
policy, the national structure which becomes the exponent
of the popular thought. Such productions are often ascribed to the genius of the individual mind, and a nation is
often regarded as the creation of its great men, molded by
them as clay in the hands of the potter. But this idea
should be received with important qualifications. The man
of genius, in whatever department he moves, is in a great
degree the exponent of national thought, which through
him obtains expression, and he becomes a national favorite
because each one beholds at least a partial revelation of
himself. When a great poet arises, it is as if the hitherto
dumb nation had found its speech. Similar thoughts had
long been floating chaotically through the popular mindthousands of hearts had been stirred with similar feelings,
and at last all are delighted to find them so well expressed.
The national soul has found its interpreter. Even when




THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.    291
the poet, like Shakspeare, addresses himself to universal
humanity, his work still bears the individual impress of his
nation. Shakspeare is the poet of the race, but his poem
is English still. There was a basis in the English mind for
such a production as his. Burns gave an articulate expression to the thoughts and feelings of the Scottish peasantry,
and wherever we direct inquiry an individual national mind
is found, which, by the aid of genius, finds expression in
national works and institutions.
The wondrous creations which made glorious the valley
of the Nile, are not to be regarded as simply the conceptions of individual artists, but as expressions of national
thought. The grandeur has clothed itself in Egyptian
forms, the enormous structures enshrining the vastness and
elegance of Egyptian thought. They exhibited the individuality of the national mind. So also the poets, the orators, the statesmen, the philosophers, the artists of Greece,
were all formed after a Grecian intellectual model; there
was a national Grecian soul that molded the genius of the
individual. If we study a nation as a whole, in all its productions, in all its actions, in the character and direction
of its public efforts, we behold in them all combined but the
legitimate out-growth of the national mind, the outward
forms in which the thought of the nation has expressed
itself-even as a plant unfolds itself from its germs.
Russia, when judged by this standard, will neither appear like a mere barbarian nor as only the servile imitator
of the rest of Europe. In the national structure which she
is erecting there are already individual features, and a
largeness of conception, that give promise of a future greatness which shall be known as her own, bearing the impress
of the Russian mind. Her territorial idea, which she is so
rapidly working out, is the grandest conception of the kind
of modern times-perhaps of any age. Bonaparte himself,
unless in some of his day-dreams of an eastern empire,
with its capital at Alexandria or Constantinople, never
conceived of such a kingdom as that whose image fills the
national mind of Russia as a definite object of pursuit, and




292    THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.
toward which she has thus far made a steady advance.
There is much more of folly than of wisdom in sneering at
a nation which proposes for itself an empire that rests one
broad wing on the Atlantic, and the other on the Pacific,
with one capital controlling the Baltic and the adjacent
seas, and the other on the Dardanelles-and which has so
nearly converted her original conception, vast as it is, into
a historic reality. There is grandeur even in the thought
of such a dominion, and we may well marvel how it could
have originated with a people that was hemmed in on every
side by surrounding nations more powerful than themselves,
without a ship, or even a sea-port; but when we behold
that secluded race expanding itself on every side, swelling
out to the proportions of its great idea, devising the means
by which it has wrought successfully on toward its ultimate
purpose, until it seems now to have nearly reached its goal,
in spite of the opposition of Europe, it is far wiser to study
such a fact than to turn away with a scoff at the "barbarians."
It is simply absurd to deny that the successful working
out of such an idea is a task which can be executed only
by a people capable of greatness. The morality of Russian
progress is no more to be admired or defended than are
the national acts of the other Powers of Europe, or even
the method of our own growth, but viewed as a creation
of human intellect, and, throwing out of sight the means
employed, Russia, as she is, may well challenge the respect
of the world. The morality of her national acts will
scarcely suffer in comparison with that of her civilized
neighbors. The treachery, fraud, oppression and cruelty
of others do not, of course, justify her own similar acts, but
England, France, and even America, might well shed some
penitential tears over portions of their own territory before
they sit in judgment upon Russia.
Again, the conception of her plan of national defense,
and her execution of the work, is an exhibition of the,haracter of the Russian mind. She has not only created
a powerful navy, but she has constructed for this navy places




THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.    293
of security, where the two great maritime Powers of the
world have not as yet, in two campaigns, been able to touch
an important prize. She holds still her naval treasures
safe for her future need. Her great fortifications have been
built on a scale of grandeur, and have been equipped with
a science which baffles as yet the military skill of Europe,
and these, too, are exponents of the national mind, and are
proofs of its capacity. The same vastness of idea characterizes the whole military establishment of the country;, and
is also stamped upon the schools, and indeed upon every
department of the government. There is not seen as yet,
perhaps, a perfect adaptation of part to part in the great
machine, but there is a largeness of idea that gives promise
of a most imposing future.
The idea so often insisted upon, that all this is the work
of foreigners, is as puerile as that with which England
pleased herself so long, that our naval victories were won
by the valor of English sailors on board our ships. Russia
is doubtless largely indebted to foreign science and skill,
and so also is America. But this foreign aid has only
served, in both countries, to assist the growth of the native
mind, and the foreign effort has been shaped by the national
model. With all the assistance which has been rendered,
Russia is not a foreign nation, and America is American
still. The diplomacy of a nation also affords a criterion
whereby to judge of national capabilities. Russian intellect has long been tested in the councils of Europe in its
encounter with the most cultivated and distinguished men
of the surrounding nations, and no one has yet pretended
that the diplomatic agents of the Czar have been deficient
in talent or skill, or that they have been wanting in success.
On the contrary, Russia has enlarged and enriched herself more by her skill in negotiation than by the conquests
of her armies. She is, it is true, largely accused of duplicity, and even fraud and bribery, but until the hands of
other Powers have been somewhat cleansed, such charges
may be regarded, perhaps, as an expression of those who
have been losers in a game where all parties alike were




294    THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.
endeavoring to play with marked cards and loaded dice.
Had Russia possessed no capacity but such as manifests
itself in treachery and cunning, a lofty and unspotted integrity on the part of the other Powers might have baffled
her long ago; but there is much reason for believing that
the Czar and his ministers have merely foiled the neighboring cabinets in the use of their own weapons. Russian
diplomacy, it must be confessed, is not distinguished for
frankness and integrity, but it certainly evinces great sagacity and consummate skill, while it is not easy to show
that in her political morality she has fallen below the standard of her cotemporaries. The vast conception of an empire
which she holds steadily before her mind, and which by
gigantic effort she has well-nigh realized, her immense military system, with the resources she has accumulated, the
science and skill evinced in her admirable schools and other
governmental institutions, the style of her one modern city,
and the success of her diplomacy, are all so many witnesses
that indicate the power and the characteristics of Russian
mind.
The Russian empire, as it now is, huge, imposing, impregnable as it seems as yet to be, is the production of
Russian thought, as truly as was the Egyptian or Grecian
civilization the proper out-growth of the national mind.
The national idea is one of grand proportions; it has taken
full possession of the public thought, and it lies clearly defined even before the mind of the Russian peasant. It has
shaped itself into a settled public policy, and this policy is
the expression of the desires, and hopes, and determinations
of the great Russian family. Russia gravitates by a law
of her national life toward Constantinople; her neverceasing endeavor is to realize the national conception of the
empire, and in all her operations she has exhibited a capacity for enlarged thought, a power of extensive combination, and a skillful adaptation of means to ends, not second
to any Power in Europe. If she is still to be considered
only as a barbarian nation, then, in some important branches,
civilization may well become the pupil of barbarism.




THE CHARACTER OF THE RUSSIAN INTELLECT.   295
Another method of determining ths characteristics of a
race, and of measuring its capabilities, is by studying its
great men. A truly great man is the exponent of his age
and nation. He combines in himself the chief qualities of
his race. In the youth of a nation a great man is in himself a prediction and guaranty of national greatness; in its
manhood he represents his country as she is; in its decay
he is but a proud memorial of the past. Thus Hildebrand
was the true prophet of the Roman Catholic Church. He
first conceived and clearly defined the great idea which has
since been the center of its life, and shape, and growth.
Charlemagne was the individual expression of his age.
Alexander was the true exponent of the Macedonian thought.
Louis XIV. was the embodied France of that age, and
Chatham exhibited England in her proudest hour; and the
men of the American Revolution were predictions of the
American future. In the same manner Nicholas may be
regarded as the true exponent of Russia as she is, and the
earnest of what she will become. He was not only thoroughly Russian in feeling and aims, but he so combined
in himself the chief qualities of Russian character as to be
a true representative of his nation, and Russia may be properly studied in him. IHe was more thoroughly Russian
than any other man in the empire, though his family was
in part of German origin.
But the future of Russia will be shaped not alone by
Russians, but by the combined power of the great Sclavonic
race, organized around a common center, and working out
the problem of a common national life.




296         TERRITORIAL PROGRESS OF RUSSIA.
CHAPTER XXVII.
TERRITORIAL PROGRESS OF RUSSIA.
In connection with these observations upon the characteristics of Russian mind, it is interesting to consider the
actual progress of the Empire, and observe whether it corresponds to these supposed capabilities of the race, and in
what direction the national effort has been made. It will
be seen that the policy of the nation has been steadily
shaped toward certain definite aims, that have not been lost
sight of at least for a hundred years, while Nicholas has
been the first to conceive a truly national scheme fittted to
accomplish the national purpose. This purpose embraced
several distinct points, viz: general territorial enlargement,
the control of the Baltic and the adjacent seas, the control of
the Black Sea and the Dardanelles, an outlet for' her Siberian possessions on the Pacific, and a station there for a
great eastern naval depot for a Pacific fleet and the East
Indian commerce. In 1452, at the time of the fall of the
Greek Empire, the territory of Russia was estimated at a
little more than two hundred thousand square miles, not
quite equal to four States the size of Illinois, and its population was only about six millions. It had not a single




TERRITORIAL PROGRESS OF RUSSIA.      297
seaport, nor any independent method of communication
with the commerce of the world. At the accession of Peter
the Great, in 1689, the territory had been increased to
nearly four millions of square miles, while the population
was still but fifteen millions. At the present time her territory is considered to be equal to about seven millions
square miles, and her population is variously estimated from
seventy millions to eighty millions. The following account
of the steps of Russian progress is taken from Alison's
History of Europe:
1721.-The battle of Pultowa and the treaty of Neustadt
gave the Russians the province of Livonia, and the
site where Cronstadt and St. Petersburgh now stand.
1772.-The frontier of the Empire, on the side of Poland,
was brought down to the IDwina and the Dnieper.
1774.-By the treaty of IKainardji, the Muscovite standard
was brought down to the Crimea and the Sea of Azoff.
At about the same time acquisitions from Tartary were
made, larger than the whole German Empire.
1783. —The Russian sway was extended over the Crimea,
and the vast plains which stretch between the Euxine
and the Caspian, as far as the foot of the Caucasus.
1792. —The treaty of Jassy advanced the frontier to the
Dniester, and Odessa was brought beneath their rule.
1793. —In this year they obtained command of Lithuania.
1794.-The Russians extended their frontier to the Vistula,
and nearly half of the old kingdom of Poland was
obtained. The peace of Tilsit rounded their eastern
frontier by a considerable province.
1809.-Russia attained the whole of Finland, as far as the
Gulf of Bothnia.
1812. —ter southern frontier was extended to the Pruth,
and she gained partial possession of the mouths of the
Danube.




298         TERRITORIAL PROGRESS OF RUSSIA.
1800 to 1814. —Many conquests were made from the Persians and Circassians, and Georgia obtained.
1815. —The Grand Duchy of Warsaw was added to the
Empire.
1828.-The Araxes became the southern frontier of their
Asiatic territories.
1834.-The Dardanelles were closed to armed vessels, and
the Black Sea was open only to her ships of war;
and whether France and England will succeed in
holding open the gates of the Euxine, or whether they
will be closed forever against them, remains yet to be
seen.
Since the above dates, additional territory has been
obtained in Poland; a province has been gained from
China, on the Pacific, which gives Russia the command
of the river Amoor, navigable in the direction of southeastern Siberia, for more than two thousand miles, and affording a most important naval station at its mouth.
Such has been the actual progress of Russia, and such
is her present position. With her position, resources, and
means of defense sufficient to arrest the combined power
of France and England at one of her outposts, it is difficult to understand how a reasonable man can entertain
the idea that Russia can now be persuaded or compelled
to abandon the settled policy which is interwoven with
the thoughts and desires of the whole nation, surrender
those advantages which it has cost the labor of a century, and an immense expenditure of life and treasure
to obtain, and give up the very purposes for which the
Russian government exists.
Russia has too strong a faith in her national mission,
to be easily checked in her career, or to be turned permanently aside from the line of her nation's march. The
demands which the Allies made upon her, required a complete revolution in her national policy, the surrender of
her settled scheme of Empire. They asked, indeed, that




TERRITORIAL PROGRESS OF RUSSIA.       299
modern Russia should cease to exist, and that the Empire
should be rolled back a hundred years in policy and position, and should return to its former state of seclusion.
France and England virtually demanded that Russia
should retire from the field of Europe, and yield the control of the world to them; and it may be safely predicted,
that the Muscovite will never do this while he has people
and arms.




300         RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
CHAPTER XXVIII.
RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN
EUROPE.
The popular opinion concerning Russia may, perhaps, be
expressed in a single sentence-her government is a horrible despotism, and she is the determined foe of liberty,
the chief barrier to European progress. This assumption
underlies all the attempts which have been made, both in
Europe and America, to arouse against her the indignation
of the world. Another outcry was popular on both sides of
the Atlantic, that the ferocious Northern Bear was about
to seize and devour the Lamb of Turkey, and an armed
world was bound to rush to the rescue. If this were disinterested benevolence, if those who raised the cry were not
so anxious to be the guardians of the lamb for the sake of
the fleece, or to appropriate it entirely to their own use, it
would be entitled to more respect. But if the lion wars
against the bear merely because he desires the prey himself,
it is not needful, on this account, that American sympathies
should be strongly excited. Another English charge against
Russia is made more particularly for home consumption.
It is that Russia will not consent to adopt the free trade
system, and render herself, on that account, a huge dependency of England, but insists on protecting her own industry,
and applies herself to the steady development of her own




DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    301
resources. Russia thus threatens to become the competitor
of England in the markets of the world, and so England
sends forth her fleets and armies in the name of progress
and liberty to cripple and arrest her too rapid growth.
The charge that Russia is a cold-hearted despotism, and
that she is the chief opponent of European civilization,
should be studied in the light of some facts which seem to
have received little attention from many of those who are
striving to stir up the human race against her. She is
shaping a civilization of her own, distinct from that of
western Europe, based on a separate idea, and intended for
a separate race, and in connection with a distinct form of
religion. The value of this, her national conception, can
only be estimated by studying carefully the genius of her
own people, and also the condition of the rest of Europe,
and the character of the influences by which the western
nations are controlled. The system of Russia is intended
for a separate and peculiar race; her national idea is not
only Sclavonic in its origin, but it is Sclavonic also in its
design. It is a home system, a family institution on a
great scale, which she wishes to conduct upon a model of
her own; and before she is utterly condemned, it would be
well to take a calm survey of the actual state of affairs of
Europe. Three distinct forms of civilization are at this
moment struggling for pre-eminence on the field of western
Europe-the Papal, which allies itself to civil despotism;
the infidel democratic; and the Protestant, which connects
itself with the idea of constitutional liberty. These three
systems are quite distinct from each other in theory, and
are separate as actual movements, though the friends of
each are not yet drawn into separate communities.
It is necessary to study the character of each of these
forces, now contending for the mastery in western Europe,
before we can be prepared to form an accurate opinion of
the policy of Russia. The central idea of the Papacy, upon
which the whole system is based, is this: the Roman Catholic Church is the one only true church of the world-that
out of her pale there neither is nor can be salvation-that




302          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
to her, as the one true church, belongs the supreme power
of the world, vested in her head, the Pope —and that he,
reigning in the stead, and by the authority of Jesus Christ
himself, is the rightful king of kings, and that he, at his
pleasure, may plant or subvert all civil power, as subservient to the proper authority of the church; and that it is
his duty to overthrow every government which rejects the
Roman Catholic communion, because it is heretical. Infallible in doctrine, she claims it to be her duty to prescribe
a faith for all men, and she considers the mission of the
Romish Church to be to stretch its scepter over all the
earth, to embrace all the kingdoms of the world in one
universal monarchy, of which she, by the appointment of
God himself, is the rightful head. This may be called the
" Bill of Rights" of the Catholic Church, the Magna Charta
which she has granted to the nations-the right to be
governed in all things, temporal and spiritual, by the Pope,
the heaven-appointed head of the one true church.
A right granted to all kings to receive their crowns at
his hands, and from all men in authority to derive their
authority from him, and the right to be punished as heretics if they assert the right of private judgment or of independent government. This is the one unchangeable idea
of the Papacy-the essential nucleus of her system, the
center of its life-to reign supreme over all the world, as
the true representative of Jesus Christ, ruling in his stead,
and wielding his authority as lord of lords and king of
kings. This idea, from the time it was first proclaimed by
Hildebrand, has never been abandoned, never lost sight of
in her darkest hours, never despaired of amid her sorest
defeats. This scheme, which seems worthy both of the intellect and pride of the lost archangel himself, is pressed at
this time, with fresh activity and zeal, upon the attention
of the world; and it presents a very grave subject of thought
that, in this nineteenth century, when, according to the
boast of some, the world has passed so far beyon.d the
reach of every form of superstition, the renewal of the
most absurd pretension of the Catholic Church, instead of




DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    303
repelling all men from her, is adding to her popularity and
strength. It has not been without a profound knowledge
of human character, that the leaders of the Papacy have
put forth the new dogma of the Immaculate Conception.
It is not the offspring of a mere puerile conceit, but of a
clear-seeing sagacity, which, knowing the weakness of men,
uses it for its own purposes, and which understands perfectly that no mere intellectual progress, no influence of
what we call modern improvement can, of themselves, save
men from the grossest superstition, or secure them against
the vilest imposture of a religious character.
So far as mere worldly policy is concerned, the Roman
Catholic Church is wise in assuming the loftiest ground of
Hildebrand, and the Innocents. The very loftiness of her
demands, bordering even upon absurdity, will secure the
respect and belief of thousands. The same world that
scoffs at moderate pretensions is inclined to worship the
man that resolutely persists in declaring himself a god. In
reviving, therefore, the most preposterous demand of their
church in the middle ages, and in adding thereto the new
dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the leaders of the
Papacy are really playing a safer game with the credulity
of the world than if they had moderated their pretensions.
The Romish Church, as a mere religious denomination,
one church among many, is simply a contemptible juggler,
that could not command the respect of the lowest; but
that same church, expanded to the gigantic proportions of
the rightful ruler of the world, walking in queenly robes,
and wearing the triple crown, demanding homage and obedience as the vicegerent of the Lord Jesus, will excite wonder and fear, and even the spirit of worship, though in the
nineteenth century, and amid railroads, and printing-presses,
and telegraphs.
A church that proposes to stoop to the level of human
reason, and make herself and her doctrines fully understood by the unregenerate mind, will obtain such measure
of regard as the rationalist is willing to bestow-no more.
But a church that throws itself above reason, that com



304          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
mands the obedience of reason, in the name of God, will
make even the philosopher tremble. For this reason, we
often behold some proud and lofty intellect rejecting the
truths of salvation as taught by the Protestant Church,
yielding itself to the pretensions of Romanism, or mastered
by a pride and audacity superior to its own. To abate one
tittle of her proudest claims would be fatal to the Romish
Church.
The strong reactionary movement of the Roman Catholie Church throughout Christendom is one of the most significant facts of the present time. A short time since, it
seemed as if her power was broken forever. She appeared
to be not only at the mercy of the people, but to be rejected
by them and doomed to destruction. The Pope fled before
the revolutionary wave, and most perhaps supposed that
the long-predicted overthrow of the Papacy had finally
come. It seemed altogether improbable that its influence
could be again restored, and many looked for the speedy
triumph of Protestantism  in Europe. Now, that Papal
power has not only arisen from its apparent defeat, but is
wielding at this moment the controlling influence of western
Europe; scorning all companionship with the world that
attacked her, she re-asserts all the proudest claims of the
church in the hour when monarchs bowed before her, and
has made a great and skillful effort for the recovery of her
supremacy over the nations. Once more her Jesuits are
busy in embroiling the world. In Jerusalem, at Constantinople, in the court of France, they fan the fires of strife,
and direct the western Powers upon Russia. The jealousy,
ambition, and pride of England, are successfully played
upon, until she marches her armies under the guidance of a
Papal flag, while every effort is made to win the nation as
a whole back to the support of the Pope.
In the United States a well concerted and persevering
attack is made upon the very life of American Protestant
institutions; the money of Europe is freely used for our
overthrow; the strife of parties is employed to weaken the
national sentiment; the same spirit which has directed the




DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    305
armies of France and England upon Russia, is excited in
regard to our own country, and there wants but the fitting
opportunity, and we may expect an armed attack originating in the same motives which gave rise to the war on
Russia. The Papal power is in the ascendancy in the councils of western Europe, and all influences tend swiftly to a
combination of the Latin nations, with France to lead
them, on which new union of these civil Powers the Papal
throne will rest once more, for a time at least, securely.
This is one of the forms of civilization which are now in
conflict with each other in Europe. Its ambition is as wide
as the globe, it aims at nothing less than the supreme
dominion over all nations.  History records the means
which it has been accustomed to employ to secure its ends,
and these same methods it will use again when occasion
offers, with whatever new instrumentalities the modern
world is able to supply. What this power can do for the
world is already known.
The condition of society where the Papacy has had undisputed sway is too clearly marked to admit of a mistake.
The sickening monuments of her misrule stand thick upon
the earth. Liberty has been crushed, public and private
moiality has been destroyed, industry has been crippled,
and thought has been repressed. Yet, inexplicable as it
may appear, upon any theory of the supposed advance
which the human mind has made in these days of light
and philosophy, the nations are rallying once more, in an
unexpected manner, around the Papal throne. There may
be much which is merely political in the movement, but
there is nothing in the moral or mental condition of Europe
which forbids the idea that the Papacy may yet bind the
people of the west of Europe by an earnest faith in her
pretensions. The science, and steam, and railroads, and
printing presses of the nineteenth century have not lifted
men above the influence of superstition or religious imposture. On the contray, just in proportion as man recedes
from the true light and God, in his liability to embrace
false religion, and there is but a step between. the present
20




306          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
infidelity of Europe and the blindest superstitions of the
Roman Catholic Church.
Against the Papal form of civilization Russia would be
strongly and watchfully opposed, from two principal con.
siderations: first, since the separation of the original church
into the Latin and Greek churches, the Papal power has
waged constant warfare upon the Greek church, and has
left no measure untried to move or force it into subjection
to the Papal scepter. The quarrel between the two churches
has been carried on for almost a thousand years; it is bitter
and irreconcileable. Russia, as the present head or representative of the Greek church, is the inheritor of this ancient religious war, and of course, would regard with watchful jealousy any movement of the ancient enemy of her
ancient mother church, and now equally an enemy to herself. More especially would the Russian government guard
itself against the power of the Roman Catholic church in
the latter portion of the reign of Nicholas, when the movement among the Latin nations in favor of the Papacy has
been so marked, and when a disposition has been growing
in England unfriendly to Russia, and a tendency to unite
with the Papal Powers against her. The Roman Catholic
church is not only the most bitter foe of Russia, as head of
the Greek church, but she has been busy in arraying western Europe for the. overthrow of the power of the Czar.
Russia stands in opposition to the Papacy from the necessity of self-preservation.
The very same feeling which has roused the American
mind in regard to the Papal Power and its designs and
aggressions, has excited the Russian nation also, and
with far more reason, for the attacks upon Russia have
been more palpable and open: it was but too evident that
Rome was aiming at the prosperity and even the life of
Russia, and therefore Nicholas was on his guard. The
sense of danger, and the necessity of uniting his people for
self-defense by the power of one national faith, induced
Nicholas to separate some Russian communities from a
union with the Roman Catholic church, and this has been




DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    307
denounced as bigotry and intolerance. The Edinburgh Be.
view, for April 1855, says: " He gave a persecuting charac"ter to the Russian church, and waged a war of a san"guinary character against the Roman Catholic faith in
"Poland."  If a man is justified in defending his home
from the intrigues of a spy, or the meditated violence of an
enemy, then is the Russian government not to be blamed
for repelling everywhere in its dominions the influence of
the Papacy.
The Czar was not blind to the character or designs of the
Papal church, nor of the obvious tendency of affairs in
Europe, and one necessary preparation for the blow which
has been at last struck at Russia, was to exclude as far as
possible Catholic influences from his dominions. There
was no other safe course left for him to pursue. As a sovereign and protector of the interests of a vast country, he
was bound to protect her against the presence and machinations of his country's hereditary, most active, and most
bitter foe. If he performed his duty with severity or cruelty, for this he should be held responsible; but Americans,
who are themselves awaking to a sense of the necessity of
destroying the influence of the Papacy in the United States,
or run the risk of destruction at its hands, will never join
in an outcry against the Czar, because he was not disposed
to permit the Papal Power to provide the means of annoyance or injury within his own dominions. Nicholas knew
full well that no art of Jesuitism would be left untried to
excite the spirit of dissatisfaction and to stir up revolt among
his Polish subjects, and with the enemy nourished and
sheltered in the bosom of Poland, how could he be prepared for that attack which he knew sooner or later would
come front western Europe. With a strong Papal influence in Poland, where would now be the security of Russia
in that portion of her territory, and how soon the Allied
Powers would be able to kindle there the fires of insurrection.
A sound and justifiable policy dictated the exclusion of
all Papal influence from the dominions of Russia, and




308          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
Americans, instead of condemning the Czar for the use of
any proper measures for obtaining security from Jesuitical
schemes, would show a statesman-like wisdom  if they
should look more narrowly than ever at the intrigues and
designs of the Papacy here.
A second phase of civilization in Europe is the form
aimed at by the revolutionary movement-that which seeks
the establishment of Democratic institutions. To this,
doubtless, lNicholas was inflexibly opposed, and therefore
he is denounced as the foe to progress, and the enemy of
freedom. To favor this idea, England and France are
guilty of the mockery of inscribing Liberty on their banners when they march against the Muscovite. However
strongly the Czar may be opposed to Republican institutions, he is fully matched in this opposition by Louis Napoleon and the English nobility, while the hatred of the latter
of any rule of the people, any form of truly popular institutions, is more cordial than that of the Czar himself. Let
the candid American reader once place himself in the
position of the Emperor of Russia, let him look out on
the revolutionary spirit of Europe from his point of view,
and then he will be able better to understand, if he does
not approve, the motives of the Czar in opposing the
democratic movement, as earnestly as he does the power
of the Roman Catholic Church. In the first place, it should
be considered that an American starts with a deceitful assumption in regard to the democratic movement in Europe.
LIe very naturally looks upon those engaged in it as he
would upon so many Americans seeking a rational liberty
embodied in republican forms, such as that for which our
fathers toiled and died. But American Protestant republicanism is a widely different theory from that of European
democracy. Let this difference be borne in mind, and let
it be remembered also, that while Russia has steadily
opposed European democracy she has been as uniformly
the friend of America, and perhaps the motives of the Emperor may then be better understood. A firm, undoubting
religious faith, and a regard for properly constituted autho



DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.      309
rity, are among the controling ideas of the Russian mind.
This faith is doubtless obscured by superstition, but still it
is faith, though blindfolded and led astray, a faith strong
enough to form one of the mightiest elements of national
power. The respect for authority is also allied to a blind
reverence even for despotism, but then every Christian
mind will acknowledge that without these elements, viz:
a religious faith, and a regard for proper authority, there
can not be a State. The foundations of government are
wanting where these are absent. How then would a man
like Nicholas, educated in the forms and theories of his
national church, cherishing as an individual an undoubting
faith, and observant of the forms of worship, and referring
all earthly authority, even his own, to God, regarding it as
resting upon the Divine sanction, how would he look upon
the democratic theories of modern Europe?  He, in cormmon with the rest of the world, would regard the whole
movement as the direct fruit of the French revolution, and
that would stand inseparably connected in his mind with
the invasion of his country and the burning of Moscow.
He, and every other Russian, would from these associations
be led to look upon everything savoring of French opinions with extreme suspicion, or even with disgust.
It is not necessary, therefore, to regard the feelings and
policy of Russia concerning the republican spirit of Europe,
as arising merely from a love of tyranny or a hatred of constitutional forms of government. The Czar may well be
excused if he should cherish strong feelings of distrust, and
even dislike, of that spirit which, receiving its birth in
France, rushed forth for the overthrow of all the constituted forms of society, which regarded nothing as sound,
and from which nothing was safe, which swept over his
own native land like a storm, and wrapped in flames some
of the chief cities of his empire.
Again, the emperor of Russia from the very necessities
of his education and belief, as well as the facts in the case,
would look upon the democratic spirit of Europe as the
spirit of atheism. It would be considered by him as an




310          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
impious attempt to establish a government independent of the
authority of God. To him it was a proposition to subvert
the whole structure of society, to banish from the world
morality and religion, to create a State, and institute a
society, which should lie without the jurisdiction of God.
Looking at the theory of the French philosophers of the
revolution, at the results actually reached in reducing that
theory to practice, how could a Russian prince regard it but
as the spirit of atheism arrayed against every form of belief
and worship, the spirit of lawlessness bent upon the leveling of all distinctions and the overthrow of every description of authority. Nor was the Russian emperor singular
in such opinions. The most candid and judicious everywhere, while thankful for such good as was accomplished
by the wild outbreak among the nations, headed by France,
have regarded atheism as the central idea and moving
power of that bloody era. It was not so much an attempt
to obtain a rational freedom as the annihilation of every
form of authority, and the removal of all restraint from
the individual man. It was an effort to live without God
in the world, upon the assumption that the authority of a
government rests upon human compacts, and not upon
God himself, thus annihilating the moral power of a State,
and substituting instead the mere will of a present majority, with no recognition of the eternal right and wrong,
nor of God as the ultimate Judge and Supreme Legislator.
Nor can it be denied that this is the character and scope
of the radical democratic movement of Europe even now.
Doubtless there are many good and true men who sympathize with the disposition to overthrow both the civil and
ecclesiastical despotism of the Continent, and who desire
for the people a freedom based upon a Protestant faith, but
this is not characteristic of the modern revolutionary spirit
as a whole. In its essential principles it is the antagonism
of religion as well as of monarchical forms of government.
It abjures a Protestant faith as decidedly as the belief in
the supremacy of the Pope. It rejects the cross as scornfully as the worship of saints. It places the Bible among




DISTINCT FROMI THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    311
the inventions of a priesthood, and the legends of monks.
It substitutes a holiday for the Sabbath, and the theater,
the saloon, and the club-house, for the worship of the sanctuary. Such is this movement in Europe in its most radical forms, such was its spirit as manifested in the French
revolution, and such do we behold it in thousands who
have made our own country their home.
European democracy must not be mistaken for, nor confounded with American republicanism. They have more
points of antagonism than resemblance. The type of the
one must be sought in the atheistic movement which was
originated by the French philosophers of the Revolution,
while the true model of the other is to be found in American society as it existed in the colonies and in the era of
our Revolution. It separates man from his God, and recognizes no higher rule for human action than the present
will of the present majority. This is the form of civilization which Red Republicanism would establish in Europe,
and this also is the movement to which Russia has stood
inflexibly opposed. That she has met it with the watchful
spirit of despotic power is doubtless true. That she has
been jealous of every movement in favor of popular liberty
in Europe is also true-but it is also a fact, that the movements of the people have partaken of the infidel democratic
spirit, with the single exception of Hungary, and how far
that should form an exception we are not now prepared to
judge. Had that revolution, however, became a general
one, embracing Italy, Germany, and France, its character,would have been that which has just been described, for
such is the type of European democracy as a whole.
The interference of Russia in Hungary, unjustifiable as
it was by any moral rule, was not a crusade against liberty,
but a stroke of policy to secure Austria against that hour
of need which now has come. Its sagacity as a measure
of State policy, is sufficiently shown by the late negotiations, and the present position of Austria. Let it then be
considered exactly what is meant by most European writers
when they charge the Russian government with being the




312          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
foe of liberty. It means that the whole spirit of the country is as strongly opposed as the Emperor himself to the
idea of an infidel democracy, and that the Czar has shut his
country up, as far as possible, against such influences, and
discouraged and repressed it elsewhere, according to his
power. It would be difficult to show how Europe would
be improved by another French revolution-not local, but
general in its character-ending, as it inevitably would, in
the re-establishment of military despotisms. It certainly
remains to be shown that even Russia would be improved,
and the condition of the people ameliorated, by any form
of freedom which rejects as its basis a Protestant faith.
Russia has not directed her intrigues or her armies against
American liberties, nor shown herself in any way unfriendly
to our government or our progress.
The United States have been twice compelled to meet
England in arms in order to preserve their liberties, and
French and English intrigues have been full often arrayed
against our interests even on this continent; and both
these Powers have shown a constant desire to become the
self-constituted  "regulators" of American affairs, while
Austria and the other Papal states have sought to overthrow
the Republic by the influence of the Roman Catholic church;
in short, there is no Power of Europe that has evinced so
constant and consistent a friendship for this country as
Russia. This so-called foe of liberty and progress has
shown a steadfast regard for that people among whom liberty and progress are the two national ideas —the chief
forces by which society is controlled. Americans, then,
should certainly pause before they echo the clamor against
Russia which has been raised by the Papal Powers and
England, for the purpose of vailing their own designs, and
to justify the Crimean war. It does not necessarily convict
Russia of being the enemy of mankind, to prove that she
excludes her most bitter foe fiom. any influence in her
affairs, or that she guards her interests and people from the
intrigues of the Jesuits, or even that she does not favor a
second edition of the scenes of the French Revolution..




DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    313
She may do all this, and yet the government may have
some scheme of its own for the elevation of humanitysome policy fitted for the advancement of the Russian
people, different both from Red Republicanism, and from
the civilization which is proposed for the world by the Roman Catholic Church. The exact character of the Russian
government can not be understood from either French or
English descriptions. Their writers observe and narrate
with previously formed opinions to which Russia is made
to conform, and their testimony is strongly colored by interest and prejudice. Such men visit Russia in order to see
and describe the barbarous foe of liberty and civilization.
They mark and paint in vivid colors whatever is objectionable in Russian society, or the general condition of the
country, but feel no sympathy with a people struggling
with heroic spirit against the difficulties that beset them,
and endeavoring to work out a national destiny.
Another form of civilization which is striving to establish itself in Russia, is that which is the proper outgrowth
of a Protestant faith. Its influence upon the destinies of
the eastern world is probably less, so far as national councils are concerned, than at any time since the Reformation.
The Papal influence is the ascendant power in the affairs
of western Europe, and England declares that she prefers
the reaction in favor of the Papacy, with the French nation
to lead it, to the further advance of Russia. She is willing
to see the Roman Catholic Church again lording it over
the nations, if only Russia can be humbled. The influence
which Protestantism now exerts in Europe is by the indirect and silent power of truth, and not by any great Protestant nation standing up in noble defense of the principles
of the Reformation, as England has done in former times.
America is at this moment the great Protestant Power of
the world —as such she is watched, hated and plotted against
by the Papacy, and as such, God is preparing her to execute
her mnission. But Russia is charged with hostility to Protestantism. The English journals declare that the Russian
Church is as strongly opposed to a Protestant faith as




814          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
Rormanism itself. The assertion is an unfounded one. The
Russian Church is not intolerant in its nature, and has not
one essential element of the Papacy. In the character of
the church itself, there are no more reasons for hatred of
Protestantism  than are found in the Church of England
against dissenters. The Russian Church is simply a national establishment, with the Greek form of worship.
The Romish Church is by theory, in spirit and practice,
the changeless foe all that dissent from her dogmas and that
refuse her communion. The tolerant spirit of the Russian
Church, its tendency to affiliate with Protestants, was clearly
shown in the reign of Alexander, when the government
united its efforts with those of Protestant churches for the
circulation of the Bible, and for the evangelizing the world.
But now this policy, it has been said, has been abandoned,
and Russia no longer co-operates even in the circulation
of the Bible. This is true, but then the circumstances of
this case are worthy of consideration. In the reign of Alexander, England was the ally of Russia against France.
Alexander was sincerely desirous of elevating and refining
his people; he wished to enter in earnest upon the career
of national civilization, and he was disposed to regard with
favor the English example of Protestant constitutional
liberty, and as a basis of the work which he hoped to perform, he engaged in the circulation of the Bible, and encouraged the British Bible Society within his dominions.
But Nicholas was placed in entirely different circumstances. He found himself compelled to prepare for the
approaching hostility of western Europe, including even
Protestant England, notwithstanding her professions. He
saw the Papacy and Protestantism, in the person of its
chief champion, arraying themselves against his dominions, and with a far more comprehensive and clear-seeing
mind than Alexander, he perceived that the future greatness and even safety of his country depended not upon
giving to Russia the impress of western Europe, but upon
the cultivation of a true Russian nationality. When, therefore, Protestantism, as represented by England, was gradu



DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.      315
ally changing from an ally to the enemy of his throne, it
was perfectly natural that he should think it needful to
repress the growth of Protestant influences within his
dominions. It is altogether unjust, in such circumstances,
to accuse the Russian government of hostility to a Protestant faith. England has not always been so pure and disinterested in her policy as to scorn the idea of using even
a religious influence for state purposes, and what American
statesmen would desire that even the English church should
obtain a wide influence in this country, while the government of England was not only showing unfriendly feelings
but even making preparations for war, and allying herself
with a Papal Power against us.
That Nicholas, under such circumstances as these, should
discourage the spread of Protestantism in Russia, is surely
not a very decided proof that he hated its principles; but
it shows most conclusively that he was aware of the dangers
that were gathering round him, and that he had the sagacity to perceive the most effectual method of defense, by
strengthening the national sentiment and the attachment
of the people to their national church. Discerning the real
purposes of England through the veil of her diplomacy, it
would have been suicidal in him to have adopted a different
course. English Protestantism, in the hands of the govern-?met, is not a perfectly harmless thing, and what perplexities would now surround the Russian Court if a strong
English religious influence had been permitted to establish
itself in the country. In distinction from the three forms
of society just mentioned-the Papal, the infidel democratic,
and the Protestant as represented by England-Russia has
been aiming at a civilization which shall be the joint result
of the national religion, and the cultivation of an independent national life, a civilization not European, but, Russian-a political, social and religious structure, fitted to the
genius of Sclavonians. These considerations, though they
may not justify the policy of Russia in all respects, serve
to explain her course, and to relieve her from the charge of
mere wanton intolerance and bigotry, which has been




316          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
argued against her. Candor should induce us to give her
the full benefit of such explanations, and not to present a
mere carricature of her faults.
The rapid progress which has been made by Russia within
the last hundred years is conclusive proof that her system
has in it the germ of a true life. Seventy millions of human
beings can not be permanently ruled by a mere show and
cheat, much less can they thus be taught to make swift
advances in what elevates and refines the race. Nor can
they long be crushed by a mere heartless despotism which
has in it no element of good, which affords no protection
to the people, and bestows no blessing, and where society
exists for the benefit of a single man and his court. Such
a system has no perpetual lease of life, even among a barbarous people. But Russia presents the spectacle of an
enduring and an improving life. Individuals have been
often hurled from the throne, but the system itself has remained unshaken, still constantly accepted by the people,
and tending also continually towards the adoption of more
liberal forms. These facts give evidence of the existence of a
true life, of a system which has been called into being by the
actual wants of a people, and which continue, because with all
its faults those wants are at least in some degree supplied.
The system is endurable, and therefore it remains. Upon
investigation a very important fact is revealed. The germ
from which the Sclavonic civilization is unfolding consists
of two principles, which are identical with the central ideas
of Protestantism, viz: a strong religious sentiment, based
on a creed which in its essential features is orthodox, and
the idea that the State, however represented, derives its
authority only fromn the higher sanction of God, and therefore that to a properly constituted human authority obedience is rightly due. This theory derives the right of government from God himself, and not from human compact
or the mere will of a present majority. While, therefore,
the government may properly demand the obedience of the
subject, when in the proper exercise of its authority, because
wielding a power derived fromn God, it is under the most




DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.      317
solemn obligation to conform its acts to the principles of
the Supreme Law of God as revealed in the Holy Scriptures, nor can the subject be rightfully called upon to obey
that order of the human government which contravenes
the statute that has been enacted by the Supreme Legislator
himself.
The difference between this and the Papal theory is essential and apparent. The Pope also rests his authority upon
that of God, claiming a divine sanction for his acts, but
then he assumes to be himself the sole and infallible judge
of the character of these actions, and thus leaving no liberty,
or right of judgment or conscience, to the governed, stands
in the place of God himself, allowing no question, and no
right of appeal. The Protestant principle secures to the
citizen the rights of conscience and of private judgment of
the character of acts of the ruler. The one secures a
rational liberty, and the other is a crushing despotism.
The Russian or Sclavonic civilization, then, in its infancy
now, and though it dimly discovers truth as yet, seeing
"men as trees walking" in its imperfect vision, does, nevertheless, embody a true life, resting upon truthful principles,
distinct from the essential and changeless despotism of the
Papacy on the one hand, and from an infidel movement on
the other, and beyond comparison better than either. True,
the religious sentiment is now perverted and clouded with
much of folly and superstition, yet the Russian mind is in
the attitude of faith; it sincerely believes in the truths and
rites of the national religion, and may therefore be regarded
with hope. Authority, too, is used in a despotic manner;
cruelties and abuses there are many. Still, instead of gathering up all evidences of present wrong, the true question
should be whether Russia is capable of a better future, and
whether she is earnestly and successfully endeavoring to
rise to a more elevating position in the scale of civilization.
While the mind of the nation is bound to a religious faith
which presents the actual plan of salvation, and while governmental authority is respected as emanating from God,
Russia may be regarded as possessing not only the elements




818          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION
or national greatness, but as holding to principles from
which rational liberty yet may spring. And this, perhaps,
will more clearly appear, if we consider the peculiar form
which all society in Russia has assumed, a form to which
there is nothing in the rest of Europe, or at least outside
of the Sclavonian tribes, that bears a resemblance. The
patriarchal idea pervades the whole social and political
structure, from the father of a family upward through all
the gradations to the Czar, the father of the nation, and to
God the Hieavenly Father of all. In theory, this is not
only beautiful but true, and could it be properly realized in
practice, Russia, even though an empire, might become a
model State. In practice these Russian fathers are, doubtless, often stern, exacting, and cruel; such fathers as some
of the Czars have been, have conferred no special blessings
on their millions of children; still the beautiful theory
itself remains a witness against those who abuse it, to be
itself, perhaps, completely vindicated and reduced to practice at some future day.
Covered, as this theory may now be, by the rubbish of a
despotic government, or by the superstitious observances
of a corrupt Church, it is still a great truth, and as such it
will survive, and in spite of all obstacles it will, in the end,
clothe itself in a body of fitting institutions. Aside from Protestantism, there is no theory of social life and government
in Europe so likely to win for itself a noble future as that
which prevails in Russia. There is evidently no possible
hope for Europe through the Papacy. It is utterly incapable of conferring any benefit upon the human race. It
may persecute and degrade, and destroy, but to elevate or
to save is no longer within its power. The atheistic movement is doomed to destruction because the Almighty God
watches and reigns in heaven. Protestant and Russian
civilization may yet affiliate, and the goverment of the North
be liberalized, not by association with an infidel democracy,
but by the spirit of Protestant freedom. If the power of
England could now be thrown in favor of the right, how
mighty the influence she might exert in favor of consti



DISTINCT FROM THAT OF WESTERN EUROPE.    319
tutional liberty. But every shot she fired in the Crimea was
in favor of Papal aggression, and tended to hinder or defeat
a noble experiment in civilization, whose success might open
a new era for the world, and especially for the wasted East.
It would be wise for those among us who desire that the
influence of Russia may be destroyed, to inquire what will
take its place in Europe; what power will be in the ascendant, if Russia falls. The choice seems to be between the Papacy and Atheism; a thought worthy the serious attention
of Americans, and especially of American Christians. Protestant England, even if she remains Protestant, can not
now rule Europe. She holds, and must continue to hold,
with her present policy, only a secondary position. She
has shaken hands with the Papacy, and she must eat the
fruits of her bargain. A Sclavonic civilization, Atheism
and the Papacy, are the real contending powers in Europe.
With which should America sympathize?
The aggressive intermeddling policy of England, by which
she attempted to repress the growth of all other nations in
order to aggrandize herself, and compel them to buy and
sell only as she should dictate, a policy which explains alike
the Crimean war and the earnest support she has given to
our own rebellion, has been lately exposed and rebuked by
Mr. Cobden and Mr. Bright, in a debate upon the relations
of the British Government to China.
England is endeavoring to conquer China, as she has
attempted to cripple Russia, and the United States, in
order to force her to purchase from and sell to her alone.
Mr. Cobden first showed by statistics that the intervention of the Government had nearly destroyed the trade
with China, and then continued as follows:
"This is the moral-that it is not by blood and violence that you are to extend your commerce.  That is
the way to destroy trade, and not the way to create it.
I hope that after all this expecrience we shall none of us
again advocate any violent measures with the view of
extending our trade either in China or elsewhere.
The noble lord told us truly that there is one-third




320          RUSSIA AIMS AT A CIVILIZATION.
of the human race-that is 350,000,000 or 400,000,000 of
human beings-in China. They are but very small customers, but look at it in another way. If you are to follow
that policy which is peculiarly the noble lord's (Palmerstone's), if you are to break into, the country, hold it, and
be its police; if you are to make another Turkey in China,
and if, in addition to meeting Russia and France, you are
to meet the United States at Pekin; if you are to trouble
yourselves and future generations with governing and controlling, and intriguing in China, recollect that you have a
country of vast extent and prodigious population to govern,
and that you ought well to consider whether it is worth
your while to incur all these risks, and enter upon this
policy, with the proofs that you have that you are not
likely to do more trade with that country than you are with
Brazil or Egypt."
The insolent spirit of England, which leads her to meddle
with the affairs of all nations, and attempt to control them
all, was thus rebuked by MIr. Bright:
" Here we are, a small island on the opposite side of the
globe, with a population so limited that we are told we
have not an army that we could transport to Denmark
[hear, hear], yet still we are somehow to take within our
great ambition this vast empire of three or four hundred
millions of persons; we are to influence the dynasty that
shall sit on its throne; and in point of fact, we are to
direct the whole affairs of the country, just as we should
those of some small neighbor close to our shores. I do not
know how such an idea ever got into any man's head, but
having once entered in, and having taken absolute possession of the noble viscount, I suppose at his time of life he
cannot get rid of it."
The time is not far distant, when England will receive
the just retribution for the insults and wrongs which she
has wantonly heaped on the nations. She has reached the
limit of her aggressions, and henceforth Russia and the
United States will both stand across her path.




THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.        321
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.
THE life of a nation resembles that of an individual. Its
early portion is spent in mere growth and preparation,
which has, perhaps, no definite aims. There is enlargement of parts, a husbanding of strength, a discipline of
faculties, with no distinct perception of the purpose which
is to be attained. But the period at length comes when
the object for which the man is to live and act presents
itself clearly to the mind, and the individual perceives his
task, his mission in life is revealed, and thenceforth
his effort is to shape his actual life according to the
idea which he has formed. So also with great nations.
There is a preparatory period in which there is no consciousness of a special national destiny. Like the boy at
school, a nation in childhood forms no settled plan for the
future; but, in the progress of its growth, there is gradually shadowed forth-no one can explain how-a conception of what the national purpose should be, and this in
time shapes itself to a clearly-defined idea, and becomes the
object of national existence and effort. This may be called
the national idea, and when truly so, it shapes the whole
policy of a government, and directs upon itself the whole
energy of a people. As with an individual, so with a
nation, the actual achievement will bear some proportion
to the grandeur of the conception and the loftiness of
the aims, for, in the arrangement of the universe, there
21




322          THE NATIONAL. IDEA OF RUSSIA.
seems to be some correspondence between desire and capacity.
Russia, as it would seem, has now so far emerged from
her years of childhood as to have formed a distinct and
individual national idea, upon which she has shaped a welldefined'national policy, and to this all her efforts tend.
This, then, must be the key to all her movements, and
until we obtain a clear view of her national idea, Russia
will remain an enigma, and we shall hear only of despotism
and barbarism. This policy will, perhaps, be best understood by presenting, as preliminary, some negative statements. And first among these, -it may be {ruly affirmed that
the conquest of Western Europe is no part of the policy
of Russia. The oft-repeated cry that the Crimean war was
undertaken for the purpose of preventing the Czar from
overrunning Europe, and that, therefore, it was a contest
of civilization against barbarism, has no foundation in fact.
There is not a single proof that Russia has ever entertained
the idea of using her military power for the conquest of
England, France, Germany, or any of the larger nations
of Europe. Her designs in this direction have been confined to a control of the Baltic and the adjacent sea. The
Russian Court has never been seized with such a madness
for conquest. The Russian statesman knows full well that
if all these Western crowns could be laid at the feet of the
Emperor, the gift, if accepted, would be fatal to his country.
The incorporation of such masses of heterogeneous material into her state, is no part of the Russian scheme. On
the contrary, such an idea is the exact opposite of the one
which really rules her. She is much more likely to draw
around her a cordon of armies to keep Europe out and away,
than to use them to conquer and incorporate the Western
nations. In fact, this is precisely the signification of her
military system, so far as Europe is concerned. Her fortifications are intended to keep Europe away, while within
her bristling lines of artillery she pursues her national work.
Russia would never attack Western Europe unless in selfdefense, to ward off a clearly-meditated blow. Whatever




THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.         323
has been written in regard to the peril of England or France
from the arms of Russia, has been either in ignorance of
her real and obvious policy, or with the direct design to
cover the true character and objects of the war. That
hereafter she may seek to cripple these powers, whenever
she has the ability, may perhaps be expected.
France and England have made an issue not to be misunderstood or evaded. Their utmost strength was employed
to humble Russia, and will be while a hope of success
remains. Necessity will compel her to a similar course
toward them. She has been taught, in a manner which
she will never forget, that she has nothing to hope except
from their inability to injure. The idea of the conquest
and incorporation of the Western nations, Papal and Protestant, is clearly an absurdity too palpable to be entertained.
It is not, by any means, a universal dominion of this sort
to which Russian ambition aspires. The associating of all
animals of different natures in one harmonious family, and
within one cage, is a trivial feat compared with bringing
into peaceful relationship, under one government, the rdifferent races and religions of Europe. The thing is impossible, even were there adequate physical power, until the
people shall be all righteous-in short, until the millennial
age.
But, possible or impossible, it is not a purpose which the
rulers of Russia have ever seriously entertained. Whoever
will glance at the map of Europe will perceive at once,
that, so far from its being demanded by any interest of
Russia that she should absorb the German states, she greatly
needs them precisely where they are. They constitute her
southern frontier defense, and help to render her impregnable, by standing between her and her more formidable
Western foes. Not conquest and incorporation of Germany, but influence over its policy, is what Russia both
requires and seeks; this, through the Sclavonic race, she
will be very likely to attain. Of this, the course and position of Austria and Prussia afiord sufficient proof. Instead
of meditating aggressive war upon France and England,




324          THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.
Russia merely desires to be free from assault herself, that
she may pursue unhindered her own separate career;
and by what means will the influence of Russia over
Austria be prevented, when seventeen millions of the
population of Austria are Sclavonians? This fact of the
alliance of races is the true key to the policy of Austria.
Neither does the policy of Russia contemplate aggressive war as the mere propagandist of despotic principles
and forms of government. She abhors the theories of the
atheistical movement; they shock the deep religious sentiment which pervades the Russian mind. The late Czar
began his reign with the necessity of crushing a conspiracy
which originated in French influence, and he detested a
spirit which he regarded not as the spirit of freedom, but
of lawlessness, which sought to trample all authority under
its feet, and reproduce, even in his own empire, the scenes
of the reign of terror in France. To prove that Russia
opposes the infidel democratic tendencies of a portion of
Europe is not necessarily to show that she is the determined foe of human liberty. There are millions in England,
and millions in republican America, who regard the atheistical movement on the continent as hostile to the best interests of humanity, and tending to enslave, not to liberate,
the race.  There are millions of the firm  and devoted
friends of freedom and progress who would much prefer to
have every throne in Europe remain, to the triumph of that
lawless spirit which scoffs at and rejects all authority, both
divine and human, and claims to be a lawgiver and a god
unto itself. No man, of course, will attempt to prove that
Russia was not a despotic government, both in spirit and in
practice, but it does not prove her love of despotism to show
that she opposes such a democracy as has once convulsed
Europe only to the destruction of popular rights. To such
a miscalled liberty as many seek to establish in Europe,
the vast majority of Americans are as steadfastly opposed
as the Czar himself. Let, at least, this justice be done to
Russia. Has she ever sought to overthrow the constitutional liberties of England? Has she ever shown herself




THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.         325
hostile to the republican liberty which has embodied itself
in our own institutions? She should have all the benefit
of a clear discrimination between a rational liberty, based
upon a religious faith and a due recognition of the authority of God, and a mere desire to sweep all authority and
restraint away, and enthrone the individual will, or human
reason, or the bare decision of a majority, in the place of
God himself. IIas Russia shown a settled hostility to any
movement for the elevation of the race, except the infidel
one of Europe?
This question should be fairly answered before she is
condemned, and Americans should be careful to distinguish
between the theory of our Protestant republicanism and
that false theory of freedom which, discarding religion,
would begin with bloodshed, and end in the most hopeless
forms of despotism.
Neither the conquest of Western Europe, nor a propagandism of despotic principles, nor the arresting of human
progress, nor the destruction of human rights, are the purposes which shape the national policy of the Northern
Empire. What, then, it may be asked, is the true national
idea of Russia? 1Ier territorial idea is of a kingdom which
shall include the Baltic on the west, which on the southeast shall cover the Black Sea, the Caspian, and Constantinople, with a floating eastern frontier advancing toward
India, while on the north-east her possessions already lie
along the Pacific, including the mouth and valley of the
magnificent Amoor. This is the Russian conception of
territorial limits, and it is one whose grandeur stands
unequaled by any idea of empire, whether of ancient or
modern times, except by the American thought, which
embraces the twin continents of the West. Rome herself,
in the hight of her pride and power, was but as a thirdrate power compared with what Russia would be, could she
once realize her vast conception. It is one of the most
splendid ambitions that has ever stirred the human heart.
Let those who so lavishly heap the epithets barbarous, and
ignorant, and rude, upon Russia, take a map, and sit calmly




326          THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.
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.




THE NATIONAL IDEA OF RUSSIA.           327
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 Sc]avonic 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 facilities which she possesses for executing her designs.




328       RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
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




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  329
resources. His 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




330       RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
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 lhe 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




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  331
his gold mines against a day of need, or he would at least
keep it in circulation at home. At the same time he employed a liberal portion of this newly-created wealth and
newly-developed activity and skill in strengthening and
multiplying the defenses of the empire; and in this, with
liberal hand, he has, it appears, exhausted the power of
modern science; and thus, when the Western Powers assailed him, instead of finding a needy bankrupt, ruined
by his "barbarous tariff," it was discovered that he had
more bullion in his coffers than the Bank of England, and
they dashed themselves against fortifications that defied
their utmost effort, and which can only be captured, if
at all, by a most shocking sacrifice of treasure and of
life.
It is quite clear that Russia, under the influence of her
home system, had reached a degree of power, of an independent interior strength, of which the Allies had no adequate idea, and for which they were evidently unprepared.
Under the walls of Sebastopol they learned the art of
war from an enemy they had affected to despise; and the
present aspect of Russia before the world conveys the most
impressive lesson in political economy that has been taught
in modern times. She now presents a practical argument
in favor of self-development which can neither be evaded
nor answered. She stands mighty and self-balanced, and
therefore calm, self-reliant, and hopeful, reaping the fruits
of a wise attention to the culture of her own national life.
She presents an example well worthy the study of American statesmen, of what may be accomplished, even under
great disadvantages, by a protection of home interests.
The system which the government has adopted is one
which embraces in its design the leading interests of a
nation. It has given no more prominence to the military
department than was demanded by a prudent regard for
the condition and purposes of the great powers of Europe.
Her preparations to meet the assault of the Western Powers
were neither too rapid nor too extensive. The formidable
character of the Crimean conflict, and the spirit in which




332       RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
it was conducted, showed conclusively that Russia has not
overrated the means needed for her defense. It must not
be forgotten that the policy which now controls the empire
is of recent origin, and owes its present form and efficiency
to the statesmanship of Nicholas and his son. It has,
therefore, had too little tinme as yet to work out completed
results. There, as in the United States, society is still in
the transition state, and the Russians, like ourselves, are
struggling forward in the career of improvement, under all
the disadvantages which are found in a country where resources, though abundant, are yet in great measure unused,
and to a great extent, perhaps, unknown. Peter the Great
undertook to force upon his country a system of life copied
wholly from the West, for which his people were unprepared, and which was in measure unsuited to their genius;
and though he awoke Russia to a new life, yet it wore
more of the appearance of a masquerade than of a real
life. Alexander, on the other hand, proposes to himself to
create a civilization for his empire which shall be a proper
outgrowth of Russian mind, and be based upon the home
resources of the country. England is disposed to discourage
and sneer at these effobrts, for obvious reasons, precisely as
she derided the early attempts at manufacturing in the
United States.  The folly and ruinous consequences of
cherishing home production was duly pointed out, the rudeness of our machinery, the unskillfulness of our workmen,
the impossibility of competing with English establishments,
the inferior character of our fabrics, were all most clearly
shown; and yet, with the fostering care of government
only capriciously extended, and as capriciously withdrawn,
and in spite of much adverse legislation, American manufactures have grown up to their present importance. The
efforts of Russia are being crowned with an earlier success,
because the Imperial Government has extended to this
home policy its full support. Still the nation has but just
entered into this new career, and what it has already
accomplished may be regarded only as the earnest of a
more glorious future. The adoption of this policy has




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  333
placed the national life of Russia beyond the reach of the
rest of Europe. Her outworks may be, perhaps, destroyed,
but the process of destruction will be more costly to France
and England than their erection was to Russia, or than
their reconstruction will be. The Allies can not afford to
demolish many such fortresses as Sebastopol; while Russia,
if she adheres to her present policy, will each year be able
to construct such defenses with greater facility.
This system, as has been said, embraces all the great
interests of a state, although as yet it is not equally developed, nor working in perfection anywhere.  But great
results have already been reached, and the promise for the
future is abundant, and enough has been done to render
this future secure. The leading idea is to secure for Russia the control of the native race, to fill the territory of the
empire mainly with the native population. For this reason,
foreign influences and foreign control are guarded against
with a watchful care; and the exclusive policy, which has
brought such showers of reproaches upon Russia, is one
whose necessity the native American population is beginning to feel even here, and when we consider the policy
which circumstances are forcing upon this nation, we shall
at least be better able to comprehend the motives of
Russia. She pursues her course, it may be, in a manner
which the liberal might condemn, and which she, even
now, is modifying; but, on the other hand, Americans now
perceive that in their extreme liberality to foreigners, they
have been unjust to themselves, have put in jeopardy the
republic, and have even prejudiced the best interests of the
foreign population themselves. Russian statesmen are resolved that the native race shall control their country, and
believe that this is the essential idea of a true national life.
Then, as next in importance, both for purposes of trade
and for preserving the national unity, great attention has
been paid to a system of internal communications. This
has been conceived and executed on a scale proportionate
to the extent of the country. The most distant points of
the empire are already connected with each other by lines




834       RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
of river and canal navigation, and these are so located
in the interior that it is scarcely possible that the domestic trade of the country should be affected by foreign
war.
These communications are becoming every day more important and valuable to the inhabitants, on account of the
introduction of river steamboats, by which, as with us in
America, the transit of passengers and merchandise is yearly
rendered more cheap, more rapid, and more certain. The
navigable rivers are connected by numerous interlacing
canals; and, by means of both, the Caspian, the Euxine,
the White Sea, and the Baltic, have all communications
with each other, running through the heart of the empire,
affording almost unequaled facilities for the transportation
of the various commodities which are required by seventy
millions of people.
These Tworks, begun by Peter the Great, have been constantly extended and improved since his reign by his successors, as an important feature of national policy; and, in
addition to these, the late Czar projected a system of railroads on a scale equally extensive, two important trunk
lines of which are nearly completed.
The government schools, already mentioned, are a most
important feature in this scheme of national policy. They
look equally to the protection of the country and to the
rapid and scientific development of its agricultural, mineral, and manufacturing resources. In these schools thousands of scholars are scientifically trained in mining, in
agriculture, and in the mechanical and manufacturing arts,
and then they are scattered through the country to become
the practical teachers of the communities in which they
reside. Results of the most important national character
have already been reached in the mining and manufacturing operations, which are far more extensive and complete
than most, either in Europe or America, suppose. This
fact, perhaps, can not be more clearly shown than by the
following quotation from an article lately translated from
the French for the MERCHANTS' MAGAZINE:




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  335
"At the same time, Russia attempts to naturalize in her
provinces all the industrial arts of the West, and has made
a real progress, which is easy to be proved, and of which
Europe makes too little account. The Czars, in their
haughty pride, do not wish to be obliged to ask any thing
fi-om the rest of the world, and, profiting by the different
climates united in their vast empire, endeavor to cultivate
the productions of every clime. They have no colonies for
the production of sugar, but the provinces of Orel and
Sacolef are covered with immense plantations of beets, from
which sugar is manufactured. Their southern provinces
furnish wheat for part of the West. In 1850 the exportation was enormous. The northern provinces produce prodigious quantities of flax and hemp.
" Cotton is cultivated in Georgia and the country taken
from Persia. Since 1845 indigo has been introduced into
the Caucasian provinces, merino sheep by hundreds of
thousands are all around Moscow, toward the Baltic, and
on the shores of the Black Sea. They prosper everywhere,
and produce abundantly. Silk is produced in the southern
provinces, and, in 1833, the Emperor Nicholas caused four
millions of shoots of the mulberry-tree to be planted.
The gold mines of Asiatic Russia are very productive, and
furnish annually one hundred millions of francs to the
treasury.
" Finally, the Czars wished to have their wine independently of France, and the Crimea is covered with vineyards.
We look with astonishment, and almost with fear, at the
rapid and powerful development of Russian activity; for
the genius which has given and still gives impulse to this
great movement of Oriental slavism is not the friend of
liberal institutions, or the tendency of the people toward
political or religious emancipation. Any nation whatever
that rises and marches onward in grandeur and prosperity
has a claim to our respect and to our sympathies; but in
Russia it is not the people that rise, it is the Autocrat."
Here is presented, and apparently in an authentic form,




336       RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
some most valuable information concerning the condition
and progress of Russia, but one can not avoid being amazed
both at the narrow spirit in which the article is written
and the conclusion which the writer has reached. It proves
how impossible it is for France to form a candid judgment
of Russia.
It is certainly difficult to perceive why a desire to avail
themselves of the great natural advantages of their territory, even to the utmost, should be stigmatized in the
Czars as a haughty pride. How much more worthy of
reproach or contempt would they be if they had either
overlooked these advantages, or, knowing them, had suffered them to remain unused! It has generally been considered as evidence of wise statesmanship where a government understands and earnestly avails itself of its own
resources, and, by a course of honest industry, increases the
amount and variety of its productions, until, if possible, it
can obtain an independent support from its own industrial
pursuits.
But it seems that Russia can not appropriate her lands
to such productions as soil and climate indicate, without
being charged with a haughty desire to become independent of surrounding nations. This desire, coupled with protection to her own industry, is denounced as an evidence
of barbarism by England and France. If Russia would
consent to confine herself to the raising of such raw material as England and France require, sell it to them at prices
established by themselves, and purchase from them all her
supplies of manufactured goods, at their prices also, and
settle by specie the yearly balances, thus making herself
a huge and helpless dependency of the West, then she
would be admitted to the rank of highly-civilized nations,
and the loud cry against Russian despotism would be heard
no more, at least from England. Russia, converted to the
wisdom of free-trade, would be lauded and caressed.
The Czars of the North see in the free-trade scheme
only an effectual plan for sending the gold and silver of
the Ural district to the Bank of England, and they are




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  337
barbarous enough to desire to hold it in deposit at home,
and employ it for the general advancement and defense of
their country. England and France are sore amazed at
this uncivilized want of discernment on the part of Russia,
and therefore endeavored to enlighten her with cannonshot and twenty-two-inch shells, under General Pellissier,
the Arabic Professor of Christian civilization, who, in a
most enlightened and highly-civilized manner, suffocated,
in their rock fortress, the brave Arabs whom he could not
conquer in an honorable battle.
Russia barbarously enacts a tariff and cherishes her own
native industry, and avails herself of all the aids of modern
art, as found among her neighbors. Haughty Russia! exclaims France; too proud to be dependent.  Barbarous
Russia! replies England; she enacts a protective tariff, and
manufactures for herself, despising the wisdom of free-trade
and dependence. Why should not the hill-sides of the
Crimea be covered with vineyards as well as those of
France? Why should not Russia exclaim, 0 haughty
France! that seeks to drink wine independently of my
Crimean vineyards?'Why should not merino sheep feed on the hills of Russia
as well as on the mountains of Spain? And why should
not Russians, if they- have the skill, be allowed to spin and
weave their fleeces? Why is it not as reputable to raise
beets as sugar-cane? Is it a better proof of high civilization to take forcible possession of some tropical island or
province, and obtain sugar therefrom by compulsory labor,
than to grow beets at home?
The writer of the article from which the quotation has
been made, after presenting a picture that shows most
clearly the vigorous life which pervades the empire onr
account of its industrial activity, reaches two sad conclusions: first, that the tendency is not toward political or
religious emancipation; and second, that the Czar alone
is rising, not the people. It is doubtless true that the
tendency of Russian civilization is not toward such a
political or religious emancipation as France has gained,
22




338       RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
and it is no less true, that no sane, Christian well-wisher
to humanity would desire such a result. Russia neither
desires a Papal despotism nor an infidel liberalism, nor
such a republic as France has established. Few, however, out of France, will consider this a just cause of reproach.. It would, perhaps, open up a new chapter in political
economy, if some philosopher would explain how, with this
general and rapid progress of the nation, the Czar alone is
rising. It has been heretofore supposed that when a nation
is making swift and permanent progress in agriculture,
education, commerce, and the manufacturing arts, by which
new sources of wealth are continually opened, roads are
laid out, canals are dug, and railways are built, that the
people are thus inevitably elevated and refined. It has been
thought that these are the means by which modern nations
are advancing; and it is not clear how Russia can be an
exception, nor how one man, the Czar, can reap all the
advantage of this general movement of the nation. Such
statements, of.course, show either an invincible prejudice,
or a determination to wrest plain facts to a wrong conclusion. Russia is, doubtless, carrying forward her system for
the stimulation of her home industry with a rapidity and
success which have astonished and alarmed both France
and England, and this writer attributes to Russia a hatred
and jealousy of England, which certainly has never manifested itself by sending her fleets and armies to blockade
her ports, to destroy her commerce, and to burn her towns
and batter down her fortifications.
It is the successful prosecution of the protective policy
by which she has grown so rapidly into a great and independent nation, the foremost power of Europe, able to
cope, single-handed, with her two mighty foes, that so
aroused the fears and jealousies of England as to lead her,
goaded on by France, with other ends in view, into that
disastrous war —disastrous to all parties, whatever its termination might be-for it could not materially and permanently check the growth of Russia, while all parties




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  339
engaged might consume upon it the earnings of half a century.
That policy which Russia adopted for the purpose of
cherishing her own industry, and to render availabEl
her own great and varied resources-a system which England denounces as barbarous and injurious to her prosperity-is the best possible proof of political wisdom, showing
that Russian statesmen have discovered the only method
by which their country can attain unto a true civilization.
She has been reproached with being simply a semi-barbarous military despotism, having neither commerce, nor
manufactures, nor literature-as contributing nothing to
the general stock of wealth or knowledge-as producing
little, originating nothing, and worthy of no respect, except such as may be given to the strength of her armies.
Then when she adopts a course whose object is to create
a wealth and power of another description, a greatness
based on the more ennobling pursuits of a higher civilization, she is accused of barbarous exclusiveness and savage
ignorance, because she is not converted to the free-trade
philosophy of England.
Simply as a producer of raw materials, no country, however productive its soil may be, can reach the highest
stages of civilization. The intellectual stimulus and culture are wanting, by which alone true national greatness
can be created. Without commerce or manufactures, Russia would be a nation of agriculturists, miners, fur-hunters,
and soldiers. Such a nation would consume all the earnings of its industry upon food and those coarse, cheap
goods which manufacturing nations can supply with the
greatest possible advantage to themselves, and with all the
profit derived from machinery.
It would be the unequal contest between unskilled manual labor on the one hand, and the power of capital, skill,
machinery, and steam on the other, resulting inevitably in
a low state of civilization, dependence, and poverty for
Russia-in wealth and power for those who might supply
her wants. There would be for her no basis on which to




340      RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TO GROW
rear the highest forms of civilization, and she would remain equally without the means of independence or defense.
It has been long perceived by the Russian government,
that, without an extended commerce, the idea of holding a
first position among nations must be abandoned, but no
profitable foreign commerce could be maintained without
a manufacturing system of her own. The materials for
almost every variety of manufacture were known to abound
within her own territory, not excepting exhaustless deposits
of the precious metals, and a net-work of navigable rivers
and lakes offered, throughout all her vast dominions, the
means of easy transport; and it was resolved, therefore,
to create, maintain, and perfect, if possible, a system of
home manufactures, which should not only render her, in
a measure, independent of foreign production, but which
should also open to her a participation in the commerce
of the East.
But how could this be accomplished without that "4 barbarous tariff," which has drawn forth such loud complaints from England. The manufactures of Great Britain
are more effectually protected, by far, than those of Russia can be for a quarter of a century, by all the fostering
care of the government. The capital and skill of England
have fenced round her interests more strongly than a tariff
of prohibition. Her policy aims steadily at a complete
protection of every branch of her own industry, and from
this course she has never deviated for a single moment.
Her free-trade means simply freedom for all nations to
sell to her their raw material to the extent of her wants,
and freedom to purchase from her all manufactured articles
in return. She throws no branch of her trade open until
she is certain that she can defy all competition.
The only possible course then open to Russia was to
grant such a protection to her infant manufactures as
should shelter them from a ruinous competition from
abroad. But it is said that, by this course, the cost of
her manufactured articles is far greater than it would be
if she should procure them from England and the west




BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF HER OWN RESOURCES.  341
of Europe, and thus the tax upon her imports is laid
really upon the consumers at home. But is not this an
entirely inadequate view of the whole subject? It is
necessary to observe the general result upon the nation at
large; it is necessary to compare the Russia of to-.day with
the empire one hundred years ago; or, we may observe
only the change which has been wrought in a quarter of
a century by the influence of this very system which freetrade condemns. If it be conceded, for argument's sake,
that the tax imposed upon foreign goods has been paid by
the inhabitants of Russia, has there been rendered to them
and the country at large no equivalent for this money?
A new life has been infused into all parts of the empire,
an increased activity marks every department of society;
roads have been opened, canals have been dug, railroads
have been constructed, steamboats have been placed on
rivers; factories have been built, villages have sprung up,
and local markets have been opened for the productions of
the soil. The establishment of one principal manufacture
has called into existence a host of dependent but connected
branches, and countless new modes of industry, and new
sources of wealth, have been discovered by the inhabitants.
By such means new desires spring up, new wants are
created, and ingenuity seeks the method of supply. Thus
mind is stimulated to effort, the intellectual power of the
country is increased and guided to profitable action.
Capital accumulates, and is expended upon the refining
arts of life; a higher taste is cultivated in architecture,
dress, and furniture; a love for the beautiful is created,
the fine arts are cherished, and a literature appears. These
are the processes by which civilization advances toward
perfection; upon such a career Russia has entered, and
the aspect which she has presented in the terrible conflict
that tested her powers, is proof conclusive of the efficacy of that system in creating the elements of national
strength, while the extent of her present eastern commerce
reveals the rapid progress she is making. If a mighty
system  of national industry, which lays its quickening




342    RUSSIA, LIKE AMERICA, AIMS TQ GROW, ETC.
hand upon the multitudinous resources of the land, creating wealth and sending it through the empire by ten
thousand new channels, can be produced simply by the
tax on imports, certainly it is a most profitable expenditure for the nation, yielding dollars in return for cents
invested.
Nothing, however, is clearer than that the active competition of the home-workers speedily brings down the
cost of the domestic article to the price at which the foreign goods could be purchased if the trade were free to
the foreign rival; and the protection granted to the manufacturer, instead of becoming a tax upon industry, provides new and more profitable employment to labor, multiplies the comforts of the industrial classes-who are, in
consequence, better fed, better clothed and educatedwhile the general awakening and stimulus of thought
leads, in the end, to mechanical invention, discoveries in
science and art, and the higher creations of genius.
The rapid advance of the Northern State, and the new
career upon which she has entered, have awakened the
jealousy of England, and aroused her fears; and, lest her
own commercial supremacy should be endangered, she
sends forth fleets and armies to extinguish, if possible,
this new light of civilization which is dawning upon the
world; and in order to protect, in this manner, her own
monied interests, she is willing that millions of lives
should be sacrificed, and that the Papal despotism should,
through France, be re-established in Europe. But it will
prove an abortive effobrt. Sclavonic civilization has become
a mighty fact-its march is eastward, and the Euxine and
the Hlellespont must yet be the center of its life.




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.            343
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
IN a religious point of view, the contest in the East lay
between the Russian Church on the one hand, and the
Roman Catholic on the other. The two leading powers in
the conflict head these two great divisions of nominal, if
not real Christianity. Protestantism, as a religious interest, did not enter into the war.
England armed for national aggrandizement, or, to
speak with greater precision, to prevent what she deemed
the undue expansion of a rival power, which might lessen
her comparative importance, and perhaps diminish her
actual strength. She did not wage war to establish the
Protestant religion in the East, much less the American
type of Protestantism. If she gains her commercial ends,
she will rest content.  The character of the Russian
Church then becomes an exceedingly interesting subject
of inquiry.
Without understanding the nature of that religion which
is the faith of fifty millions of Russians, we can form no
correct judgment upon the influence which Russia would
exert upon Turkey and the East should she gain the
ascendancy there. If the world is called upon to choose
between the Papacy and the Russian Church as a ruler
of the East, we ought to understand the distinctive features of each. As has been already remarked, the Russian
Church, though adopting the Greek rite, and constituting




344              THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
indeed the Greek Church of modern times, must not be
confounded either with the Greek Church in Turkey or
in Greece.
The latter have shown a persecuting spirit which the
Russian Church has not manifested. The three divisions
doubtless sympathize with each other to a certain degree;
but the Church of Russia will eventually control and give
character to the others, unless the Allies succeed in forcing
her back and repressing her growth.  Many-perhaps
most in America —confounding the Greek with the Russian Church, charge upon the latter the spirit of persecution which assailed our missionaries in Turkey and Greece,
and are therefore led to suppose that the Papal Church
and that of Russia are of similar character; and thousands
unjustly imagine that both are equally bigoted, persecuting, and corrupt. England endeavors to persuade the
world that civilization has less to fear from the Papacy
than from the Church of Russia. This opinion most certainly has no foundation in truth, but yet it is often expressed.
It is important, therefore, for Americans to make themselves acquainted with the facts connected with this question, and form for themselves an independent judgment.
With the character of the Roman Catholic Church, its
spirit, its aims, and its doctrines, the United States have
been made familiar; and a nation that has been goaded
to an almost universal uprising against its insolent demands, and its plots against Republican liberty, will have
very little confidence that liberty will be promoted through
its influence either in Europe or the East. Indeed, one
of the most cogent reasons why the Americans were
sparing of sympathy with the Allies in the character and
aims of that war, was, that just in proportion as success
attended them, would the Papacy be strengthened, and in
that exact ratio, also, must the cause of human freedom
be weakened in Europe, for the Papacy and despotism are
natural and inseparable friends and supporters of each
other.




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.              345
The characteristics of the Russian Church are less known
to the people of the United States. Russia has not emptied
her population by millions upon our shores, nor sought to
colonize our territories for religious ends; and no bands of
priests or Jesuits have been ordered on from St. Petersburg
as spies upon our proceedings, and to subvert, if possible,
our institutions. We lack, then, those means of judging
Russia which are unfortunately so abundant in the case of
Rome. Still the doctrines of the Church of Russia are
sufficiently well known, and her practice, history has recorded. It will be found that, in essential doctrines, there
are almost no points of comparison with the errors of
Romanism. As a religious system, the distinction between
it and the Papacy is broad and palpable, as a comparative
exhibition of their theories will show; and, from this comnparison, what the nations have to fear from each may be
clearly seen.
The Roman Catholic claims to be the one only true
Church-the one universal Church, whose dominion, of right,
and by the authority of God, extends over all the world,
that there neither is, nor can be, salvation for any without her pale, and that all who reject her authority and
refuse her ordinances, are heretics, to be punished whenever and wherever she has the power, and are to be regarded as in rebellion against God. Nor is this a claim
to spiritual dominion, or in matters of faith only. She
claims, as the vicegerent of Jesus Christ on earth, to wield
in his name supreme power in all things, and to exercise
a rightful control over all governments and rulers of the
earth.
This involves not only the right, but the duty, to suppress all Protestant or other States, whether republics or
monarchies, that refuse submission to her will, and this
supposed duty she has constantly endeavored to perform,
either by force or intrigue, and hence her unwearied efforts
to subvert the government of the United States, her war
upon the Bible, her assault upon our schools, her efforts
to control the ballot-box.  Hence, also, her intrigues at




346              THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
Jerusalem  and Constantinople, and the war with Russia,
her mighty European antagonist.
These claims are among the essential ones of the Papacy,
never abandoned, never even abated. Religious toleration
is with her a thing unknown. She endures where she
must, and crashes where she can. To establish these claims,
to compel the nations to acknowledge her authority as
supreme over all things on earth, she has slain fifty millions of people in war, at the stake, in the dungeons of
the Inquisition, and by every variety of outrage and torture. Between such a church, claiming the right of universal dominion, and a mere national establishment like
the Church of England, local only in its character and
claims, its jurisdiction confined within its territorial limits,
there is a distinction broad and essential. The one demands
the obedience of the world, of all nations-threatening
eternal damnation to all who refuse, and interposing everywhere, and by all means, to enforce its claims, and disturbing thereby the peace of earth. The authority of the
other extends over a single people only, and asserts no
right to interfere with the conscience or worship of sister
States, and no commission from God to subdue to its own
faith the surrounding nations.
The English Church does not pretend that it may rightfully interfere with religious worship in the United States
in order to establish here its own rights, even if it had
the power. But the Papal Church not only asserts the
right, but endeavors to obtain the power, and declares that
it only waits until the power is gained, and that then
religious liberty shall be put down in this country, and the
people be compelled to adopt her forms and creed, or be
punished at her pleasure as heretics. The Russian Church
is simply a national establishment like the English Church;
like that, it is local only, claiming no jurisdiction beyond
its own territories-no commission from God to exercise
universal dominion, and to go forth to bring all nations
into subjection to itself, and in the name of God. It
claims no right to be the troubler of the world, no author



THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.             347
ity over governments; it pretends not to be the ruler of
princes, the governor of kingdoms.
The claim of the Russian Church is national only; that
of Rome is universal, and the comparative danger to the
world from each is therefore easily estimated. The Russian Church will simply be co-extensive with the Empire.
It will not rule the world, unless Russia should conquer all
nations-a result which no one apprehends. Again, the
Romish Church claims absolute infallibility, claims to
speak and decide with the unerring wisdom of God himself, in the language of the Scriptures, " showing" herself
"to be God."  Such a Church, from the necessity of its
nature and demands, must be a persecuting Church.
Persecution-the putting down of error-with such a
hierarchy, assumes the form of duty, and heretics are destroyed for the glory of God and the safety of the world.
The Russian Church makes no such claim, and asserts no
such power; it is simply the national religion of Russia,
holding its due position in connection with the civil powers.
The Russian Church wields no such instrument of power
and corruption as the Romish Confessional. No more subtle or efficient engine of despotism was ever contrived by
wicked ingenuity, than this has proved to be in the hands
of the Roman Catholic Priesthood.
Possessing themselves by this means, not only of the history of human actions, but even of the unuttered thought
or desire, and pronouncing judgment upon all in the name
of God, it lays the immortal soul bound, helpless, and exposed, even to the heart's most secret chambers, at the
feet of a fellow-creature who has usurped the prerogatives
of God. The Church of Rome has, in this manner, subverted the virtue of thousands, who, but for her priests,
might have remained innocent, has destroyed the purity
and peace of households, trampling in secret upon the holiest domestic ties, and has managed to guide the policy of
Courts by its knowledge of State secrets obtained at the
confessional. It has furnished a power almost sufficient of
itself for the control of every nation where it has been




348             THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
established, and is essential to a perfect spiritual despotism.
The Church of Russia teaches the duty of confession, but
then this confession may be either specific or general, at
the option of the one who confesses; and, consequently, a
practice which, as conducted by Rome, is almost omnipotent for evil, is, in Russia, incapable of being thus perverted, and can neither be used for purposes of corruption
or oppression.
The Church of Rome has, in all places and time, opposed
with her utmost strength the circulation of the Scriptures
among the people, knowing well that despotism is secure
only in proportion to the ignorance of those whom  it
oppresses. Hence its persevering attacks upon the Bible
and the free-schools of America. Russia permits the circulation of the Word of God among her people, and such
was the affinity of the Russian Church for Protestant principles and effort, that in the reign of Alexander a Russian Bible Society co-operated with the British Association
for the printing and distribution of the Scriptures.
Nieholas, whose policy was more exclusively national, and
who seemed to foresee from afar the gathering of that storm
of hostility in England and France which burst with such
fury before his death on Russia, evidently feared an influence which he well knew might be used for political
purposes, and therefore discouraged and broke off the connection with the British Bible Society, and suspended altogether the work which had been begun. To ascribe this to
the intolerant spirit of the Russian Church seems altogether
a mistake, nor is there any evidence that it originated in
any hostility to the circulation of the Scriptures, which
has always been allowed. Nicholas was a keen and most
sagacious observer of the tendency of the aflairs of Europe.
He felt the necessity of protecting his country at all
points, and he was not willing to expose himself to any
peril which might arise from a foreign influence of any
sort established within his dominions, and by which the
power of the national Church might be diminished. Doubtless he intended to use this national Church for State pur



THE RUSSIAN CHIURCH.              349
poses; and viewed merely in the light of worldy policy,
his sagacity has been clearly shown by the result. He was
enabled to concentrate the whole religious sentiment of the
empire upon the defense of the nation the moment he
was attacked. Russia's breastwork of united hearts burning with religious enthusiasm are more impregnable than
her granite walls, her frowning artillery, or her sparkling
lines of bayonets.
A Church that favors the circulation of the Bible, however it may be entangled in superstitious observances,
holds, nevertheless, within it a living germ, and there is
reasonable hope of its recovery.  Again, the Russian
Church does not believe in purgatory, nor in the sale of
indulgences, and consequently does not possess one of the
chief means of robbery and delusion so freely and profitably employed by the Church of Rome. Nor does it prescribe celibacy for the clergy, and this of itself presents a
feature, which, in comparison with the Roman Catholic
Church, should commend it to the world's favorable regard. Language is incapable of' describing the wretchedness and sin and delusion which have been caused in the
Papal Church by " forbidding to marry." It is a mournful characteristic of her apostasy.
The Russian Church is not entirely free from the error,
but, compared with Rome, it is of small importance. The
lower orders of the clergy are all married, while the
bishops and the highest officers of the Church remain in a
state of celibacy. These superior ecclesiastics are derived
from the one only order of monks existing in Russia, which
might rather be called the cloistered clergy.
The system of monasteries and convents has little or
no influence in the Russian State, for they have no rich
endowments, and are merely establishments supported by
a revenue from the government; consequently there can
be no such pious robbery, no such accumulation of land,
or hoarding of millions of treasure, as has been accomplished by the similar establishments in countries governed
by Rome. The industry and wealth of the country are




350             THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
not devoured in Russia by swarms of monks, friars, and
priests.
There are in the Russian Church two orders of the
clergy-one constituting the only order of monks in the
empire, from whose ranks the higher dignitaries of the
Church are taken; but these and their establishments,
being without independent ecclesiastical revenues, have no
neans of oppressing the people or of making their power
formidable.
Women are not allowed to enter nunneries until they
are forty years of age; the men may become monks at the
age of thirty; and thus the Russian Church has wisely
guarded against the corruptions which have stained all the
history of Romanism.
The intolerance of the Papacy is not found in the Church
of Russia. The Russian clergy will officiate in Protestant
houses for worship, and will also permit their own churches
to be used by Protestant ministers. They are tolerant
toward all other denominations, and do not pretend to
confine salvation to their own Church. They do not refuse to administer the consolations of religion to dying
Protestants, and they permit Protestants to be buried in
their cemeteries.
Attempts have been made to represent the Emperor of
Russia as only an Eastern Pope, to be as truly feared and
shunned as the Pope himself at Rome. It would be equally
reasonable to excite similar prejudices against the sovereign
of England, who is the head of the English Church, as the
Czar is the head of the Church of Russia. Such are the
main features which distinguish the Russian from the
Roman Catholic Church.
The difference is radical and essential. In principle,
they are utterly unlike. One aims at a despotism universal and exclusive. For the attainment of such an end,
the whole system has been most cunningly devised, and
adhered to with a constancy which has almost insured its
success. Its steadfast aim is to rule the world-to subject
all nations to its contrdl.  Therefore, its interference is




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.              351
everywhere felt, its tools and spies are in every land, the
disturbers of the world's peace.
The Church of Russia, on the contrary, is the Church'
of a single nation, having, however, twelve millions in
Turkey, and some also in Greece, who are in sympathy
with its worship; and while it is clogged, debased, and
hindered by a thousand frivolous and superstitious observances, it has, nevertheless, not one essential element of a
spiritual despotism, and it rejects every great distinctive
error of the Roman Catholic Church. With a creed orthodox in its essential teachings, and with the Word of God
circulated among the people, it can not be regarded as
beyond the reach of reformation.
It has a deep, strong hold on the affections of the Russian nation, and, as a body rising rapidly to a prominent
position among nations through the swift progress and
expansion of the mighty state of which it is the religious
basis and life, it is worthy of a careful study and candid
judgment. It would reflect no credit upon the generosity
or independence of the American people, if, in regard to
the Russian Church, we either become the mere echo of
English prejudices or interested statements, or if we fail
to make the proper distinction between the Greek Church
in Turkey, from which our missionaries have suffered, and
the Church of the Russian Empire.
A country where the Word of God is circulated, where
a tract distribution is carried regularly on, by which four
million tracts have been already distributed, should not be
treated by Protestants with cold suspicion, much less
should American Christians permit the "war interest" in
England to excite in them a spirit of hostility against its
Church, which evidently might be largely influenced by
American friendship.
The following extracts front STANLEY'S GREEK CHURCH
will show what one of the most distinguished scholars of
England thinks of the importance of the Russian Church,
its influence over the people, and what it may yet accomplish for civilization and Christianity in the East:




352             THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
"Western ecclesiastical history would lose more than
half its charms, if it had not for its subject the great
national Churches of Europe. And, in like manner, Eastern ecclesiastical history must fail of its purpose, unless it
can find some field in which we can trace from century to
century, and in their full-blown development, those principles and practices of the Oriental Church which have
been already unfolded in general terms.
" This field is presented in the Russian Church. In it
alone we trace a growth and progress analogous to that
which Western or Latin Christianity found in the Teutonic
tribes of Europe. And, although the Northern and Sclavonic elements form the basis of the Church and Empire
of Russia, yet, by its situation, by its origin, and by the
singular powers of imitation with which its members are
gifted, it is essentially Asiatic and Oriental. And, further,
through the gradual incorporation of Russia into the commonwealth of Western nations, the Eastern Church has
acquired a voice or speech which it has lost, or has never
gained, elsewhere. The feeling which the native Russians
entertain toward the Western world is a likeness of the
feeling which we ourselves entertain toward the Eastern
world. The Russian word for a foreigner, but especially
for a German, is'the dumb,''the speechless;' and it has
happened, within the experience of an English traveler,
that Russian peasants, passing by and seeing a conversation going on in a foreign language, have exclaimed, in
astonishment:' Look at those people; they are making a
noise, and yet they can not speak!' Very similar to this
is the way in which, as a general rule, we regard, almost
of necessity, the Eastern Churches generally. To us, with
whatever merits of their own, they are dumb. Their languages, their customs, their feelings are unknown to us.
We pass by and see them doing or saying something wholly
unintelligible to us, and we say:'Look at those people;
they are making a noise, and yet they can not speak!'
In a great measure this difficulty severs us from the Russian Church, as well as from the other branches of Oriental




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.              353
Christendom. Still, in Russia, if anywhere in the East,
we can from time to time listen and understand with advantage. The Sclavonic power of imitation opens a door
which elsewhere is closed. The Western influences which,
from the age of Peter, have streamed into Russia, though
they have often undermined the national character, have
yet, where this is not the case, given to it the power, not
only of expressing itself in Wrestern languages, but of
understanding Western ideas, and adapting itself to Western minds. A Russian alone presents, amidst whatever
defects and drawbacks, this singular interest: that he is
an Asiatic, but with the sensibility and intelligence of a
European; that he is, if we will, a barbarian, but with
the speech and communications of civilization.
"Another peculiarity of the history of the Church of
Russia is, that it enables us, within a short compass, to go
through the whole field of ecclesiastical history, which, in
the West, while familiar to us in detail, is too vast to be
comprehended in any one survey. With many differences,
produced by diverse causes of climate, of theology, of race,
the history of the Russian Empire and Church presents a
parallel to the history of the whole European Church from
first to last, not merely fanciful and arbitrary, but result,
ing from its passage through similar phases, in which the
likenesses are more strongly brought out by the broad d-ifferences just mentioned. The conversion of the Sciavonic
races was to the Church of Constantinople what the conversion of the Teutonic races was to the Church of Romie.
The Papacy and the Empire of Charlemagne had, as we
shall see, their dim reflection on the throne of Moscow.
Russia, as well as Europe, had its Middle Ages, though,
as might be expected from its later start in the race of
civilization, extending for a longer period. The Church
of Russia, as well as the Church of Europe,- has had its
reformation, almost its revolution, its internal parties, and
its countless sects.
"The events are few; the characters are simple; but we
shall read in them again and again, as in a parable, our
23




354              THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
own shortcomings, our own controversies, our own losses.
The parts of the drama are differently cast. The Eastern
element comes in to modify and qualify principles which
we have here carried out to their full length, and beyond
it; but it is this very inversion of familiar objects and
watchwords which is so useful a result of the study of
ecclesiastical history, and which is best learned where the
course of events is at once so unlike and so like to our
own, as in the Church of Russia.
" In Russian history the religious aspect, on which our
thoughts must be fixed in these lectures, is, on the one
hand, that part of it which is the least known, and yet,
on the other hand, is full of interest, and not beyond our
apprehension. It has been sometimes maintained by writers on political philosophy, that, however important in the
formation of individual life and character, religion can not
be reckoned among the leading elements of European
progress and civilization. I do not enter into the general
discussion; but the great empire of which we are speaking, if it has not been civilized, has unquestionably been
kept alive by its religious spirit. As in all the Eastern
nations, so in Russia, the national and the religious elements have been identified far more closely than in the
West, and this identification has been continued, at least
outwardly, in a more unbroken form. Its religious festivals are still national; its national festivals are still religious. Probably the last great historical event which in
any European state has externally assumed a religious,
almost an ecclesiastical form, is nearly the only event
familiar to most of us in Russian history, namely, the expulsion of the French from Moscow. From the moment
when Napoleon, according to the popular belief, was struck
to the ground with awe at the sight of the thousand
towers of the Holy City, as they burst upon his view
when he stood on the Hill of Salutation, to the moment
when the tidings came of the final retreat'of the Gauls
and of the thirty nations,' as they are called, the whole
atmosphere of the Russian resistance is religious as much




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.              355
as it is patriotic. The sojourn of the French in the
Kremlin is already interwoven with religious legends, as
if it had been an event of the Middle Ages. A magnificent cathedral has been added to the countless churches
already existing in Moscow to commemorate the deliverance.' God with us,' is the motto which adorns its gateway, as it was the watchword of the armies of the Czar.
" The services of Christmas-day are almost obscured by
those which celebrate the retreat of the invaders on that
same day, the 25th of December, 1812, from the Russian
soil; the last of that long succession of national thanksgivings, which begin with the victory of the Don and the
flight of Tamerlane, and end with the victory of the
Beresina and the flight of iNapoleon.'HI-ow  art thou
fallen from heaven, 0 Lucifer, son of the morning!' This
is the lesson appointed for the services of that day.'There
shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the
stars, and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity. Look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption
draweth nigh.' This is the Gospel of the day.'Who
through faith subdued kingdoms, waxed valiant in fight,
turned to flight the armies of the aliens.' This is the
epistle.
"I have dwelt on the religious aspect of this crisis, both
because it may serve to remind us that there is at least one
event in the history of the Eastern Church with which we
are all acquainted; and also because, coming as it does
at the end of a series of similar deliverances and celebrations, it brings before us one special interest which the
Russian ecclesiastical history possesses, namely, its rela.
tion, both by way of likeness and illustration, to the history
of the Jewish Church of old. Hardly in any European
nation shall we so well understand the identity of the
religious and national life in the ancient theocracy as
through the struggles of the Russian people against their
several invaders. The keenness with which they appropriate the history of the old dispensation is but the natural
result of their (in many respects) analogous situation. In




356              THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
the sculptures of the cathedral of which I have just
spoken as the monument of the deliverance of Moscow,
it is the execution of one and the same idea when the
groups from Russian history alternate with scenes from
the story of Joshua's entrance into Palestine, of Deborah
encouraging Barak, of David returning from the slaughter
of Goliath, of the coronation and the grandeur of Solomon.i"
The religious character of the Czar of Russia is thus
described by Mr. Stanley:
"First is the Czar. In the West, as well as in the East,
the frame-work of all religious and civil institutions was
molded on the idea of a Holy Roman Empire succeeding
to the Pagan Roman Empire of former times. But in the
West this institution has signally failed, as in the East it
has signally succeeded. Charlemagne was a much greater
man than any of the Russian potentates before the time
of Peter. His coronation by Leo was a much more striking coronation than any that has fallen to the lot even of
the greatest Russian emperors. The theory of his empire
was defended by Dante with far more genius and zeal
than ever was the theory of the White Czar by any poet
or philosopher of Russia. But, nevertheless, the Holy
Roman Empire has faded away, while' the new Coesar of
the Empire of Orthodoxy' still stands. In part, this difference is owing to the fundamental diversity of the Eastern and Western characters. In part, however, it was
fostered by the peculiar circumstances of the Russian
history, and obtained an importance in the Russian Church
and Empire beyond what may be ascribed to the same
tendency in other regions of the East. The very slowness
of the growth of the institution indicates the depth of its
roots in the national character and history. The transformation of the Grand Princes of Kieff, Vladimir, and
lovgorod into the Czar of Muscovy, and of the Czar of
Muscovy into the Emperor of all the Russias, was not the




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.             357
work of a day or a century; it was the necessity of the
long-sustained wars with Tartars, Poles, and Swedes; it
was the craving for union among the several princes; it
was the inheritance of the ceremonial of the Byzantine
Empire, through the intermarriage of Ivan III with the
daughter of the last Palheologus; it was the earnest desire
for peace under one head, after the long wars of the Pretenders; it was the homogeneousness of the vast empire,
uniting itself under one common ruler. The political position of the Czar or Emperor is not within our province,
but his religious or ecclesiastical position transpires through
the whole history of his Church. He is the father of the
whole patriarchal community.  The veneration for him
was in the Middle Ages almost, it is said, as if he were
Christ himself. The line of Grecian emperors, so it was
said even by Orientals., had been stained with heresy and
iconoclasm: never the line of the Orthodox Czars of Muscovy.' He who blasphemes his Maker meets with forgiveness among men, but he who reviles the emperor is sure
to lose his head.''God and the Prince will it; God and
the Prince know it,' were the two arguments, moral and
intellectual, against which there was no appeal.'So live
your Imperial Majesty, here is my head;''I have seen the
laughing eyes of the Czar' —these were the usual expressions of loyalty. He was the keeper of the keys and the
body-servant of God. His coronation, even at the present
time, is not a mere ceremony, but a historical event and
solemn consecration. It is preceded by fasting and seclusion, and takes place in the most sacred church in Russia;
the emperor, not as in the corresponding forms of European investiture, a passive recipient, but himself the principal figure in the whole scene; himself reciting aloud
the confession of the orthodox faith; himself alone on his
knees, amid the assembled multitude, offering up the
prayer of intercession for the empire; himself placing his
own crown with his own hands on his own head; himself
entering through the sacred doors of the innermost sanctuary, and taking from the altar the elements of the bread




358              THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.
and wine, of which then and there, in virtue of his consecration, he communicates with bishops, priests, and deacons.
In every considerable church is placed a throne in front
of the altar, as if in constant expectation of the sudden
apparition of the sovereign. In every meeting, council, or
college, is placed the sacred triangular'mirror,''the
mirror of conscience,' as it is called, which represents the
imperial presence, and solemnizes, as if by an actual consecration, the business to be transacted."
It is evident that a nation, whose religious and political
life are so intimately blended, are capable of being profoundly moved, either for defense of their " sacred soil,"
or to recover the lost possessions of their Mother Church.
Seventy millions of people thus penetrated by a deep religious sentiment, and directed by one who is at the same
time their political and religious head, can not be permanently checked by any power in Europe.
Mr. Stanley's closing reflections upon the possible future
of the Russian Church may well be pondered by Americans now:
" I have thus glanced at some of the leading characters
of the modern Church of Russia, and of its existing tendencies. They will be enough to show that its inherent life
has neither been choked by its own tenacity of ancient
forms, nor strangled by the violence of Peter's changes.
But what its future will be, who shall venture to conjecture? Will it be able now, in these its latter days, to
cease from  foreign imitations, Eastern or Western, and
develop an original genius and spirit of its own? Will it
venture, still retaining its elaborate forms of ritual, to use
them as vehicles of true spiritual and moral edification for
its people? Will it aspire, preserving the religious energy
of its national faith, to turn that energy into the channel
of practical social life, so as to cleanse, with overwhelming
force, the corruption and vice of its higher ranks, the deceit
and rude intemperance of its middle and lower classes?




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH.             359
The Russian clergy, as they recite the Nicene Creed in
the communion, embrace each other with a fraternal kiss,
in order to remind themselves and the congregation that
the orthodox faith is never to be disjoined from apostolical
charity. Is there a hope that this noble thought may be
more adequately represented in their ecclesiastical development than it has been in ours? Will Russia exhibit to
the world the sight of a Church and people understanding, receiving, fostering the progress of new ideas, foreign
learning, free inquiry, not as the destruction, but as the
fulfillment, of religious belief and devotion? Will the
Churches of the West find that, in the greatest national
Church now existing in the world, there is still a principle
of life at work, at once more steadfast, more liberal, and
more pacific than has hitherto been produced either by the
uniformity of Rome or the sects of Protestantism?
" On the answer to these questions will depend the future
history, not only of the Russian Church and Empire, but
of Eastern Christendom, and, in a considerable measure,
of Western Christendom also. The last word of Peter,
struggling between life and death, was, as has been already
described, Hereafter. What more awful sense the word
may have expressed to him, we know not. Yet it is not
beneath the solemnity of that hour to imagine that even
then his thoughts leaped forward into the unknown future
of his beloved Russia. And to us, however curious its
past history, a far deeper interest is bound up in that one
word, which we may, without fear, transfer from the expiring Emperor to the Empire and the Church which he
had renewed —' EREAFTER. "




360   THE RUSSIAN CHURCH MAY RECOVER THE EAST.
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE RUSSIAN CHURCH MAY RECOVER THE EAST.
THE observations which have been made upon the Roman
Catholic and Russian Churches will naturally suggest the
inquiry, what would be the character of the religious influence which Russia would exert upon the East should her
power be established there? Before attempting a direct
reply to this question, there are some preliminary considerations which deserve attention.
Americans are yet in a position to weigh candidly the
character and claims of Russia, and they can not fail to
perceive that if she were fitted, in a religious point of view,
to give Christianity to the regions around and to the east
of the Hellespont, the Euxine, and the Caspian, then, in
other respects, she is better prepared for this mission than
any nation of Europe; and, unless some great change
should occur in European politics, America is the only
nation that could co-operate with her in that work.
In the religious aspect of this question it can not be
denied that Russia has, beyond comparison, a larger interest in the population of the East than any other power,
and that she wields over them already an influence greatly
surpassing that of any other nation. Twelve millions of
Greek Christians in Turkey sympathize with her in her
faith and general policy, and regard her as their head.
The population of Greece is similarly situated, though,
from position, largely under European control.




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH MAY RECOVER THE EAST.  361
Russia has stretched the lines of her attachments to the
foot of the Caucasus, and fastens them upon a Christian
population there. She has commercial relations and political influence through all Persia and even beyond, in China
and Northern Asia in general. Her facilities for spreading
a Christian civilization through all these vast regions are
greater already than those of all the earth besides. She is
the only power of earth that can, by expansion, incorporate these territories under one government. They would
become merely colonial dependencies of France and England, not integral parts of their home governments. Not
so with Russia.
These provinces, if annexed to her dominions, would
become incorporated with her, a part of herself, as the
Louisiana Purchase and Texas are now integral parts of
the United States. Those countries, now ruled by a few
millions of Turkish masters, treating the Christian population as a degraded caste, would then be as much a part
of Russia as the provinces around Moscow, and one social,
political, and religious structure would be extended over
the whole. There are, as has been said, twelve millions
of Greek Christians in Turkey, and only one million of
Roman Catholics.
Allowing both Churches to be on an equal footing in
purity and spiritual life, (which they are not), which is,
then, in the most favorable position for spreading Christianity in the East?  France, with her one million of
Catholics,'and twelve millions of Greeks, who hate and
would oppose her; or Russia, with twelve millions to sympathize with and assist her?  This, of course, is upon the
supposition that they could be spiritually prepared to
spread the Gospel of Christ. The Oriental character of
the Russian nation, and the religious affinities which connect her with the Christian population of the East, designate her as the proper agent for recovering that now-wasted
land, and making it once more what it was during the
best days of the Eastern Empire. That the breaches are
to be restored, the old highways rebuilt, and prosperity




362   THE RUSSIAN CHURCH MAY RECOVER THE EAST.
and the Gospel once more revisit Western Asia to the
expulsion of Mohammedanism  and its wasting misrule,
the student of prophesy can scarcely doubt; but opinions
differ widely as to the agencies which God will probably
employ in producing the glorious result.
American Christians have fondly hoped that this work
has been committed to the American, or at least to Protestant missions. Doubtless they have accomplished much.
What has been thus done in the heroic spirit of selfsacrifice and Christian enterprise will not be swept entirely
away, whatever changes may occur, and whoever may rule
at Constantinople.
Still, in any event that now seems possible, Protestantism must enter the East as a protected and not as a ruling
element, because French or Russian influence will predominate, and between these two, as controlling powers, the
choice of the world must lie.
If, therefore, some power should hold the East that would
tolerate the presence and efforts of Protestant Christians,
it is the utmost that could be expected while political
affairs remain unchanged. We know that the Roman
Catholic Church knows nothing of toleration, and from
France and the Pope there is absolutely nothing to hope.
If, therefore, Protestant efforts are to be tolerated at all
in these regions hereafter, it must be through the friendship of Russia, while by her the main religious influence
will be exerted, whether it be good or evil.
It has been already shown that the Russian Church has
yet a living germ-has a little strength. The distinctive
errors of the Papacy do not attach to her. She is not what
most Protestants believe the Papal Church to be-an apostate and anti-Christian body. On the other hand, she is
far from being what she should be. Her spiritual life and
power are overborne and well-nigh smothered by idle or
superstitious ceremonies; there is a lack of apprehension of
spiritual truth, and ceremony is in great degree substituted
for the religion of the heart. But let it be supposed that
England, instead of sending against her fleets and armies,




THE RUSSIAN CHURCH MAY RECOVER THE EAST.  363
instead of joining a Papal crusade, had striven to maintain the friendly spirit which existed in the time of Alexander, when even the government co-operated with the
British Bible Society, might we not have seen, ere this, a
spiritual revolution begun in Russia?
Might there not have been an arousing of that Eastern
Church by a contact with the life of Protestantism, and a
casting aside of dead forms to assume the garments of a
living holiness?  A tract publication and distribution is
even now going on quite actively in Russia; and these
tracts, and the books published and circulated, are of a
character to elevate the tone of piety, and quicken and
strengthen the spiritual life. There seems to be no bar to
the introduction of Protestant Christian literature of this
description, for it is said that the censorship of the government is exercised in a candid and liberal spirit in regard
to this religious effort. Who shall say that important
changes might not thus have been wrought ere this in
IRussia?
Could she not thus have been enlightened, liberalized,
advanced in civilization, and prepared, by the reception of
a new life herself, to spread the Gospel of Jesus throughout the East? Such a Christian intercourse might have
led to a harmonious and righteous settlement of those
questions which have since plunged Europe into a terrible
conflict, whose results were evil only. And if England,
by her policy, has lost this opportunity of doing good
to a sister state, and of conferring a precious boon on
Europe and the East, why should not America endeavor
to cultivate with her a friendly alliance; and, as the foremost Protestant nation of earth, strive to infuse, by the
help of God, a new life and a new spirit into that mighty
people of the North?  Then, should Russia succeed in
establishing herself in Turkey, the American Churches
may help to prepare her to Christianize the East, and
share with her the labor and the honor of the work. Invectives of the most bitter kind were heaped upon Nicholas because of the proposition which he made to England. Would




364   THE RUSSIAN CHURCH MAY RECOVER THE EAST.
there have been more dishonor in accepting that offer, and
thereby securing the peace of Europe, than in engaging in
a bloody war, in order, not to save, but, in conjunction
with France, to obtain the exclusive control of Turkey?
Leaving the question of right, of moral principle, to be
discussed elsewhere, let it be supposed that England had
accepted the offer of the Emperor of Russia, and that even
now the fall of the Turkish Empire were passed, the Czar
ruling over Constantinople, and England instead of France
established in Egypt, with her railroad or ship-canal, or
both, across the Isthmus of Suez, opening to Europe once
more this old highway to India. At the same time, let it
be imagined that Russia had perfected one eastward route,
by railroad, through Siberia, across her vast mineral regions, to the head of navigation on the Amoor, thus uniting St. Petersburg and Moscow with the Pacific; and
another Asiatic highway, by the Caspian, the Aral, and
the connecting waters-would Europe and the world suffer
more from this arrangement than from a sanguinary war
for much more questionable ends?  Could Russia, by
friendly association with such a Protestant power as either
England or America, be made to sympathize with the
spirit of evangelical religion, she could effect more for the
recovery of the East than all Christendom besides.
Such an opportunity as was never presented before is
now offered to the American government and American
Churches to cultivate with that power friendly relations,
not as against others, but such as are proper to establish
with all. Would not this advance the general cause of
liberty and religion more than estrangement and a causeless hostility?




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 365
CHAPTER XXXIII.
STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
AT the commencement of the Crimean war, unwearied
pains were taken to spread throughout the civilized world
the idea that the government of Russia is merely a heartless, erushing, military despotism, with no redeeming
quality, no element of progress, cherishing no regard for
the people, and no desire for their advancement; and,
therefore, the war was declared to be one of civilization
against barbarism-of humanity against the one great foe
of liberty and man.
This accusation is certainly a very grave one, and deserves our serious regard. If such is the character of
Russia, and if her growth is but a prolonged crusade
against human rights and happiness and hopes; if, moreover, the powers which assaulted her are the firm friends
of popular freedom, and took up arms to establish it, then
have they a right to expect American sympathy, and it
ought to be freely bestowed. But they who remember
how our own country has been vilified in the same quarter, will be disposed to regard with some suspicion similar
charges against Russia; while the idea that the Allies
engaged in a contest for the defense of popular rights is
already abandoned by most. Again, nothing can be more
ungenerous, not to say absurd, than to rake up from the
records of other ages, whatever can be discovered there,
of ignorance, barbarity, or tyranny, and present it as a




366  STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
picture of Russia as she is at present. The true question
is, Whether Russia, in spite of all crimes of the past, or
errors in her government and general policy, is sincerely
endeavoring, and with good hope of success, to establish
a form of civilization by which the Sclavonic races may
be elevated.
Let it be granted that the Emperor of Russia possesses
unlimited power. That does not of itself demonstrate that
the government is despotic and cruel, regardless of the
welfare of its subjects. The true question is, How is this
power actually employed? Is the Czar only a tyrant,
crushing the proper energies of his people merely that he
may rule supreme? Or, is he the exponent of the nation's
will, the representative of a national sentiment, the recognized defender of a nation's faith, the guardian of a nation's resources and honor, a chieftain to direct a nation's
power?
Doubtless the truth lies between these two suppositions;
but, then, all the reliable evidence in the case shows that
it coincides far more nearly with the last supposition than
with the first. Nothing is more deceitful than names. A
monarchy may be liberal; a democracy may be a despotism of the most hateful character; and even in a constitutional, monarchy, intelligence and merit may be constantly trampled under foot by a hereditary and incompetent nobility, absorbing both the honor and wealth of a
country.
Notwithstanding all the aspersions which have been cast
upon the Northern Empire, it is nevertheless true that
there is no state in Europe where talent is so certainly
recognized and employed; where the ablest man so surely
fills the most important post; where the road to preferment
is so freely opened to merit, as in Russia; and that government is not, in the proper sense, a despotism, where an
unimpeded ascent is opened from the very lowest to the
highest positions in society. The candid and philosophic
Erman presents the following view of the structure and
working of the Russian system, which should be carefully




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 367
studied by those who have been led to think of it only as
an engine of tyranny:
"If we were to endeavor to classify the inhabitants of
the capital, according to those circumstances of life which
are pervading and essential, we certainly should not adopt
the official distribution of the population into fifteen classes.
The nation, in truth, fall naturally into a few leading
groups, which remind us of the division of organic bodies
in natural — history, into artificial systems and natural families. Grouped in this manner, the inhabitants of the
capital come under the following heads:
"1. The numerous class of persons engaged in the service of the state, and enjoying, consequently, high privileges, and who, collectively and exclusively, are entitled
and bound to wear the state uniform (Mundir).
"' 2. Individuals who enjoy high privileges, not for their
own services, but owing to their relationship or connection
with the first class. Considerable estates and a sort of
hereditary nobility distinguish this class, which is not,
however, very numerous.
" 3. Foreigners, chiefly merchants, who, from a sentiment of hospitality, converted into a maxim of state, are
treated with more consideration than is strictly due, according to the popular mnode of thinking, to their occupations and employments.
"4. Russian merchants and handicraftsmen, partly free,
partly in servitude.
" 5. Russians engaged in trades and manual arts, at
their own choice and on their own account, or in the service of others, and who have the lowest amount of privilege.
These, also, are either freemen or serfs; but this circumstance is here, as in the case of the fourth class, of little
outward value, and is hardly to be detected in the actual
relations of life. The clergy do not constitute a particular
group; but, according to circumstances, belong either to the
official class or to the people, and seem to form a mean
between both.




368 STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
"In the modern language of St. Petersburg, one constantly hears a distinction of the greatest importance conveyed in the inquiry which is habitually made respecting
individuals of the educated class: Is he a plain coat or a
uniform?  However one may be surprised and shocked at
first at the unusual value thus set on an outward decoration, and at the abrupt line which severs the members of
the same community, yet the system grows more comprehensible, and less offensive, when we fix our attention on
its actual working.
"In truth, though the Russian official is sharply and
completely separated from the rest of the people by his
uniform, yet the aristocracy thus created is, possibly, less
odious than that of other countries; for its internal organization is extremely simple; all who belong to the order
are on a perfectly equal footing. In the privileged class
there is no peculiarly favored caste.
"Again, within this wide circle of privileged equals,
personal ability and agreeableness of manners are duly
appreciated.  The way in which the interests of the individual are involved with the public service gives rise to
an' esprit du corps,' and, besides, entrance into the most
favored class in the nation seems to be as easy as it is
desirable; thus the public servants in Russia form, in
truth, a class of nobility which may be called an order of
merit, which has maintained itself in greater purity here
than in other states, because Peter I bestowed the offices
and employments which had formerly been held for personal services to the autocrat only as rewards for faithful
service to the state.
"Every kind of public service carries with it some personal immunities, and only a certain advancement in offil
cial rank is required to make them hereditary. Thus, for
example, the acquisition of landed property, and of serfs
attached to it, is reserved for a certain rank, (the eighth
of the artificial classes); but, as hereditary succession is inseparable from these, there thus arises hereditary nobility.
It is a remarkable fact, that in society in St. Petersburg,




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 369
where there is a constant rivalry between the official and
hereditary nobles, the former always have the upper hand.
Here the love of rank or office is spoken of always as a
peculiar and noble passion; while one not actuated by the
thirst for honors is described by the word Nedorosl (undeveloped), a term applied in old times to those who, from
immaturity or bodily defect, were unfit to bear arms.
" The mutual relation of the official and the hereditary
ranks in St. Petersburg seems to be very distinctly marked,
if it be only admitted that a foreigner here can really get
an insight into the social system. But the stranger is sure
to feel immediately the cautious reserve with which the
natives converse with him; and he soon discovers that the
prompt attention and civility which he experiences in
society must be ascribed to the desire to conceal the repugnance felt toward every thing foreign, which it would be
inhospitable to avow. Among themselves, the Russians of
the upper classes are bound together by a feeling of kindred, in consequence of which they never feel quite at ease
but in purely national circles.
"These peculiarities must not be ascribed to the influence
of despotism, nor to any wish to conceal from strangers
the backwardness of the country. They originate in a
positive homogeneousness of disposition, which unites the
Russians as one people, and makes them involuntarily
shrink from contact with a foreigner as from something
heterogeneous. It can not be doubted that, in feeling and
moral sentiments, the Russians differ fundamentally from
the people of Western Europe; and they themselves say
that a stranger must obrusyety-that is, become Russifledbefore he can properly appreciate their national character.
" With respect to the intellectual cultivation of the class
here referred to, it is impossible to make a general estimate
of it, or to describe it in terms universally applicable, for
in this very respect are found the widest differences in the
same rank of life. Naval officers, civilians engaged in the
administration of state, and philosophers by profession,
members of the academy and other public institutions, all
24




370 STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
belong to the privileged class, and meet together as equals.
It were more to the purpose, and more capable of being
done briefly, to explain what they understand by social refinement. Here the national circle is characterized by an
unusual degree of dexterity in the manifold arts of society,
by a correct and practiced sense of outward propriety, and
an extraordinary faculty of quick comprehension, and of
lively repartee, often combined with great felicity of ex,
pression.  On this point previous travelers all agreed,
though they differ most unaccountably on many others.
They are obviously in the wrong, however, when they
ascribe these social gifts to the influence of French manners. The social refinement of the Russians is altogether
of home growth, founded in the moral temperament of
the nation, and plainly indicated in the structure of the
language."
Russia, then, under the external forms of its imperial
government, cherishes a true and most important democratic element, and has succeeded, in a degree surpassing
any other state in Europe, in making merit the basis of
rank and the condition of power. The same result is aimed
at as in free America-to place in office the ablest man;
and if the system is liable to abuse through the almost
unrestrained will of one man, it must also be remembered
that the popular mind makes many and most egregious
mistakes in the selection of its office-bearers.
Russia depends not upon a hereditary and imbecile aristocracy for the operations of her government, but draws
continually fresh life and power from the people at large,
regarding not birth or wealth in its selection, but elevating merit only, and having constantly at its disposal the
intellectual strength of the nation. The stimulus which is
thus infused into the whole mass of Russian society, reaching to even the lowest circles, may thus be readily conceived. An order of merit, an aristocracy of talent, is thus
established, to counteract the paralyzing influence of the
hereditary nobility; and though the man who wins rank




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 371
by merit retains it as hereditary in his family, yet that
family is in turn open to the free competition of those who
continually rise from below.
A'man may hold rank as an empty title, but office and
power are bestowed upon those alone who are thought to'possess fitness and capacity. The liberalizing influence of
such a feature as a nobility of merit can scarcely be estimated, because of the degree to which that word " despotism" has blinded the judgment to the actual facts.
If that government is really the most democratic which
opens freely the door of preferment to actual merit; if that
is most liberal which selects widely from the people those
who appear most capable, and allows among its officers only
that official distinction which has been honestly won by
service performed, then Russia is far more liberal and
democratic than England, which so bitterly condemns her
as despotic and barbarous. The Emperor of Russia need
not hesitate to compare his system with that of England,
and let them both be judged by their fruits. England and
Russia confronted each other at Sebastopol, and there the
world has had a fair opportunity of observing the efficiency of the two governments as they appear in action,
and the sympathy of each with merit, aside from birth and
rank.
Russia, in her hour of peril, sought for her ablest man.
The government asked not how many epaulets were on
his shoulders, or how many stars shone on his bosom, but
whether he had courage, skill, daring, invention-in short,
whether he could defend Sebastopol. Such a man was
found in a mere captain of engineers, and over the heads
of all titled and noble ones he was placed in command of
the defensive works of the beleaguered fortress; and in two
weeks a barrier was erected that France and England could
neither cross nor force, and the whole aspect of modern
war was changed. Nor was this the single example of the
operation of the system. The whole defense, by the reluctant confession of the Allies themselves, had exhibited not
the forced working of mere human machines which had




372 STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
been anticipated, but the most intense intellectual activity,
that has manifested itself in a fertility of resource, a novelty of invention, a skill in the use of means, and a judgment to direct the right thing at the right time, which has
never been surpassed.
It demonstrates the efficiency of that scheme which
avails itself of capacity wherever found, even in the ranks,
and elevates it to the fitting position, and bestows the
proper reward. Such a government reaches democratic
results under the forms of an empire. England, on the
contrary, boasts of her constitutional liberty, of a government regarding the welfare of the people; and calls upon
the world to aid in crippling the tyranny of Russia, and
invokes the sympathy of the nations on behalf of these
down-trodden millions. England called for her men of
rank, of titles, epaulets, and stars; she placed men in the
ranks, and kept them there, whatever their merit. She put
nobles in office, whatever their incapacity, and one titled
imbecile was only displaced to make room for another
equally helpless; and so incapacity and mismanagement
marked every fatal step of her enterprise, and under it the
finest army that England ever equipped miserably and
fruitlessly perished.
Which, then, of these two systems should be denominated a despotism: that which by intrusting the conduct
of affairs to the ablest men wherever they can be found,
which excites and brings into requisition the whole talent
of a country, forming a noble order based upon merit only,
or that which represses and crushes all merit under a
weight of titled shams and decorated imbecilities?  In
true democracy; in opening paths by which the people
may rise; in her appreciation and reward of real merit,
however humble its position; in her disregard of baubles
on a man's coat, or the names of his ancestors, Russia is
far in advance of England, and approximates in this respect the spirit and practice of America. It is not entirely
a misnomer to call Russia a democracy, governed by an




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 373
emperor-England a constitutional monarchy, under the
despotism of an aristocracy.
Another liberalizing influence in the Russian system,
of a most important character, tending strongly to the
elevation of the people, is that municipal system which
embraces so large a portion of the rural population.
Sheltered within these small municipalities, the germs
of national freedom are planted thick throughout the
empire, and they contain the safeguard of the present, and
the promise for the future. This system must be studied
in order to understand the condition of the Russian
peasantry, which has been so widely and utterly misrepresented. The attention of the reader is invited to the
following accounts of these rural communities, the first condensed by the LONDON QUARTERLY from Baron Haxthausen's " Notes:"
"The great feature of the rural system is, that every
head of a peasant family is a member of a commune, and
as such has a right to a portion of land. These village communities, which are found in their most perfect state on the
domains of the crown, have a very regular though complicated organization. At the head of each village is the starosta, who presides over a council called the ten-because, says
the Baron, every ten families are entitled to nominate a
councilor; but we think it more likely, both from the distinctness of the title and its application, and from the fluctuating number of members which must have attended such
a system as the Baron supposes, that the council itself consisted originally of ten persons, and no more. These officers
are all elected annually by the peasants. Their duty is to divide the obrok, which is levied upon the community collectively, among the individual members, according to their
ability; and to distribute any lands which may escheat to
them by the death of the occupiers. They also form a
court for the settlement of local disputes and the punishmenlb of minor offenses; in short, there is perfect self-gov



374 STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
ernment as regards internal matters. Several of these villages form a district, under an officer styled a starchina,
who, with assessors, holds a superior court and levies the
recruits required for the army. He is elected by deputies
sent from the villages within his jurisdiction. A number
of these starchinates again form a volost, under a functionary, also elective, who, with his assessors, presides over a
court possessing higher as well as wider authority. We
think it is impossible not at once to be struck with the
resemblance of this system to that of frankpledge, commonly said to have been founded by Alfred. Our old
tithing was generally coextensive with the modern parish,
and is said to have been so called as containing ten freeholders. Whether this is exactly correct or not may be
doubtful; but certain it is that here, as in Russia, the number ten had something to do with the arrangement; and the
persons, whether ten in fact, or more or fewer, were sureties or free-pledges to the king for the good behavior of
each other. They annually elected a president, called the
tithing-man or headborough, who therefore answered to
the Russian starosta. Ten of these tithings formed a hundred under its bailiff, who, like the starchina, held his hundred-court for the trial of causes. Many of these hundreds
together formed a shire, having, like the volost, its higher
or county court under the Shirereeve, who was formerly, as
mentioned in a statute of Edward the First's reign, (and
exactly as now in Russia), chosen by the inhabitants.
"The condition of the crown peasants has been very
much improved, under Nicholas, by the establishment of
the ministry of domains-the Russian'Woods and Forests'-but said to be more economical in its stewardship
than ours-a question too delicate for journalistic decision.
Its duty embraces a rigid care of all the imperial estates,
but more especially the protection of the poor from  the
extortion of the employees; and this function certainly
seems to.be so discharged that the crown villages are
everywhere the envy of those belonging to private persons.
All the peasants are free to go where they like; and any




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 375
man leaving his village to exercise a trade pays no higher
tribute than his share would have been at home as an unskilled laborer; whereas the nobles generally charge the
out-living mechanic according to their estimate of his earnings. Meantime, the ministry of domains has a sort of
museum of geology, agriculture, and manufactures, at its
office in each province; and in many villages it has established elementary schools for the peasants.  The'Autocrat's' hand is everywhere felt indeed —or, at least, everywhere wished for. By stringent laws-whereon no man
in that region dares to exercise his talent for quibbling, or
any other tricks of evasion —he has prevented the manufacturers from exercising over their people that tyranny
which the Manchester school have imported with their
cotton from the latitude of Louisiana. The sanitary condition of the workshops is matter of most strict surveillance-the truck  system  forbidden-and  every pmaster
forced to provide a hospital, a physician, and a school.
"In some parts the soil is cultivated by quite a different
class from any we have hitherto spoken of: they go by the
name of Polowniki, are perfectly free, and seem to stand
to the owners of the land in nearly the same relation that
our tenant-farmers do. Their existence as a distinct class
may be traced to a very remote period-some antiquaries
say even so far back as the eleventh century. An ukase,
in 1725, declared that, not being serfs, they might go
where they liked, subject to certain regulations; and their
condition was further regulated by an order of the Minister of the Interior, in 1827. Their present tenure seems
to be nearly as follows: The rent consists of half the
harvest-the tenant finding the stock, as also the labor in
the erection of farm-buildings, for which the landlord provides the materials. The length of the leases varies from
six to twenty years, but either party contemplating an
actual dissolution of the connection must give a year's
notice before the expiration of the expressed period."
The English reviewer finds a parallel to this system, as




376  STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
is seen, in the rural institutions of England in the time of
Alfred, which were the germs of the British constitution;
and why, therefore, do they not contain also a guarantee
of the future of Russia? The American reader will at
once perceive a strong resemblance in these " commutnes"
to those New England municipalities, the townships,
which were the nurseries of our intelligence and our liberties. The elevating principle of self-government is imbedded in both, and that is a principle not only of life but
of power.. The second extract is from a writer in HARPER'S MAGAZINE, professing to give the very words of an intelligent
Russian, explaining the process by which emancipation
was going swiftly forward in 1854. The speaker is describing the dawn of freedom for the serfs, which, since he
wrote, they have obtained:
"A reaction commenced at the beginning of the present
century; and, since that time, a system of emancipation
has been silently operating in Russia, to which the world
can show no parallel. In the first year of the century,
Alexander made it a fundamental law of the empire that
no more grants of serfs should be made to any individual
whatever. In the mean time, the extravagance and profligacy of the nobles had passed all bounds. They became
popularly known as Velmoje-' those who say and it is
done.' Their expenditures outran their income, and they
were forced to mortgage their estates. Institutions were
established by the emperor for lending money to these
spendthrifts, at a high rate of interest, secured by mortgages upon their lands and the serfs pertaining to them.
As these mortgages ran out, the crown took possession of
the estates, and the serfs became peasants of the crown.
In the fifteen years just past, the numbers of the peasants
of the crown has increased by a million and a half, notwithstanding the numerous emancipations that have taken
place, while the number of serfs has increased but half a
million. The two classes are now just about equal in




STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 377
numbers; but it is estimated that fully half of the serfs
are mortgaged to the state beyond the hope of redemption.
These must all, within a few years, fall into the possession
of the crown.
"But will they gain any thing by the transfer?  Will
they not still be serfs? They will gain much. Instead of
being subjected to the caprice of individuals, their condition is fixed by general laws and principles, which, in intention at least, operate in their favor. The best evidence
that can be offered of the superior condition of the crown
peasants is the eagerness of the serfs to pass into their
number. It happens not unfrequently that when the government offers for an estate a price less than the proprietors are willing to accept, the serfs join together and pay
the difference, in order that they may pass into the hands
of the state. Even if the system of emancipation goes on
without acceleration, the serfs will be wholly absorbed by
the state within the space of two or three generations.
" The crown peasants are grouped into communities of
two or three thousand souls. The use of the soil belongs
to these communities as a mass, the fee-simple of it being
nominally vested in the crown, and each peasant is charged
an annual obrok, or rent, of ten or twelve rubles. The
whole community is chargeable with the payment of the
obrok and capitation tax of each of its members. Each
commune has a sort of elective assembly, presided over by
the starishina, or mayor, which meets at regular periods,
and has charge of all the internal affairs of the body. It
apportions to each family its due proportion of the land,
collects the taxes, has charge of the distribution of the
recruits among the several families, punishes all petty
offenses, and has jurisdiction over all disputes arising
among the members of the commune. In a word, there
is probably no body of people who have so entire a
control of all their local affairs, with so little interference from the superior authorities, as do the Russian peasants of the crown. It is true, that in the general affairs
of the empire they have no voice; but in all that concerns




378  STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
their every-day life they are untrammeled. The government exercises no control over the movements of the peasants. Any one of them who wishes to leave the place of
his birth can do so by obtaining permission of the commune; and this can not be refused if he is able to make
provision for the performance of his communal duties.
Provided with a certificate from his commune, the whole
empire is open before him without let or hindrance. It is
from this class chiefly that the artisans who flock in such
numbers every summer to St. Petersburg and Moscow are
drawn. They carry on the whole of the extensive interior
commerce of the empire, and find ample space for the
exercise of their wonderful mechanical faculty.
" Thus, within certain narrow limits, the Russian crown
peasant is an absolute freeman. He is, to be sure, subject
to many extortions from rapacious and unprincipled government employees; but the occasions upon which he
comes in contact with these are so few, compared with
those in which the serf of the noble is exposed to the
exactions of his owner and overseers, that his condition
is looked upon with desire by the serfs. This is not the
hopeless longing with which the slave contemplates the
state of his master, or the poor laborer of other lands
regards the lot of those above him. No impassable barrier separates the two classes. The serf knows that in the
natural course of things he or his children will pass into
the class of the peasants of the crown; and the crown
peasant knows that it is the Czar that -has raised him
from the condition of the serf."  That Czar has now liberated them all.
These statements will enable us to form a more accurate
judgment concerning what is called " Russian despotism,"
and all may see who will that a noble future is already
opening before her.
Another powerful agency in liberalizing the spirit of the
Russian government is found in that system of manufactures and commerce which she is so assiduously endeavor



STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 379
ing to establish, and which France and England are as
earnestly striving to repress and destroy, and, thus far, are
making war upon civilization themselves. A barbarous
despotism would be quite unlikely, in the first place, to
conceive such a system, nor could it long exist beneath its
influence when once in successful operation. A commercial and manufacturing state becomes of necessity a highly
civilized one, and intelligence and wealth sweep away at
last the despotic features of the throne.
Just in proportion as the empire succeeds in its new
career will the influence of the people in the government
increase. Nicholas himself shaped the whole policy of his
reign toward the liberalizing of his institutions and the
elevation of his people, and he died regretting that he had
been unable to accomplish more. The emancipation of
twenty'millions of government serfs, which the late emperor had so far accomplished that they considered themselves virtually free, was a vast step toward a complete
change in the condition of the lower peasantry, and that
change has now been nobly wrought by his noble son.
The following account of the criminal system of Russia
was condensed by the LONDON QUARTERLY REVIEW, from
"Haxthausen's Notes on Russia," and was published before the Crimean war:
"Political offenders, who are merely to be kept under
surveillance, live, to all appearances, in the ease of freedom, at WVologda; those whose sins are of a deeper dye
become exiles-that is, go to Siberia. The exiles are removed to their destination in convoys of one hundred or
two hundred, under charge of an escort; and, until the
number is complete, they are kept in a comfortable prison,
well lighted and warmed. While en route, they experience
much kindness from the Russian peasants, who send them
presents of their best food at every resting-place; and, in
large towns, the excess of such contributions over what
they can consume is so great that it is sold to buy them
better clothing. Before starting, the convicts are inspected




380  STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
by a surgeon, and those who are unable to walk are put
in carriages; of the others, every two men carry a chain
of four or five pounds weight. They only walk fifteen
miles a day, and every third day they rest. Wives are
allowed, and expected, to accompany their husbands. The
journey lasts seven months. In the Asiatic part of it the
comforts are not on the same scale, and there is often great
mortality; between 1823 and 1832 it amounted to about
one-fifth, and the average number of exiles was ten thousand a year. On arrival, the worst subjects are sent to the
mines; and, in former times, they hardly ever again saw
daylight; but, by the present emperor's regulation, they are
not kept underground more than eight hours a day, and
on Sunday all have undisturbed freedom. Those of a less
heinous stamp are employed on public works for some
time, and then allowed to become colonists. The least
serious offenders are at once settled as colonists in Southern Siberia, and thenceforth may be considered as quite
free, except that they can not quit their location. In such
a soil and climate, with industry, they may, within two or
three years, find themselves established in good houses of
their own, amid fields supplying every want of a rising
family. It is asserted that the young people reared in
these abodes turn out, on the whole, of most respectable
character, and are associated with, accordingly, on the
kindest terms by neighbors of other classes-especially the
peasants of native Siberian race, who, by thle way, are all
entirely free, and many of them very rich. The only drawback to this paradise arises from the recent and rapidlyincreasing production of gold, which is said to have already
done considerable harm to morals. Let us hope that the
Arcadian simplicity of Van Diemen's Land will escape the
similar pollution threatened it by the vicinity of Port
Philip.
" A model prison at Odessa is described as greatly more
successful than any we know of nearer home. It contains,
we are told, seven hundred criminals, who all work at different trades, their earnings being either applied to pro



STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT. 381
moting their comfort while in durance, or given them to
start in an honest life with, on their emancipation. On
entering the prison they wear a chain; but, on good behavior-very generally within three months-they walk
the streets without it. They are allowed to go out to work
for private individuals, under the direction of one of the
best-conducted prisoners, and are constantly employed to
put out fires, yet have scarcely ever been accused of stealing on such occasions. After ten years a full pardon is
very often granted; in fact, not one-tenth of the whole
number are detained beyond that period, and, on its expiry, many obtain small offices under government."
This is abundantly confirmed by the statements of Erman,
as the following quotation will show:
"Among the various tales circulated in Western Europe
respecting Siberia, may be reckoned the statement that
the exiles of this or some other description are obliged to
hunt the sable or other fur animals. But, in truth, it is
only in the Uralian mines and those of Nerchinsk, and in
certain manufactories, that persons condemned to forced
labor are ever seen; and several of the rioters whom we
saw here in Beresov had already served a year of punishment in Nerchinsk. All the rest, and the great majority
of the Russian delinquents, are condemned only to settle
abroad; and, if they belong to the laboring classes, to support themselves-yet, with this consolation, that, instead
of being serfs as heretofore, they become in all respects as
free as the peasants of Western Europe. Political offenders, however, who belong, in Russia as elsewhere, generally to the upper classes, or those not used to manual labor,
are allowed to settle only in the towns of Siberia, because
the support allowed them by the government can thus reach
them more easily.
"I have often heard Russians, who were intelligent and
reflecting men, mention as a paradox which hardly admits
of an explanation, that the peasants condemned to become




382 STRUCTURE AND WORKING OF RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.
settlers, all, without exception, and in a very short time,
change their habits, and lead an exemplary life; yet it is
certain that the sense of the benefit conferred on them by
the gift of personal freedom is the sole cause of this conversion. Banishment, subservient to colonization, instead
of close imprisonment, is, indeed, an excellent feature in
the Russian code; and though the substitution of forced
labor in mines for the punishment of death may be traced
back to Grecian examples, yet the improving of the offender's condition, by bestowing on him personal freedom, is
an original as well as an admirable addition of a Russian
legislator."
The authority of these statements is not to be disputed,
and they show conclusively that whatever the condition of
Russia once was, her criminal system, under the enlightened direction of Nicholas, was so modified as to compare
favorably with that of any other state of Europe, and perhaps surpasses any in the number which it reforms and
restores to society and to usefulness.




RUSSIA AS SHE NOW IS, AND HER PROBABLE FUTURE. 383
CH APT ER XXXIV.
RUSSIA AS SHE NOW IS, AND HER PROBABLE FUTURE.
IT is hoped that Americans will not feel that too much
time and space are here occupied with the character, resources, and policy of the great Northern Empire, and the
treatment which it has received from those "Allies" who
have lately undertaken to settle our American affairs.
Russia, among all the powers of earth, has remained true
to us in our hour of trial. For many years her friendship
for us has been increasing; she felt deeply, and is still
grateful for American sympathy in her own great struggle
with France and England; and, because of common perils
from a common enemy, and from many points of resemblance in our national resources, capabilities, and policy,
the Great Empire of the East and the Great Republic of
the West are very likely to be not only friendly, but
allied powers in the not remote future.
The causes which have brought Russia and America into
sympathy are not events which pass and leave no trace
behind. The drawing together of these two nations is one
of the mighty movements whose influence sweeps over
centuries. The Russian fleet anchored in our harbors, the
enthusiastic welcome given to its officers, the time of this
*significant meeting, the joy with which it thrilled all Russia, these things are solemn prophesies of the future.
Those who have regarded this as an empty "flirtation,"
while America, as they think, longs only for an alliance




384 RUSSIA AS SHE NOW IS, AND HER PROBABLE FUTURE.
with England, mistake both the temper of our own people
and the signs of the times.
The United States desire peace with England, if she will
do us justice; but Americans have been forced, by her own
conduct, into a position where they regard her good opinion far less than ever before.
They know her power, and yet they do not fear her, and
are by no means, at present, in a mood to court her favor.
Great Britain must wipe out not only the stain, but the
memory of her conduct in this rebellion, before the United
States will seek her favor. But there are no wounds to
heal which Russia has made; there is no bitterness in the
memories of the past. The friendship first formed has
been growing stronger from the beginning, and events indicate that it will reach far into the future; and, whether we
look at Russia as she now is, or consider what she soon will
be, we may be thankful that we may count upon the friendship of such a power, both in our present conflict and in
the severe struggles which apparently await us in almost
the immediate future.
Russia stands now before the world with every element
from which to construct the most powerful empire that has
yet arisen on earth, not even excepting Rome, for her civilization springs from the nobler and intenser life of Christianity; and possessing already the mightiest political and
religious organizations of the world, she is just starting
upon a new career, with every advantage gained from modern progress. She is the head and representative of the
great Sclavonic race, which, even in Poland, would rally to
her, were not the people held back by the aristocracy, very
much as the people of the South have, by the slaveholders, been brought into a war with the Government. She is
the sole life-power in that Sclavonic civilization in which is
bound up the destiny of a hundred millions of people.
Her national Church is the grand life-center of almost a
hundred millions bearing the Christian name, and these can
be brought to the true Christian life only through the instrumentality of Russia. They must all be reheaded under




RUSSIA AS SHE NOW IS, AND HER PROBABLE FUTURE. 385
her, if the fragments are ever gathered. Beyond any other
nation, Russia is penetrated by the religious life. Whatever we may think of the spirituality of that religion, it is
the controlling power of the State; it is, indeed, the soul
of the political body.
The Czar is reverenced, not so much as a political officer,
a mere emperor, as the religious head and father of the
people. He rules rather as the head of the Church than as
the governor of the State; and this fact alone may show
us what measureless power there is in a nation numbering
seventy or eighty millions, bound, by religious enthusiasm,
to one personal leader.
Russia presents, too, the noblest moral spectacle of modern times. Foremost among all nations, she, who has been
denounced as the barbarian despotism, steps forth the champion of human rights, investing, at once, some twenty-five
millions of serfs with all the ennobling rights and responsiT
bilities of citizenship, and then changing an absolute mnonarchy into a constitutional kingdom; and it proves both
the strength and the value of the government, that these
vast changes have been wrought without bloodshed or serious commotion. These two great acts inaugurate for Russia a new era; they prove that, in truly liberal ideas, in
measures intended to elevate the working people, she is in
advance of every nation in Europe, not even excepting
England; that a spirit pervades her like that which is liberating our own laborers, and that a new-born life, energy,
and enterprise are quickening the whole mass of the Russian nation-a life in character, activity, and aims, closely
resembling our own.
The emancipation act and the new constitution are the
sure prophesies of her magnificent future.  Russ'ia and
America are both passing through a revolution which will
place the future greatness of both on the same basis, and
that an immovable one-a working population of landholders. The change which is being effected in the South by
the breaking up of the great estates, and placing them in
the hands of the laborers, and the operation of our home25




386 RUSSIA AS SHE NOW IS, AND HER PROBABLE FUTURE.
stead law, are doing for America precisely what the emancipation of the serfs is doing for Russia. In both nations
the workers will own the land to a far greater extent than
in any other country of the world, and will make them
true democracies, whatever the name of the government
may be.
The new freemen of Russia are already purchasing small
farms, all over the empire, and the government assists them
by loaning them money, and cherishes, in all ways, the new
national life. The increased value of the lands of the Russian Empire is already beyond calculation, and improvements are rapidly going forward on all sides. The new
wants of the people are giving a new impulse to manufactures and internal trade, steamboats are multiplying on her
net-work of rivers, and the whole nation feels the throb of
an intenser life. Her nobles, who formerly spent their
time and money abroad, are now living on their estates,
anxious to assist in the general improvement of their
country.
Before emancipation, such a thing as a day-school was
scarcely known among the peasants; but since, in the short
space of two years, more than eight thousand have been
established, and this shows how quickly educational institutions of all grades will be established throughout the
land. - Their eagerness to learn is like that of our own
freedmen, and, as there is no prejudice of color or race to
overcome, the serfs being Russians, it is easy to see, that, in
a short time, all traces of former condition will disappear,
and, in every sense, the population of Russia will be a
homogeneous body, animated by one national life. The
New Testament is being circulated among the people at
twelve cents per copy, and it is intended that the religious
life of Russia shall keep pace with her material development.
This robust, expansive Sclavonic life is applying its energies to a territory that, in Europe, stretches from the
Baltic to the Black Sea, with an eastern frontier which is
floating on toward India, and with a valley, on the north




RUSSIA AS SHE NOW IS, AND HER PROBABLE FUTURE. 387
of China, nearly equal to that of the Mississippi, opening
upon the Pacific, and traversed by a navigable river more
than two thousand miles long; a position which, in spite
of Western Europe, will give her a controlling influence
over China, Japan, and the whole East Indian Archipelago.
Her past history, her present irrepressible aspirations, her
Asiatic character, her relations to the Greek Church, all
point steadily to the occupation of Constantinople, the
removal of Mohammedanism from the line of her march,
and then, with her navy on the Baltic, on the Euxine and
Dardanelles, and the Pacific, with her boundless resources,
her hundred millions of people elevated by free institutions,
and quickened by friendly contact with our American life,
with a national Church coextensive with her territory, and
that Church giving already signs of spiritual resurrection,
why should not Russia recover that Eastern empire, and
become the regenerator of Asia?
Such is the nation which proposes to join hands with our
Republic, and walk with us into the nobler future which is
opening before the nations. Her firm friendship has helped
to save us from foreign intervention, and common sympathies and common dangers may bind us still more closely
hereafter.




388  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
CHAPTER XXXV.
ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, AND PROSPECTS.
THE statements which have been presented, drawn from
sources with which the mass of the people are probably not
familiar, will enable them to form more accurate opinions
than have hitherto prevailed in regard to the great nation
which alone, among all European powers, is likely to remain our friend, and, perhaps, become our ally in the
stormy future upon which the world is entering.
It is equally important that Americans should be able to
measure accurately the condition, power, and resources of
those who have combined to hinder our progress, and cripple our power; who have striven, by all means short of
actual war, to make the rebellion a success, and thereby
ruin the Republic here, and the cause of free institutions in
Europe. We ought to know what ability France and England have for attack, in order to compare with it our own
power for offensive or defensive war. For this purpose it
is proposed, first, to study the condition of England.
Great Britain must be judged, not alone by her present
position and power, but by her elements of permanent prosperity, be they few or many, which may enable her to maintain her present supremacy in competition with other
nations, and especially with Russia and America, in the
new career upon which these are entering now. England
will probably find, when too late, that, in attacking Russia
and the United States, she has provoked a struggle from




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ~TC.  389
which neither party can recede, until it is determined
whether she, with France, can dictate to the world; and, if
she discovers that the conflict involves either a change in
her institutions, or a surrender of her national life, she
must remember that the issue is one which she made up
and presented herself. It has not been forced upon her
either by Russia or America.
What, then, are the elements of her power and sources
of her life, and what does her present condition indicate for
the future? The first essential element of enduring national greatness is a home territory sufficient for the support
of the population of a first-class power. Where this is wanting there can not be a great independent nation; there can
not be one mighty homogeneous body of population, whose
life and power of growth are derived from a common
center, and from which center continuous lines of attachment and interlacing bonds spread over the whole nation,
like the nerves and veins of the living body. This requires
one undivided theater of national growth and activity,
broad enough to bear up the social and political structure.
There may be, without these, a greatness derived from separated colonial territories, a manufacturing and commercial
greatness and power, enduring or temporary, according to
circumstances; but the territory of a nation, its extent and
quality, must, in the end, be the measure of its power.
Of course, territory alone can not insure national power;
but, if one nation has a domain which will support a home
population of twenty-five millions only, and another holds
land enough to maintain one hundred millions, and is equal
in all other advantages, the latter has elements of power
four times greater than the former, nor would distant colonial possessions make up the deficiency of territory at home.
These colonies, while they can be held simply as tributaries, may increase the wealth and power of the home government through its manufactures and commerce; but, in
the end, prosperous colonies throw off the yoke of bondage,
and new nations spring up to compete for the commerce of
the world.




390   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
What, then, is the condition and prospect of England in
regard to this point? What are the foundations of her national structure, and what are her prospects in rivalry with,
or hostility to, Russia and America, for the next quarter of
a century?
England, Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, together, have a
territory of about one hundred and twelve thousand square
miles. This constitutes the whole home territory of Great
Britain. It is less than that occupied by our three States
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and less than half the size
of Texas. England, alone, is not quite as large as the single State of Alabama.
The arable land of England is estimated at only twentyeight millions of acres, which is less than the estimated
arable land in the single State of Illinois. While the home
territory of Great Britain is about one hundred and twelve
thousand square miles, that of the United States is about
three millions of square miles, all in one body, and which,
by navigable rivers, lakes, railways, and coast-line navigation, can be controlled by one people and one central government.
These numbers form the proper basis of comparison between the United States and England which reach into the
future, though they are by no means indications of their
present relative strength.  But such comparisons will be
truthful guides in the future, because the time is not distant when Great Britain will lose the control of every one
of her principal colonies, and our present war is consolidating our people into one American nation, whose life is vigorous enough to extend over a continent. England, at no
very distant period, must rest her power upon the resources
of her home empire, competing as she may with the rest
of the world for the trade of her present colonies.
England is almost a miracle of energy and power; she is
the most wonderful product, thus far, of modern civilization, and no American should desire to diminish aught of
her proper glory; but, when she proposes to interfere with
our private affairs, when she seems to desire our ruin, and




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  391
gives her sympathies to our bitterest enemies, and forms
alliances to hinder our progress, and holds herself in a
threatening attitude, it will do us no harm to remember
that, ere this century closes, she will see here a hundred
millions of people, who will be at least her equal in every
thing pertaining either to peace or war, and outnumbering
her nearly three to one.
On this territory of one hundred and twelve thousand
square miles, Great Britain has twenty-nine millions of
inhabitants, averaging, for the whole surface, two hundred
and fifty-eight persons. It is evident, therefore, if we regard the land as a basis, the British Empire has reached the
limit of growth, and, indeed, has passed that limit, unless
her great estates are divided, for one-third of her population is, even. now, fed from foreign countries. Her power
to maintain her present rank among nations, and even her
ability to keep her population from starving, depend upon
her being able to supply the markets of the world with her
fabrics, and retain her position as the chief factor of the
world's commerce. Should other nations succeed in competing with her on this, her chosen field, her political
supremacy would at once be stricken down. Hence her
extreme anxiety in regard to the progress of Russia and
America, and her attempts to put them down by force, when
she fears that they will not only manufacture for themselves, instead of buying from her, but will become her
rivals in the great markets of the world.
The LONDON QUARTERLY, for July, 1861, thus sets forth
those fears which were the real motives for the attack on
Russia, and for the hostile attitude of England toward the
United States:
"The policy which the Czar has marked out for himself appears for the present to be the consolidation of
his empire and the encouragement of foreign trade, as
forming the basis of that maritime greatness which is a
traditional object of Russian ambition.  Whenever the
mercantile and maritime development of Russia shall be




392   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
in any degree proportioned to its colossal empire, it is
impossible that such a country should not become an object of apprehension to all independent States.
"England has immense interests at stake in the maintenance of her commercial ascendency in the East; and if
Russia should ever acquire the power to control British
trade, or become a successful competitor for the supply of
the principal markets of Asia, a heavy blow will have
been struck at our political greatness."
The leading article in the NORTH BRITISI, for May, 1863,
reveals very clearly what gigantic specters are terrifying the
people of England —one in the East and the other in the
West.  The writer turns, first, to Russia, with intense
alarm, with visions of Cossacks quartered in the capitals
of Europe, but comforts himself with the prediction that
the Russian Empire can not long be held together; she
will, undoubtedly, he says, be disintegrated, and Europe
will be relieved from terror.
He then turns to the Republican specter of the West.
English thinkers have just begun to get glimpses of the
real significance of this war, and the revolution through
which we are passing. They begin to perceive that this
rebellion forms the transition stage from a Confederacy of
States to a true American Nationality. They see that the
people are determined to form, now, one consolidated American Nation.  This vision of an American Nation has
frightened England from her propriety. This, above all
things, she dreads, and, to prevent it, she hastens with all
aid and sympathy to the side of the Rebels; hastens to
send fleets with Enfield muskets, rifled cannon, and mans,
and arms, and sends forth piratical ships, under the Rebel
flag, to plunder and burn our ships. An American Nation
controlling this American continent is a thing not to be
endured.
The writer in the NORTH BRITISH comforts himself, and
quiets his fears, first of all, by declaring that such a thing
can not be.




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  393
"Fully may it be granted, and religiously may it be
believed, that large purposes in the world's future are, in
the divine intention, to be accomplished for and by the
nations of the North American continent. Nor need the
boldest speculations on this ample field be restricted or
suppressed. But when this liberty of speculation has been
granted-sobriety barely listened to-then there comes in
a question of momentous import, which may thus be
worded: Shall the destinies of the North American nations be accomplished, and the divine purposes thereto
relating fulfilled, by the means of a one all-grasping, allabsorbing empire, doing its ruthless pleasure from the
Mexican Gulf to the Arctic regions-from the sea-board of
the Atlantic to the sea-board of the Pacific Ocean?-shall
it, indeed, be thus that the same Hand which long ago scattered the nations from the plains of Babylon and Nineveh,
will be seen favoring an enterprise of the same quality, in
these last times? A negative answer to a question of this
sort must, we think, commend itself to all calm minds, on
whatever grounds it is argued-whether the reliyious aspect of the question be regarded, or that of political or
philosophical speculation. It shall not be that the destinies of the nations of the North American continent will
be worked out under the administrative hand of a Nebuchadnezzar."
He then goes on, prophetically, to declare "the inevitable and not remote disintegration of the hitherto United
States."  Not quite satisfied that he has laid this specter
yet, he proceeds to say: "It is nothing but a dream, after
all. We might stop short of formal prediction, and might
affirm, on the premises given us, that this gigantic North
American Empire which haunts the dreams of loyal Americans is a dream, and can never be a reality."
He then kindly invites us to " disinteyrate" for the benefit of the world, and England in particular, and intimates
that, if we do not, God will probably " come down " and destroy us, as he overthrew Babel, the city and tower of old.




394  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"Disintegration, gracefully accepted, timely submitted
to, and wisely turned to account, is the call of Providence
audibly addressed to the people of the United States at
this moment. We say it is the call of Providence; and
this phrase brings with it a train of thought which we do
not propose to pursue; or thus far only to follow it. On
all grounds of secular calculation, the gorgeous phantom
of an empire, stretched from ocean to ocean, which now
rules the American mind as a frenzy, is, as we think, demonstrably an absurdity: no such mad scheme shall ever
be realized. But turn now to another side of the subject.
If at all the ways of God toward the human family, so far
as these are known to history, may be understood and
interpreted —and if there be a visible overruling of human
affairs-this intervention of Heaven, this' coming down of
the Lord to see the city and the tower,' has been repeated
from age to age-in Asia, in Europe-in the most remote
times, in times quite recent; and always it has occurred
at moments when some vast conception of boundless empire and irresistible despotism has been proclaimed, and
boasted of, and has seemed near to be realized. At such
critical moments a voice from on high has been heard,'It
shall not be.' The instances need not here be named; but,
among all these instances, not one can be mentioned that
carries upon its front, as this latest instance does, the character of a national delirium."
These English terrors, these fits of shivering apprehension at the growth of Russia and America, afford a completely satisfactory clue to the meaning of the Alliance,
the invasion of the Crimea, and the present hostility to
the United States —the hitherto United States, as the NORTH
BRITIsH delights to call us.
These things show at once the fears and perils of England. She knows that, if Russia and America become
great manufacturing nations, with a commercial marine
and navy proportioned to their power in other respects,
her own supremacy will be gone. She will be tempted to




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  395
make desperate efforts before she will yield her present
place of pride, and hence our own continual danger. She
will watch for our overthrow. She will ruin us if she can.
Let us, then, turn again to the study of her condition and
resources.
Russia and America are both pursuing a true democratic
policy in regard to their lands. They are putting them,
as rapidly as possible, into the hands of the people. The
Russian freedmen are rapidly buying them homes, the government loaning them money for the purpose, while our
homestead law gives every man who wishes it a farm.
America and Russia are being occupied by a land-owning
yeomanry, the true basis of national power, stability, and
growth. England is pursuing the exactly opposite policy.
She is depriving her people everywhere of land, and forcing them downward to the condition of serfs, from which
her agricultural laborers are, even now, but a step removed.
Alison, writing thirty-one years ago, says there were
then four millions of land proprietors in France, while
there were not three hundred thousand in Great Britain
and Ireland. In France, he says, "the proprietors are as
numerous as the other members of the State; in England
they hardly amount to one-tenth part of their number."
This was thirty-one years ago. Investigations made
since, show that even this estimate of Mr. Alison is much
too high.
In the Rev. H. Worsley's Essay on Juvenile Depravity,
quoted by Kay in his Social Condition of the English
People, it is stated, that all the lands of England are in
the hands of thirty-two thousand proprietors. This one
amazing fact, all the lands of England in the hands of
only thirty-two thousand men, is quite sufficient to account
for the perfect sympathy between the English aristocracy
and the Southern slaveholders, and also for the shocking
condition of the English laborers, as described by Mr.
_Kay. England, alone, contains some eighteen millions of
people, only thirty-two thousand of whom own a foot of
land; and the destructive process of diminishing the num



396   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
her of estates, of bringing the land into still fewer hands,
is yet going swiftly forward.
The English system, then, is precisely that of the slaveholding South, which brings all the lands, and all the other
wealth of the country, into the hands of a few, and reduces the laborers to slaves, or a condition but little better
than slavery, even in England, as her own writers have
fully shown.
The EDINBURGH REVIEW, for January, 1860, in an article
on British Taxation, states, that at least three-fourths of
the population of the United Kingdom  belong to the
working classes; that is, to those who live by wages. By
working classes in England is not meant those who are
working, as in America, on their own farms, but who are
hired in some form to capital-who live by wages.
The present condition of these laborers, the people of
England, is set forth by Joseph Kay, Esq., who was commissioned by the Senate of Cambridge University, England, to travel through Western Europe, to examine the
comparative social condition of the poorer classes of the
different countries.
His chapters on England have lately been published by
Harper & Brothers, and his statements will show us the
condition of the people of England, and from this it is
easy to understand both the strength and the weakness of
Great Britain, and know the real nature of that haughty
power whose hostility we are compelled to meet. Of her
twenty-nine millions of inhabitants, nearly twenty-two
millions are hired laborers, and one appointed to investigate the subject has given us the results of his inquiry.
The first facts relate to the rapid decrease of small
farms, the increase of the large estates, and the effect
which this produces upon the laboring classes. Mr. Kay
says:
"I was in Westmoreland for some time, during the autumn of 1849, and I took great pains to discover the
present condition of the last survivors of these small pro



ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  397
prietors. I can not describe it better than by giving the
words of a gentleman of great intelligence and of conservative principles, who is engaged in the management
of some of the largest estates in Westmoreland and Cumberland. He resides in that part of the country, and is
interested in opposing the system of peasant proprietors.
There are obvious reasons why I can not mention this
gentleman's name. He said to me:
"'The greater proprietors in this part of the country
are buying up all the land they can get hold of, and including it in their settlements. Whenever one of the
small estates is put up for sale, the great proprietors outbid the peasants, and purchase it at all costs. The consequence is, that, for some time past, the number of the small
estates held by the peasants has been rapidly diminishing
in all parts of the country. In a short time none of them
will remain, but all will be merged in the great estates.
While this has been going on, the great landowners have
been also increasing very considerably the size of the farms.
The smaller farms have been united, in order to form great
farms out of them. So that, not only is it becoming more
and more difficult every day for a peasant to buy land in
this part of the country, but it is also gradually becoming
impossible for him to obtain even a leasehold farm. The
consequence is, that the peasant's position, instead of being what it once was, one of hope, is gradually becoming
one of despair. Unless a peasant emigrates, there is now
no chance for him. It is impossible for him to rise above
the peasant class.
"' All this I believe to be a great evil. I have lived all
my life among these people, and I believe that the old
system of small estates was one which did the greatest possible good to the peasants. It stimulated them to exertion,
self-denial, and sobriety, by affording them  a chance of
obtaining a farm of their own; and, when they had obtained one, it made them interested in the careful cultivation of the soil, in the preservation of public order, and
in the general prosperity of the country.




398  ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"'Besides all this, the situation and duties of a small
landowner were in themselves an excellent education to
the small proprietor. He had many things to do and
think of, with reference to county rates, poor rates, police,
markets, agriculture, the effects of national proceedings on
prices and on taxation, and the seasons. All this was as
interesting to the peasants, and as improving to them, as
it is to our country gentlemen, and it made up, in great
measure, for the want of good schools and good instruction. But all the effect of this education of circumstance
is now being done away. The situation of the peasant is
becoming one void of hope, and of all improving influences whatever.'
"As the Rev. IHenry Worsley says:'The laborer's hope
of rising in the world is a forlorn one. There is no graduated ascent up which the hardy aspirant may toil step by
step with patient drudgery. Several rounds in the ladder
are broken away and gone. A farm of some hundred
acres, requiring for their due cultivation a large capital,
would be a day-dream too gaudy ever to mix itself with
the visions of the most ambitious laborer, earning, on an
average, probably less than nine shillings a week. The
agricultural workman's horizon is bounded by the high
red-brick walls of the union-house: his virtual marriage
settlement can only point to such a refuge if troubles
arise: his old age may there have to seek its last shelter.'*
" What is the effect of all this? Why, that the millions
in England and Wales fancy that they have nothing to
lose and every thing to gain by political changes, and that;
instead of our institutions being based upon the conservatism of the masses, they are only based upon the conservatism of the few. So that we have really much more
reason than any other country to dread the growth of
democracy.
"Besides the depressing and demoralizing effect of our
system of monopoly of land upon the peasants, another
* Essay on Juvenile Depravity, p. 54.




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  399
great evil which results from our English system of great
and few farms, and great and few estates, is, that it drives
vast numbers of the young peasants, and of the younger
sons of farmers, into the manufacturing towns, and, by
overstocking their labor markets, renders it more and more
difficult every year for the small shopkeepers and laborers of these towns to make a livelihood amid the everincreasing competition around them.
"Let us look this-evil more fully in the face. An active and enterprising son of a farmer sees that there is no
chance of his ever getting a farm in his native parish, or
of his ever purchasing or even renting a small plot of
land, or of his ever rising above the rank of a farm laborer, earning eight or nine shillings a week. The only
opening left for such a young man, if he would climb
above the lowest rank in the social scale-the peasant's
position-is, either to go and seek his fortune in one of
our colonies, or in one of our towns. There are many
such young men, who can not persuade themselves to
break off the ties of home and kindred, and to leave their
native country, but who feel compelled to leave their native villages. All such crowd to the great manufacturing
towns of England. The peasants go, to seek labor as
operatives or artisans; the sons of the farmers go, to endeavor to establish shops or taverns. What is the result?
The labor market in the manufacturing towns is constantly overstocked; the laborers and shopkeepers find
new and eager competitors constantly added to the list;
competition in the towns is rendered unnaturally intense,
profits and wages are both unnaturally reduced; the town
work-houses and the town jails are crowded with inmates;
the inhabitants are overburdened with rates, and the towns
swarm with paupers and misery.
"I know not what others may think, but to me it is a
sad and grievous spectacle, to see the enormous amount
of vice and degraded misery which our towns exhibit, and
then to think that we are doing all we can to foster and
stimulate the growth and extension of this state of things




400   ENGLAND — HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
by that system of laws which drives so many of the peasants of both England and Ireland to the towns, and increases the already vast mass of misery by so doing.
"I speak with deliberation when I say, that I know no
spectacle so degraded, and, if I may be allowed to use a
strong word, so horrible, as the back streets and suburbs
of English and Irish towns, with their filthy inhabitants;
with their crowds of half-clad, filthy, and degraded children, playing in the dirty kennels; with their numerous
gin-palaces, filled with people, whose hands and faces show
how their flesh is, so to speak, impregnated with spirituous liquors-the only solaces, poor creatures, that they
have!-and with poor young girls, whom a want of religious training in their infancy, and misery, has driven to
the most degraded and pitiful of all pursuits."
The first result of such a state of affairs is sufficiently
startling. In England and Wales alone, exclusive of Ireland, there are two millions of paupers, and this number is
continually increasing. The number of paupers in England
and Wales is about one in eight of the whole population.
Of the whole population of Great Britain and Ireland,
about three millions are said to be paupers, or on the verge
of pauperism.  Certainly, it would seem that a country
whose political system is reducing its laborers to the condition of serfs and paupers, can not have a perpetual lease
of national existence in its present form. Its prosperity
rests not on the welfare of the masses, but in the wealth
of a class, whose riches have been wrung from the earnings of the many.
The reader should bear in mind that the statements
which follow are the results of a widely-extended official
inquiry, and that they relate not to isolated cases, but to
whole classes of laborers, and in all parts of the country,
and presented, as they have been, from a great number of
independent witnesses, may be received as representing correctly the general condition of the working classes of Great
Britain; and it is hoped that the laboring people of this




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  401
country will earnestly study this subject, and ponder these
facts, and thus learn to value more than ever the free institutions of our land, by which those who produce the
wealth of the state are duly rewarded, instructed, and elevated, instead of being forced down by an aristocracy, as
in England, to the condition of paupers and serfs, while
bearing the empty name of freemen.. The first question
which it is proposed to consider is,
ARE THE LABORERS OF GlREAT ]BRITAIN EDUCATED?
This question is thus answered, by the latest investigations of Englishmen themselves, in statements copied from
Mr. Kay's Report, who gives the authorities upon which
he relies.
"I will give a short summary of the present state of
primary education in England and Wales, as collected from
the reports of Her Majesty's Inspectors, of the Commissioners of Inquiry in Wales, of the National Society, of the Statistical Society, and of the city mission; from Mr. Redgrave's reports from some very able articles in the NORTH
BRITISH REVIEW, and from numerous personal inquiries in
various parts of England and Wales:
" 1. It has been calculated that there are, at the present
day, in England and Wales, nearly 8,000,000 persons who
can not read and write.
"2. Of all the children in England and Wales, between
the ages of five and fourteen, more than the half are not
attending any school.
"3. Even of the class of the farmers, there are great
numbers who can not read and write.
" 4. Even of those children of the poor who have received
some instruction, very few know any thing of geography,
history, science, music, or drawing. Their instruction in
the village schools has hitherto generally consisted of nothing more than a little practice in reading, writing, and
Scripture history.
26




402  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"5. Of the teachers who are officiating in many of the
village schools, there are many who can not read and
write correctly, and who know very little of the Bible,
which they profess to explain to their scholars.
"6. A very great part of our present village and towfischools are managed by poor and miserably-instructed
dames, who thus seek to make a livelihood, and who literally do no good to the children, except it be keeping
them, for a certain number of hours in the day, out of
the dirt and out of worse society.
"' 7. Many of these dame-schools are so wretchedly managed, as to do the children a very great deal more harm
than good-by uniting miserable associations with the
sacred writings, and with the subjects of the wretched
instruction given in these schools.
" 8. Very many of our town-schools are held in small
and unventilated cellars or garrets, where the health of the
children is seriously impaired.
" 9. If we except only the worst part of the dame-schools,
we have not even then one-half as many school-buildings
as we require for the present numbers of our population.
"10. By far the greatest part of our school-buildings
have only one room, in which all the classes are instructed
together, in the midst of noise and foul air.
" 11. Many of our present school-rooms have no forms
and no parallel desks-both of which are to be found in
every school-room throughout Western Europe; and in
all such schools the children are kept standing the whole
day.
"12. Very few of our school-rooms are properly supplied
with maps, books, or school-apparatus.
"13. The majority of our town-schools have no playgrounds; and, in all these cases, the children are turned
out into the streets during the hours of recreation.
"14. Scarcely any schools throughout the country have
more than two class-rooms; the classification of the children is, therefore, very deficient, and the instruction is
thereby much impaired.




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  403
"15. Very few schools have more than one teacher.
"16. Great numbers of parishes and districts throughout
England and Wales have no school-room at all, and no
place in which their children can be instructed.
"17. Of these latter districts, many are too poor or too
careless to raise any thing toward the erection of schoolbuildings; and in none of these cases does the Committee of Council give any assistance.
"18. In many other districts, the inhabitants are so divided in religious opinions, that they find it impossible to
act in concert in providing for the education of their children; and in these cases the Committee of Council renders
no assistance.
"19. In most of our schools it is necessary, in order to
provide salaries for the teacher and funds for the support
of the school, to charge from 2d. to 4d. a week per head for
the instruction of scholars. This absolutely excludes the
children of all paupers, and of all poor persons, who can
not afford to pay so much out of their small earnings;
while, throughout the greatest part of Western Europe,
the education afforded in the primary schools is quite gratuitous.' 20. There is no public provision for the proper payment and maintenance of our teachers, and these latter are,
therefore, generally placed in so very humiliating and dependent a position, as in many cases virtually to prevent
any man of ability and education from accepting such an
office.
" 21. A great part of our village teachers are only poor,
uneducated women, or poor men who are not fit for any
other office or employment, and who are themselves miserably educated.
"22. In proportion to our population, we have scarcely
one-fourth part as many colleges for the instruction of
teachers as any of the countries of Western Europe, and
not one-fourth part as many as are necessary for the education of a sufficient number of teachers for our poor.
"23. In nearly all the few colleges we have established




404   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
for the instruction of teachers, the education is very limited and meager in its character, as these colleges depend
upon voluntary aid, and can not afford to give the students
more than a year's or eighteen months' training; while
throughout Western Europe the teachers receive three years'
training in the teachers' colleges at the expense of the
government.
"24. The colleges we have established are so poor that
they can not afford to support nearly so large and complete a staff of teachers and professors as are to be found
in almost all the teachers' colleges throughout Western
Europe.
"25. A great part of our schools and teachers are never
visited by any public inspector, or by any private person,
or committee of persons, from the year's beginning to the
year's end. In many of these cases, bad teachers are left
to do great injury to their scholars, unchecked and unheard
of; and, in many other cases, good and able teachers are
left, without encouragement or advice, to labor on-unknown, disheartened, and alone.
" 26. In most of our schools, owing to the teacher either
not having been trained at all, or not having been educated for a long enough time in a college, the methods of
teaching are miserable and ridiculous. The noise in the
school-rooms is often so great that it is with difficulty that
any individual can make himself heard. The children are
often kept standing the greater part of the day, and are
wearied beyond endurance, so that the lessons, and all the
associations connected with the subjects of instruction, are
rendered hateful ever afterward. The highest religious
subjects are thus often made odious to the children, who,
during their after life, avoid as much as possible recurring
to what awakens so many disagreeable recollections. In
most of our schools there is little or no attempt to interest the children in their studies, or to teach them to think
or reason. The instruction is mere parrot work. They
are taught by rote, and forget again almost as soon as they
have left the school.




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  405
"27. Great numbers of the school-buildings in the more
remote country districts are of the most wretched and miserable character.
" An idea of some of these may be formed from the following descriptions, selected from the able report of Mr.
Lingen on the state of education in South Wales, published in 1848. These are fair specimens of schools which
may be found throughout England and Wales.
"Mr. Lingen says: There was no room for making furniture and apparatus separate considerations in most of
the schools throughout the remoter districts, exhibiting, as
they did, every form of squalid destitution. I subjoin a
few instances out of many others perhaps more striking.
"Of one school, he says:
"'The furniture consisted of one desk for the master,
two longer ones for the pupils, and a few benches-all in
a wretched state of repair. The room was not ceiled. In
one corner was a heap of spars, the property of the master,
for the purpose of thatching his house; in another place
was a heap of culm, emptied out on the floor. The floor
was boarded, but all the middle of it was in holes.'
"Of another, he says:
" The school was held in a miserable room over the
stable; it was lighted by two small glazed windows, and
was very low; in one corner were a broken bench, some
sacks, and a worn-out basket; another corner was boarded
off for storing tiles and mortar belonging to the chapel.
The furniture consisted of three small square tables-one
for the master, two larger ones for the children-and a few
benches —all in a wretched state of repair.  There were
several panes of glass broken in the windows; in one place
paper served the place of glass, and in another a slate, to
keep out wind and rain; the door was also in a very dilapidated condition. On the beams which crossed the room
were a ladder and two large poles.'
"Of another, he says:
"' The school was held in a room built in a corner of
the churchyard; it was an open-roofed room; the floor was




406  ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
of the bare earth, and very uneven; the room was lighted
by two small glazed windows, one-third of each of which
was patched up with boards. The furniture consisted of a
small square table for the master, one square table for the
pupils, and seven or eight benches, some of which were in
good repair, and others very bad. The biers belonging to
the church were placed on the beams which ran across the
room. At one end of the room was a heap of coal and
some rubbish and a worn-out basket, and on one side was
a new door leaning against the wall, and intended for the
stable belonging to the church. The door of the schoolroom was in a very bad condition, there being large holes
in it, through which cold currents of air were continually
flowing.'
" Of another, he says:
"' This school is held in a dark, miserable den under the
town-hall; the furniture comprised only a few old benches
and tables; in the corner was a litter of broken cups and
a bottle; there was a starling of the master's loose in the
room which, by flying about, greatly disturbed the children during my visit.'
"Of another, he says:
"' In one corner was a heap of culm, in another a bench
or two piled against the wall, and various litter; at the
bottom of the room lay a gravestone, on which the master
had been chalking the letters which the village mason was
to cut as an inscription; on the table lay a jug and pipe.'
"I might quote endless instances to prove the miserable
character and ill effects of the present school-buildings in
Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. Indeed, report after
report is too often only a wearisome repetition of such particulars. It will suffice for me to subjoin a few instances,
by way of illustration, taking them almost at hazard.
Of another school, he says:
"' The school was held in a room, part of a dwellinghouse; the room was so small that a great many of the
scholars were obliged to go into the room above, which
they reached by means of a ladder through a hole in the




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  407
loft; the room was lighted by one small glazed window,
half of which was patched up with boards; it was altogether a wretched place. The furniture consisted of one
table, in a miserable condition, and a few broken benches;
the floor was in a very bad state, there being several large
holes in it, some of them nearly half a foot deep; the room
was so dark that the few children whom I heard read were
obliged to go to the door and open it, to have sufficient
light.'
"Of another, he says:
"' IThis school is held in the mistress's house. I never
shall forget the hot, sickening smell which struck me on
opening the door of that low, dark room, in which thirty
girls and twenty boys were huddled together. It more
nearly resembled the smell of the engine on board a
steamer, such as it is felt by a sea-sick voyager on passing near the funnel. Exaggerated as this may appear, I
am writing on the evening of the same day on which I
visited the school, and I will vouch for the accuracy of
what I state. Every thing in the room (i. e., a few benches
of various hights and sizes, and a couple of tables) was
hidden under and overlaid with children.'
"Of another, he says:
"'This school is held in a ruinous hovel of the most
squalid and miserable character; the floor is of bare earth,
full of deep holes; the windows are all broken; a tattered
partition of lath and plaster divides it into two unequal
portions; in the larger were a few wretched benches, and a
small desk for the master in one corner; in the lesser was
an old door, with the hasp still upon it, laid crossways upon
two benches, about half a yard high, to serve for a writing-desk! Such of the scholars as write retire in pairs to
this part of the room, and kneel on the ground while they
write. On the floor was a heap of loose coal and a litter
of straw, paper, and all kinds of rubbish. The vicar's son
informed me that he had seen eighty children in this hut.
In summer, the heat of it is said to be suffocating; and
no wonder.'




408  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"Of another, he says:
"' In the school-room  which, at six square feet per
child, is calculated to hold twenty-eight scholars, I found
fifty-nine present, and seventy-four on the books: some of
the children are drafted off into the master's dwellinghouse.'
"Of another, he says:
"' The school is held in a room over a stable, which is
a very small one. The children were much crowded.
There was a very comfortable fire in the room on the day
of my visit. Some ten or twelve of the senior boys were
obliged to sit in the adjoining chapel, on account of the
smallness of the room. The chapel had no fire in it, and
was very cold and uncomfortable.'
"Of another, he says:
"' The school-room  is part of a dwelling-house, on
the ground-floor, and the smell arising from so many
children being crammed in such a small room was quite
overpowering. There was a large fire in the grate at
the time.  The window was a small one, and was kept
closed. The floor, walls, and the room altogether, were in
bad repair. I observed, after the scholars went out at noon,
(for there were no seeing any thing but children while they
were in the room), one square table for the master, two
long tables for the writers and cipherers, five benches, and
one chair.'
"Of another, he says:
"'This school is kept up stairs in two rooms of the master's house. There is a door to each room from the landing at the top of the stairs, but the master can not see all
the scholars from one room while they are in the other.
He generally sits with the elementary classes.'
"Of another, he says:
"'The floor was of the bare earth, very uneven and
rather damp. There was a fire in an iron stove placed in
the middle of the room. The steam which arose from it
was quite insufferable, so much so that I was obliged to
keep both door and window open to enable me to breathe.




ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  409
The master remarked that it was "bad to a stranger, but
nothing to those who were used to it."'
"Of another, he says:
"' This school is held in the church. I found the master
and four little children ensconced in the chancel amidst a
number of old tables, benches, and desks, round a threelegged grate full of burning sticks, with no sort of funnel
or chimney for the smoke to escape. It made my eyes
smart till I was nearly blinded, and kept covering with
ashes the paper on which I was writing. How the master
and children bore it with so little apparent inconvenience,
I can not tell.'
"Of another, he says:
"'The day-school (which used to be held in private
houses) is now held in an old Independent chapel, no
longer used for religious purposes, and rented by the
master. There was a raised hearth of brick in the room,
with a grate ~on the top, but no chimney. There was a
fire of culm burning on it; the heat and vapor made the
room almost insufferable to one coming from the fresh
air.'
"Of another, he says:
"'The floor of the chapel was of earth and lime, very
uneven and broken; it contained a few pews, a pulpit, a
table, and a couple of desks, with a few benches in use,
others being heaped together at one end of the chapel;
there was a grate full of culm * in the middle of the
chapel, but no chimney.'
"Of another, he says:
"' The room in which this school is held is a most miserable hut, not fit to shelter cattle in, as the thatched roof
would be any thing but proof against bad weather. The
master said that he often suffered from the rain; and there
were large quantities of straw inside the roof to shelter in
some degree himself and pupils.'
* This is the name of the common fuel in Wales, which is anthracite coal
made up into balls with clay. It burns without smoke, but with a glowing
vapor, like charcoal.




410   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"Of another, he says:
"' The boys' free-school was held in a most miserable
hovel, lighted by four small windows. The floor was of
the bare earth, and excessively damp. The door was in a
very dilapidated state, and the rain was coming through
the thatch when I was in the school-room.'
" Of others, he says:
"' I am about to enter on one of the most painful subjects of my inquiry. It is a disgusting fact that, out of
692 schools, I found 364, or 52.6 per cent., utterly unprovided with privies.'
" These are not isolated instances. I could quote hundreds of such descriptions of schools situated in all parts of
England and Wales. I have myself seen many which are
held in cellars, garrets, chapels, and kitchens, badly warmed,
wretchedly ventilated, dirty, unfurnished, dark, damp, and
unhealthy. Are the miserable hours spent in these miserable places likely to leave good impressions afterward?
Are they likely to create happy, moral, and healthy ideas
and associations in the minds of the children? Are they
likely to make the children love what they learned in such
scenes and places, and remember it with reverence and with
a desire to act upon it afterward? Are they not much
rather likely to make the children hate and shun every
thing which would remind them of the school and the miserable school-day?
" 28. By far the greatest majority of the criminals who
are convicted every year in England and Wales are persons who have never been educated at all. Very few persons
who have received even a tolerable education are found
among the great numbers annually committed.
" 29. While throughout the agricultural districts of Western Europe, the children remain in school until they have
completed their fourteenth year, and very often until they
have completed their sixteenth year, very few even of those
children who go to school at all in our agricultural districts
continue to attend school beyond their ninth year, while
very many do not continue to attend them beyond their




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  411
eighth year. So that of the children of the poor who do
go to school in England and Wales, the greatest number
discontinue their attendance long before they have received
any thing worthy the name of education.
"30. The present system is bearing very unfairly and
very oppressively upon many conscientious and benevolent
clergymen in the remote rural districts.
"The nation is entirely ignorant of the almost marvelous efforts which some of the clergy are making
in the remote rural districts to provide schools for the
poor.
" Many poor clergymen, with not ~150 of annual income,
are, out of that small stipend, supporting their schools and
teachers themselves, wholly unaided either by the public
or by their neighbors.  How they can do it, God only
knows; but that many of them, in all parts of the country, do effect this prodigy of self-denial, all the inspectors
unanimously attest. These good men receive and expect
no public praise as their reward. They are laboring, unheard-of and unknown by their fellows, and are looking
for their reward to Heaven alone.
"But what a disgrace to us, as a nation, to impose such
a burden upon any of our clergy! What a shame it is
that the small stipend of a religious and benevolent man
should be made still smaller by forcing him to pay what
ought to be borne by the nation at large! And what a
precarious means of support for these schools! It is not
reasonable to expect that each succeeding incumbent can
or will be equally self-denying; and when one fails to give
the accustomed support, such a school must necessarily be
closed.
"Such is a short summary of the state of education of
the poor in England and Wales, as'attested by the inspectors of schools, by the government, and by the clergy.
While foreign countries, by the aid of the central authority, have established such perfect systems, and have accomplished such magnificent results, the system of leaving
the education of a nation dependent upon the efforts of




412    ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
charitable individuals finds us, in 1849, in the situation
which I have described.
" I have shown, in Chap. IX of this work, that, notwithstanding the very large size of the primary schools in the
towns of Germany and Switzerland, (many of them containing as many as ten class-rooms and ten teachers, and
scarcely containing fewer than four class-rooms), there
were:
"In Prussia:
1 primary school for every   653 inhabitants.
1 teacher for every         522
1 normal college for every 377,360  "
"In Saxony:
1 primary school for every   900 inhabitants.
1 teacher for every         588'"
i normal college for every 214,975  "
"In -Bavaria:
1 primary school for       508 inhabitants.
1 teacher for every         603     "
1 normal college for every 550,000
"In the Duchy of -Baden:
1 primary school for every   700 inhabitants.
1 normal college for every 500,000  "
"In Switzerland:
1 teacher for every         480 inhabitants.
1 normal college for every 176,923  "
"In _France:
1 primary school for every   568 inhabitants.
1 teacher for ever          446     "
1 normal college for every 356,564 inhabitants."
Such are the educational privileges of the workingclasses of England and Wales. So far is England behind
even Continental Eur6pe, according to the testimony of
Englishmen who were specially appointed to investigate
and compare. These statements will surprise the American people; and they would be beyond all belief were they
not presented by England's own witnesses.  It seems incredible that the mass of English workers, the English




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER) ETC.  413
people, can be in this state of degradation and ignorance.
It is amazing to learn how small a number of the inhabitants of Great Britain are educated at all. England, at
the time of the Crimean war, called on Europe and America for aid or sympathy in her efort to prevent the barbarism of Russia from spreading over Christendom. Within
two years, more than eight thousand schools have been
established among the Russian peasants, while such is the
wretched condition of the English laborers under a system
which is constantly sinking them lower still.
Let our American people ponder these facts, and compare the state of England with the condition of the free
North, with its free schools, its high schools, its normal
schools and colleges, covering all the land. Let them inquire, and see how many among those born in the Free
States are unable to read and write, and let them turn a
moment to the Southern Slave States, and consider the ignorance and degradation of the laborers there, where, as
in England, the land has all been in the hands of an aristocracy, and they will thank God more fervently than
ever before for our free schools, our free institutions, our
cheap lands, our homestead law, and our millions of landowners.
England is swiftly approaching the point where reform
will be impossible; indeed, in the opinion of many of her
own thinkers, she has passed it already, and the only choice
now is. between her ruin of her people, or a revolution
which, as in France, shall sweep her aristocracy away, and
distribute her lands among the laborers. Such a revolution our rebellion is working with the aristocracy and
lands of the South.
The next subject presented by Mr. Kay is,
THE DWELLINGS OF THE AGRICULTURAL PEOPLE OF
ENGLAND AND WALES.
It will be seen that the investigations have covered the
whole field, and there can be no mistake. Americans can




414  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
now understand how the laborers are housed on the lands
of England.  The writer has hesitated in regard to the
sad and most revolting facts which the official witnesses
of Great Britain have collected and presented in regard
to the cottages of the English peasantry. Ought they
to be laid before the American reader? In deciding to
make somewhat copious extracts from these reports, omitting the most offensive portions, the writer has been guided
by two considerations: First, England has united with a
powerful nation in hostility to us and our institutions, and
that hostile policy will continue; she must necessarily remain our enemy until her own social and political system
is reformed or revolutionized; and it is, therefore, wise for
Americans to study the condition of her people, for they
are the real sources of her national power; and the actual
state of her laborers can only be learned from such facts
connected with their homes and daily life as are stated
here.
Second, Much is said in regard to the assumed fact that
the people of England sympathize with the North in this
war, and it is well for us to know the character and influence of this people of England, that we may judge what
influence they are likely to exert upon the course of the
government.
Third, The American people should know the condition
of the laborers of England, that they may prize the more
the blessings of our own free institutions.
Mr. Kay, after describing the habitations of the poor of
the towns, proceeds as follows:
" But miserable as the habitations of a great part of the
poor of our towns are, the cottages and the cottage life
of the peasants in our villages are still worse; and, what
is more, they have been for some time past, and are still,
rapidly deteriorating.  The majority of the cottages are
wretchedly built, often in very unhealthy sites; they are
miserably small, and crowded to excess; they are very
low, seldom drained, and badly roofed; and they scarcely




ENGLAND-IIER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  415
ever have any cellar or space under the floor of the
lower rooms.  The floors are formed either of flags,
which rest upon the cold, undrained ground, or, as is
often the case, of nothing but a mixture of clay and
lime. The ground receives, day after day, and year after
year, between the crevices of the flags, or in the composition of clay and lime, water and droppings of all kinds,
and gives back from them and from its own moisture combined, pestilential vapors, injurious to the health and happiness of the inmates of the cottage.
"The cottages are fit abodes for a peasantry pauperized
and demoralized by the utter hopelessness of their situation.
"They may be classified as follows:
"1. Small cottages built of brick, of only one story in
hight, with a thatched roof, and without any cellar, so that
the bricks or flags of the room rest immediately on the
earth; with two small rooms between seven and eight feet
in hight-one used as the day-room and cooking-room, the
other as the bed-room, where husband and wife, young men
and young women, boys and girls, and very often a married son and his wife, all sleep together; without any garden, and with only a very small yard at the back, in which
the privy stands almost close to the back door, pouring its
gases into the house at all hours. This species of cottage
is to be found in all parts of England and Wales. In some
counties they are very numerous, as in Cambridgeshire,
and especially in that part called the Isle of Ely, in Hertfordshire, in Leicestershire, in Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Somersetshire, Cornwall, Surrey, Sussex, Kent, Essex, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, the northern counties,
and in Wales.
"2. Cottages which have two stories, with one small
kitchen-room on the ground floor, and with another small
room above on the first floor, in which the whole family —
father, mother, and children of both sexes-sleep together.
These houses have generally no garden, and only a small
yard behind, in which the privy stands close to the back
door. This class is very numerous throughout the country.




416   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"3. The third class of cottages are those which have
two stories-the ground floor, where there is a day-room
and a little scullery, and the upper floor, on which there
are twvo bed-rooms, in one of which the parents sleep, and
in the other of which the children-boys and girls-and
young men and young women, all sleep together. In
many parts of England and Wales this class of cottages
is very rare.
" The accounts we receive from all parts of the country
show that these miserable cottages are crowded to an extreme, and that the crowding is progressively increasing.
People of both sexes, and of all ages, both married and unmarried-parents, brothers, sisters, and strangers-sleep in
the same rooms and often in the same beds. One gentleman
tells us of six people, of different sexes and ages, two' of
whom were man and wife, sleeping in the same bed —three
with their heads at the top and three with their heads at the
foot of the bed. Another tells us of adult uncles and nieces
sleeping in the same room close to each other; another, of
the uncles and nieces sleeping in the same bed together;
another, of adult brothers and sisters sleeping in the same
room with a brother and his wife just married; many tell
us of adult brothers and sisters sleeping in the same beds;
another tells us of rooms so filled with beds that there is
no space between them, but that brothers,. sisters, and parents crawl over each other, half naked, in order to get
to their respective resting-places; another, of its being
common for men and women, not being relations, to undress together in the same room, without any feeling of
its being indelicate. Nor are these solitary instances, but
similar reports are given by gentlemen writing in ALL parts
of the country.
" The miserable character of the houses of our peasantry
is, of itself, and independently of the causes which have
made the houses so wretched, degrading and demoralizing
the poor of our rural districts in a fearful manner. It
stimulates the unhealthy and unnatural increase of population. The young peasants, from their earliest years, are




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  417
accustomed to sleep in the same bed-rooms with people of
both sexes, and with both married and unmarried persons.
They, therefore, lose all sense of the indelicacy of such a
life. They know, too, that they can gain nothing by deferring their marriages and by saving; that it is impossible for them to obtain better houses by so doing; and that,
in many cases, they must wait many years before they could
obtain a separate house of any sort. They feel that, if they
defer their marriage for ten or fifteen years, they will be,
at the end of that period, in just the same position as before, and no better off for their waiting. Having then lost
all hope of any improvement of their social situation, and
all sense of the indelicacy of taking a wife home to the
bed-room already occupied by parents, brothers, and sisters,
they marry early in life-often, if not generally, before
the age of twenty-and very often occupy, for the first
part of their married life, another bed in the alreadycrowded sleeping-room of their parents! In this way the
morality of the peasants is destroyed, the numbers of this
degraded population are unnaturally increased, and their
means of subsistence are diminished by the increasing competition of their increasing numbers.
"A  low standard of living always tends to stimulate
improvident marriages, to unduly increase the numbers of
the population, and to engender pauperism, vice, degradation, and misery.
" As I have said before, the landlords are unwilling to
increase the number of cottages in the rural districts, because they fear to increase the numbers of the resident
laboring population, and the amount of their poor-rates;;
and they are generally unwilling, even when they are able,
to spend money in improving the size or character of thecottages, because they know that they can easily let any
of the existing cottages, no matter.how wretched, owing'
to the great demand for house-room.
"The crowding of the cottages has, therefore, of late
been growing worse and worse. The promiscuous mingling of the sexes in the bed-rooms has been increasing'
27




418  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
very much, and. is productive of worse consequences every
year. Adultery is the very mildest form of the vast amount
of crime which it is engendering. We are told, by magistrates, clergymen, surgeons, and union officers, that in
many parts of the country cases of incest, and reports of
other cases of the same enormity, are becoming more and
more common among the poor. And there is no doubt
whatsoever (and in this all accounts and authorities agree)
that the way in which the married and unmarried people,
and the different sexes, are mingled together in the same
bed-rooms, and even in the same beds, throughout the
rural districts, is tending to destroy the modesty and virtue of the women, to annihilate the foundations on which
are based all the national and domestic virtues, and to
make want of chastity before marriage, and want of delicacy and purity after marriage, common characteristics of
the mothers and wives of our laboring population.
" But what are the poor to do? So long as the law prevents their purchasing land; so long as they can not obtain ground on which to build their own cottages, as the
foreign peasants do; so long, too, as the government will
not interfere to educate the children of the peasants in
higher tastes and better habits; and so long as they are
only the tenants at the will of the agent of a landlord —
one does not see how the peasant has a chance of improving the condition of his cottage or the social position of
his family.
"' Ican not too often repeat that the great primary causes
of the pauperism and degradation of our peasants are the
utter hopelessness and helplessness of their position. We
have done all we can to prevent their helping themselves,
and to deprive them of every strong inducement to practice self-denial, prudence, and economy.
"A man will not practice self-denial, economy, and prudence, without an object. What object has an English
peasant to practice them?
"A peasant can not possibly buy land as the foreign
peasant does. He can not get a farm even as a tenant



ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  419
at-will of it. He can not buy a house, or a plot of ground
on which to build a house. He can not even get the lease
of a cottage. He can not buy or get the lease of a garden. He often can not even get the mere occupation of
a cottage for himself. He is often obliged to take his wife
to his father's or his brother's cottage, and to sleep with
her in their bed-room.
"What earthly inducement, then, has such a peasant to
practice self-denial and economy?  Absolutely none. He
does not, therefore, practice any. He says to himself, if
I put off my marriage and save, what should I gain by
such a course? I'll marry early. If I can not get a cottage, I'11 take my wife to my father's cottage; and if bad
times come, I'11 apply to the union.
"Such is the hideous social system to which we have
subjected our poor.
" How different is the condition of the foreign peasant!
The majority of even the French peasants who have attained the age of thirty-five possess houses and farms of
their own, the latter averaging from five to eight acres in
size. The foreign peasant feels that his fate is in his own
hands. He knows that, if he postpones his marriage, he
will be able to purchase a house and farm of his own, and
thus to establish his own complete independence. He is
not dependent on agents of landlords or on landlords for
the condition of his house, or for its tenure, or for the tenure of his farm, or for the social position of his family.
All this, as well as his own future success in life, depends
solely and entirely on his own exertions. This stimulates
his energies and exertions. This makes his life hopeful
and happy. This ennobles and develops his own character.
This makes him a good citizen. This makes him a successful farmer. This increases his intelligence; and, while
it makes his life hopeful and happy even amid privations,
it makes him a good and conservative citizen even in times
of suffering and distress.
"I have myself examined, during the present year, the
condition of the peasants' cottages in Cambridgeshire, and




420   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
particularly in that part of Cambridgeshire called the Isle
of Ely, in Hertfordshire, and in Leicestershire.
" These are agricultural counties, where the land is very
rich and very well cultivated.  The farms are generally
of considerable size. The peasants have no chance of ever
rising to the farmer class. The cottages have scarcely ever
a garden attached to them. The land is all divided between great farms and parks.
"Now, what is the condition of the majority of cottages of the peasants of these counties?
"They are almost as wretched as they can be. The
majority of them are small, low huts, of one story in hight.
The walls are about eight feet high. The roofs are very
often thatched. The thatch is very seldom repaired.
Through the top of the thatch projects the chimney.
There is no cellar beneath the rooms. The floors are
made of bricks or flags, which are laid upon the earth,
and, as may be conceived, are damp and cold.
" In the middle of one of the side walls there is a door,
and on each side of the door a window, which is but too
often minus several panes at least, their places being occupied with rags. One-half of the interior of many of
these cottages is boarded or walled off, so as to divide the
house into two little rooms.  One of these rooms is the
living room, the other is a bed-room, in which sleep the
whole family-parents and daughters. It is by no means
rare for the two sexes to sleep not only in the same bedroom, but in the same bed.
"The following remarkable extracts, selected from various sources of the highest authority, will show the miserable condition of the cottages and dwellings of the peasantry in other parts of England and Wales.
"I offer these extracts only as specimens, which I could
multiply indefinitely, if my space would allow, of a state
of things which exists more or less in every county in
England, and as proofs of the wretched way in which the
cottages of our peasantry are built; of the miserable lodgung and accommodation afforded by them to their poor




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  421
inmates; of the wretched and unhealthy sites which are
often chosen for them by agents and persons who do not
care where or how the peasants are lodged; of the want
of drainage, ventilation, water-supply, and privies, which
distinguishes most of them; and of the sickness and shocking moral degradation caused by this miserable and lamentable state of things.
" The first series of extracts will show the present condition of the peasants' houses in the south-western counties-Wiltshire, Dorsetshire, Devonshire, Gloucestershire,
Somersetshire, and Cornwall.
"Mr. Alfred Austin, Special Assistant Poor Law Commissioner, in reporting upon the condition of the peasants'
cottages in the counties of Wilts, Dorset, Devon, and Somerset, says:
"' The want of sufficient accommodation seems universal.
Cottages generally have only two bed-rooms (with very rare
exceptions); a great many have only one. The consequence
is that it is very often extremely difficult, if not impossible,
to divide a family, so that grown-up persons of different sexesbrothers and sisters, fathers and daughters-do not sleep in the
same room. Three or four persons not unfrequently sleep in the
same bed. In a few instances I found that two familiesneighbors-arranged so that the females of both families
slept together in one cottage, and the males in the other;
but such an arrangement is very rare; and in the generality of cottages, I believe that the only attempt that is
or can be made to separate beds with occupants of different sexes, and necessarily placed close together, from
the smallness of the rooms, is an old shawl, or some article of dress, suspended as a curtain between them.
"' At Stourpain, a village near Blandford, I measured a
bed-room in a cottage consisting of two rooms-the bedroom in question up-stairs, and a room on the ground
floor, in which the family lived during the day. The room
was ten feet square, not reckoning the two small recesses
by the sides of the chimney, about eighteen inches deep.
The roof was of thatch, the middle of the chamber being




422  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
about seven feet high. Opposite the fireplace was a small
window, about fifteen inches square-the only one in the
room.'
" Three beds were crammed into this little room. There
was no curtain or separation between the beds.
" One bed contained the father and mother, a little boy,
and an infant.
"The second bed contained three daughters-the two
eldest, twins, aged twenty years each, and the other aged
seven.
" The third bed was occupied by four sons, aged respectively seventeen, fifteen, fourteen, and ten.
" Mr. Austin says:' This, I was told, was not an extraordinary case, but that, more or less, every bed-room in the
village was crowded with inmates of both sexes and of
various ages, and that such a state of things was caused
by the want of cottages.
"' It is impossible not to be struck, in visiting the dwellings of the agricultural laborers, with the general want of
new cottages, notwithstanding the universal increase of
population. Everywhere the cottages are old, and frequently in a state of decay, and are consequently illadapted for their increased number of inmates of late
years. The floor of the room in which the family live
during the day is always of stone in these counties, and
wet or damp through the winter months, being frequently
lower than the soil outside. The situation of the cottage
is often extremely bad, no attention having been paid at
the time of its building to facilities for draining. Cottages are frequently erected on a dead level, so that water
can not escape, and sometimes on spots lower than the
surrounding ground.'
"Mr. Gilbert, formerly Assistant Poor Law Commissioner for Devonshire and Cornwall, gives the following
as an instance of the common condition of the dwellings
of the laboring classes:
"'In Tiverton, in Cornwall, there is a large district,
from which I find numerous applications were made for




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  423
relief to the board of guardians, in consequence of illness
from fever.
"' One cause of disease is to be found in the state of the
cottages.
"'Many are built on the ground, without flooring, or
against a damp hill.
"' Some have neither windows nor doors sufficient to
keep out the weather, or to let in the rays of the sun, or
supply the means of ventilation; and in others the roof is
so constructed, or so worn, as not to be weather-tight.
"' The thatch roof is frequently saturated with wet, rotten, and in a state of decay, giving out malaria, as other
decaying vegetable matter.'
"The state of the dwellings of many of the agricultural laborers in Dorset, where the deaths from the four
classes of disease bear a similar proportion to those in
Devon, is described in the return of Mr. John Fox, the
medical officer of the Cerne Union, in Dorsetshire, who,
remarking upon some cases of disease among the poor
whom he had attended, says:
"'I have often seen the springs bursting through the
mud floor of some of the cottages, and little channels cut
from the center, under the door-ways, to carry off the
water, while the door has been removed from its hinges
for the children to put their feet on while employed in
making buttons.  It is not surprising that fever, and
scrofula in all its forms, prevail under such circumstances.
" It is somewhat singular that seven cases of typhus
occurred in one village, heretofore famed for the health
and general cleanliness of its inhabitants and cottages.
The first five cases occurred in one family, in a detached
house on high and dry ground, and free from accumulations of vegetable and animal matter. The cottage was
originally built for a school-room, and consists of one
room only, about eighteen feet by ten feet, and nine feet
high. About one-third part was partitioned off by boards,
reaching to within three feet of the roof; and in this small
space were three beds, in which six persons slept. Had there




424  ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
been two bed-rooms attached to this one day-room, these
cases of typhus would not have occurred.
"' Most of the cottages are of the worst description,
some mere mud hovels, and situated in low and damp
places, with cess-pools or accumulations of filth close to
the doors.
"' The mud floors of many are much below the level of
the road, and in wet seasons are little better than so much
clay.
"' In many of the cottages, also, where synochus prevailed, the beds stood on the ground floor, which was
damp three parts of the year; scarcely one had a fireplace in the bed-room; and one had a single small pane
of glass stuck in the mud wall, as its only window, with
a large heap of wet and dirty potatoes in one corner.
Persons living in such cottages are generally very poor,
very dirty, and usually in rags, living almost wholly on bread
and potatoes, scarcely ever tasting animal food, and, consequently, highly susceptible of disease, and very unable to
contend with it. I am sure, if such persons were placed
in good, comfortable, clean cottages, the improvement in
themselves and children would soon be visible, and the
exceptions would only be found in a few of the poorest
and most wretched, who, perhaps, have been born in a
mud hovel, and had lived in one the first thirty years of
their lives.
"'In my district, I do not think there is one cottage to be
found consisting of a day-room, three bed-rooms, scullery, pantry, and convenient receptacles for refuse and for fuel, in the
occupation of a laborer.'
"The tenor of much information respecting the condition of many of the laboring classes in Somerset is exhibited in the Sanitary Report of Mr. James Gane, the
medical officer of the Axbridge Union, in Somersetshire,
who states that"' The situation of this district, where the diseases thereinmentioned prevail, is a perfect flat, called the South Marsh,
in the main road between Bristol and Bridgewater. There




ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  425
are numerous dykes or ditches for the purpose of drainage.  The cottages of the poor are mostly of a bad description. The walls are frequently made of mud. They
are often situated close to the dykes, where the water, for
the most part, is in a state of stagnation. Oftentimes there is
not more than one room for the whole family; sometimes two,
one above the other. With the really poor, the latter is seldom to be met with (unless it should happen now and then in
a parish where a poor-house was built a short time before
the formation of the union). A pig-sty, where the inmates
are capable of keeping a pig, is frequently attached to the
dwelling, and, in the heat of summer, produces a stench
quite intolerable: the want of space, however, prevents it
being otherwise. The ordinary houses of the poor peasants (those mentioned above being detached cottages), in
most of the parishes in this district, are of a much worse
description, several large families existing under the same
roof, and each family occupying only one room, and having
but one entrance door to the dwelling.  Here, filth and
poverty go hand in hand, without any restriction, and
under no control; the accumulation of filth being attributable to the want of proper receptacles for refuse. Owing
to the indolent and filthy disposition of the inhabitants,
in no instance have such places been provided.'
"The following extract from the report of Mr. Aaron
Little, the medical officer of the Chippenham Union, in
Wiltshire, affords a specimen of the frequent condition
of rural villages which have apparently the most advantageous sites:
"' The parish of Colerne, which, upon a cursory view,
any person (unacquainted with its peculiarities) would pronounce to be the most healthy village in England, is, in
fact, the most unhealthy. From its commanding position,
being situated upon a high hill, it has an appearance of
health and cheerfulness, which delights the eye of the
traveler, who commands a view of it from the great western road; but this impression is immediately removed on
entering at any point of the town.




426  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"' The filth, dilapidated buildings, the squalid appearance of the majority of the lower orders, have a sickening
effect upon the stranger who first visits this place. During
three years' attendance among the poor of this district, I
have never known the small-pox, scarlatina, or the typhus
fever to be absent. The situation is damp, and the buildings unhealthy, and the inhabitants themselves inclined to
be of dirty habits. There is also a great want of drainage.'
"During the latter part of 1849, some very remarkable
and exceedingly able letters were published in the MORNING CHRONICLE, describing the condition of the cottages of
the peasantry in different parts of England. I might
crowd my pages with extracts from these letters, all proving the truth of the description I have given above of the
cottages of our peasantry. It is impossible for me to do
more than make one or two extracts from them, to show
how the condition of the cottages of the peasantry is deteriorating. I must refer my readers to these remarkable
letters for further details: they will well repay the most
careful study.
" The correspondent of the MORNING CHRONICLE, describing the condition of the laborers in Devonshire, Somersetshire, Cornwall, and Dorsetshire, says:
"'Devon and Somerset have long been classed in the
unenviable category of counties presenting the agricultural
laborer in his most deplorable circumstances. With Dorset
and Wilts they are generally regarded as exhibiting the
unfavorable, while Lincolnshire exhibits the favorable, extreme in the laborer's condition.
"' In traversing both counties, more especially Devonshire, I was particularly struck with the utter absence of
new cottages. Along the highways and byways their
absence is observable; and not only this, but, in many
places, there are abundant evidences that cottages, which
a few years ago were tenanted, are now, if not altogether
untenantable, going rapidly into decay. Many are so
rickety and ruined, that to inhabit them any longer is
impossible; while, as regards others, the process of demo



ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  427
tition or decomposition has only commenced, confining the
wretched tenants, who had formerly two rooms, to the
only apartment which remains, and which they can with
difficulty keep together. In search of these, one has not
to go into remote and sequestered parts, where things are
done which would not be exposed to the neighborhood of
the highways. I have seen specimens of cottages in this
state along the line from Exeter to Honiton, and in the
district traversed by the high-road to London.
"' The cabin is so rude and uncouth that it has less the
appearance of having been built, than of having been suddenly thrown up out of the ground. The length is not
above fifteen feet, its width between ten and twelve. The
wall, which has sunk at different points, and seems bedewed with a cold sweat, is composed of a species of imperfect sandstone, which is fast crumbling to decay. It is
so low that your very face is almost on a level with the
heavy thatched roof which covers it, and which seems to be
pressing it into the earth. The thatch is thickly incrusted
with a bright green vegetation, which, together with the appearance of the trees and the mason-work around, well attests the prevailing humidity of the atmosphere. In front,
it presents to the eye a door, with one window below,
and another window (a smaller one) in the thatch above.
The door is awry from the sinking of the wall; the glass
in the window above is unbroken, but the lower one is
here and there stuffed with rags, which keep out both the
air and the sunshine. You approach the door-way through
the mud, over some loose stones, which rock under your
feet in using them. You have to stoop for admission, and
cautiously look around ere you fairly trust yourself within.
There are but two rooms in the house-one below and the
other above.' The sleeping accommodations I are gained by
means of a few greasy and rickety steps, which lead through
a species of hatchway in the ceiling. Yes, there is but one room,
and yet we counted nine in the family! And such a room!
The small window in the roof admits just light enough to
enable you to discern its character and dimensions; the




428  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
rafters, which are all exposed, spring from the very floor,
so that it is only in the very center of the apartment that
you have any chance of standing erect; the thatch oozes
through the wood-work which supports it, the whole being
begrimed with smoke and dust, and replete with vermin.
But, perhaps, the climax of misery, in this respect, in the
district, is to be found in the village of Taversy, about a
mile distant from Thame. One house was pointed out to me
there with four rooms; each room occupied by a separate
family, some of the families being very numerous. It was
a two-story house, covered with tiles. There was no communication between the upper and lower stories, the former being approached from the outside by a flight of stone
steps, which rose over the door leading into the latter.
One of the families counted eight or ten, of both sexes,
some of whom had attained maturity. The immorality to
which their domestic condition gives rise, I shall have
occasion hereafter to refer to.
"' The cottages at Southleigh, in Devon, are, if possible,
even worse. One house which our correspondent visited
was almost a ruin. It had continued in that state for ten
years. The floor was of mud, dipping, near the fireplace,
into a deep hollow, which was constantly filled with water.
There were five in the family-a young man of twentyone, a girl of eighteen, and another girl of about thirteen,
with the father and mother-all sleeping together upstairs. And what a sleeping-room! "In places it seemed
falling in. To ventilation it was an utter stranger. The
crazy floor shook and creaked under me as I paced it."
Yet the rent was Is. a week-the same sum for which
apartments, that may be called luxurious in comparison,
may be had in the model lodging-houses. And here sat a
girl weaving that beautiful Honiton lace, which our peeresses wear on Court days. Cottage after cottage, at Southleigh, presented the same characteristics: clay floors, low
ceilings, letting in the rain, no ventilation; two rooms —
one above, and one below; gutters running through the
lower room to let off the water; unglazed window-frames,




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  429
now boarded up, and now uncovered to the elements, the
boarding going for fire-wood; the inmates disabled by rheumatism, ague, and typhus; broad, stagnant, open ditches
close to the doors; heaps of abominations piled round the
dwellings; such are the main features of Southleigh; and
it is in these worse than pig-styes that one of the most
beautiful fabrics that luxury demands or art supplies is
fashioned. The parish houses are still worse. "One of
these, on the borders of Devonshire and Cornwall, and
not far from Launceston, consisted of two houses, containing between them four rooms. In each room lived a family night and day, the space being about twelve feet square.
In one were a man and his wife and eight children: the
father, mother, and two children lay in one bed; the remaining six were huddled'head and foot' (three at the
top, and three at the foot) in the other bed. The eldest
girl was between fifteen and sixteen; the eldest boy between fourteen and fifteen." Is it not horrible to think
of men and women being brought up in this foul, brutish
manner in civilized and Christian England? The lowest
of savages are not worse cared-for than these children of
a luxurious and refined country.'' The atmosphere of these houses, and especially of the
sleeping apartments, to an unpracticed nose, is almost insupportable. It is, perhaps, worthy of remark, that dishes,
plates, and other articles of crockery, seem almost unknown. There is, however, the less need for them, as grist
bread forms the principal and, I believe, the only kind of food
thiat falls to the laborer's lot. In no single instance did I
observe meat of any kind during my progress through the
parish. The furniture is such as may be expected from
the description I have given of the place —a rickety table
and two or three foundered chairs generally forming the
extent of the upholstery.'
"It is said that this is the condition throughout the
greater part of the counties of Dorsetshire, Wiltshire, and
Gloucestershire. Another letter, inserted in the TIMES of
the 29th June, 1846, and signed,'A Country Rector,' says:




430  ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.' The misery' (described above),'I am afraid, is not confined to that county (Dorsetshire): if you go to Devonshire, Wiltshire, and the hill country of Gloucestershire,
you will find him (the peasant) at the point of starvation.'
" The Hon. and Rev. S. G. Osborne, in writing of one
of the parishes of Dorsetshire, viz., that of Hilton, which
he inspected personally, in company with the vicar of the
parish, describes the degradation of the inhabitants, and
the wretchedness of the houses, as something almost incredible. He says:'I despair of giving you any faint
idea of the manner these people are pigged together within
their dwellings;' and this parish'closely adjoins the park
of Milton Abbey, the beautiful seat of the Earl of Portarlington.'
" I In the first cottage, a man and his wife live, with two
children-a son of his by a former marriage; a daughter
of hers by a former marriage. This son is married, but,
owing to want of room, can not sleep with his own wife
and children, who are living in another part of the parish,
but sleeps in a small room, the only other bed of which is
occupied by the grown girl, the daughter of the woman.
They pay the parish 30s. a year rent.' In one compartment of the large building were dwelling a man, his wife, and five children; five of them had
had the fever; the man died of it. With some difficulty,
we ascended to a bed-room of this cottage: no one by pen
can describe it. You get into it by a sort of ladder; when
in it, you find it impossible to stand upright anywhere but
in the direct center, for the roof slopes down to the floor
at an acute angle; three beds are so placed as to make the
base of so many triangles, of which the sides of the roof
are the lateral lines; you must cross the first to get at the
second-the second to reach the third; the floor is as rotten as possible, full of holes, through one of which the
husband's leg had gone on one occasion. I ventured to
ask how they got a corpse out of such a place. I found
"they had him down stairs to die;" there he was seven
weeks, and then they took him, dead, to the church-yard.'




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  431'"' The floors of some of the down-stairs rooms are of
mud, in pits or holes in many places; where mended at all,
it is done with the rough stone of the country. The parish
officers regularly, when they can get it, take rent even of
the pauper tenants, with the exception of some few.
"' IBehind these buildings is a space between them and
the broad ditch, varying, perhaps, from twelve to fourteen
feet in width; in the said space, in the case of the first
two cottages, occupied partly by some out-houses, rank
grass is growing, among which is ample evidence of every
possible abomination.'"
These extracts from reports occupy about one hundred
pages of Mr. Kay's book; they cover nearly the whole
field in England and Wales. Their character is so similar
throughout, and the statements are from so many independent witnesses (men of high standing), that it is impossible to doubt that here we have a true picture of the
general condition of millions of the agricultural laborers
of Great Britain; and the worst feature of their case is its
hopelessness. The political system of England is absolutely consuming her laborers, body and soul.
England has such a rural population to draw her strength
from in that contest in which she has proposed to engage
with the United States. Her lands are divided into some
fifteen thousand plantations; twenty-two millions of her
people are working for wages for the landholding nobility, the millionaires, and the capitalists; and such is the
character of these workers and the manner in which they
are housed. England is turning her strength into weakness and decay.
There is one fact which shows, more clearly than any
yet presented, the moral degradation of portions of the
working-classes of the cities and larger towns-a condition
which certainly can not be matched, except among the
lowest of the heathen. Reference is had to what are called
the " Burial Clubs." From Mr. Kay's description of these,
the following statements are quoted:




432   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
"The accounts of these'burial clubs,' and of the extent to which infanticide is practiced in some parts of this
country, may be found in Mr. Chadwick's able reports
upon the sanitary condition of the poor.
" It appears that in our larger provincial towns the poor
are in the habit of entering their children in what are
called' burial clubs.' A small sum is paid every year by
the parent, and this entitles him to receive from ~3 to ~5
from the club on the death of the child. Many parents
enter their children in several clubs. One man in Manchester has been known to enter his child in nineteen different clubs. On the death of such a child, the parent becomes entitled to receive a large sum of money; and, as
the burial of the child does not necessarily cost more than
~1, or, at the most, ~i 10s., the parent realizes a considerable sum after all the expenses are paid!
"It has been clearly ascertained that it is a common
practice among the more degraded classes of poor in many
of our towns to enter their infants in these clubs, and then
to cause their death either by starvation, ill-usage, or poison!
What more horrible symptom of moral degradation can be
conceived?  One's mind revolts against it, and would fain
reject it as a monstrous fiction. But, alas! it seems to be
but too true.
"' Mr. Chadwick says:' Officers of these burial societies,
relieving officers, and others, whose administrative duties
put them in communication with the lowest classes in these
districts' (the manufacturing districts),' express their moral
conviction of the operation of such bounties to produce instances of the visible neglect of children, of which they are
witnesses. They often say: "You are not treating that
child properly; it will not live: is it in the club?" And
the answer corresponds with the impression produced by
the sight.'
" From a very remarkable letter published in the TIMES
of the 18th of January, A. D. 1849, by that indefatigable
and earnest man, the Rev. J. Clay, Chaplain of the Preston
House of Correction, I collect the following particulars,




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  433
still further illustrating this horrible symptom of our social
state.
"Mr. Clay says:' Let me recall to your recollection
some of the murders for burial-money perpetrated since the
publication of Mr. Chadwick's admirable report on interment in towns. 1. A Liverpool paper of April, 1846,
gives the details of an inquiry before the coroner in a
case of " infanticide, at Runcorn, to obtain funeral-money."
It appeared, in evidence, that James Pimlet, aged ten
months, died on the 6th of March; and that, on the 21st
of the same month, died Richard Pimlet, aged four years
and a half. On the 27th of the same month, a third child
was taken ill. The medical man's suspicions were roused.
The authorities caused the bodies of the two dead infants
to be exhumed. It was found that the mother had purchased arsenic before the children's illness. Dr. Brett
showed the presence of arsenic in the bodies "in quantities more than sufficient to cause death."  The collector of
the Liverpool Victoria Legal Burial Society proved that
the three children were all enrolled members; that he had
paid ~1 5s. on the death of one child, and ~5 on the death
of the other. The steward of another society proved the
payment of ~1 5s. and ~1 15s. on the two deaths. Verdict, "willful murder" against the mother.
1"' 2. At York assizes, in July, 1846, John Rodda was
convicted of the willful murder of his own child, aged one
year. The evidence proved that the wretch poured a
spoonful of sulphuric acid down his helpless infant's
throat. It was proved that he had said he did not care
how soon the child died, for, whenever it died, he should
have ~2 10s., as it was in a " dead-list." HIe said he had
another that would have the same when it died, and two
others that would have ~5 apiece when they died.
"'According to the statement of a leading death-list
officer, THREE-FOURTHS Of the names on these catalogues of
the doomed are names of children. Now, if this be the
truth-and I believe it is —hundreds, if not thousands, of
children must be entered each into FOUR, FIVE, or even TWELVE
28




434   ENGLAND —HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
clubs, their chances of life diminishing, of course, in proportion to the frequency with which they are entered.
Lest you should imagine that such excessive addiction to
burial clubs is only to be found in one place, I furnish you
with a report for 1846, of a single club, which then boasted
34,100 members-the entire population of the town to which it
belongs having been, in 1841, little more than 36,000!
"'I would now bespeak your attention to the infantile
mortality in places where burial clubs flourish. In Dr.
Lyon Playfair's "Report on the Sanitary Condition of
large Towns in Lancashire," (p. 53), it is stated that among
the poor of Manchester, out of one hundred deaths, sixty to sixtyfive are of infants under five years old. One man put his children
into nineteen clubs!.... Dr. Lyon Playfair again shows
(p. 54) that children die in Manchester, when wages are
high, at a rate more than that at which they die among
the poverty-stricken laborers of Dorsetshire.'"
Such is the condition of the great mass of the people
of England. These are the elements of her future progress, and this is the result, for the laboring classes,
of her boasted civilization. Her social system, in some
main features, is the exact parallel of our Southern slave
system. In both, the lands are all in the hands of a
few aristocrats, lords of the land; in both, this small
class of capitalists and landowners seize for themselves
nearly all the earnings of the workers, they becoming
enormously rich, and the laborers crushed down in ignorance and poverty. It need not surprise us that the English aristocracy should wish success for the aristocrats of
the South. This, too, is the country, whose grave writers,
in stately quarterlies, declare that, if an American nation
should spread its farms and schools, its printing-presses
and Churches, the whole glorious structure of our free
Christian civilization, over this continent, God would
undoubtedly come down for our overthrow. And this
embodies about the average wisdom  that England has
manifested in regard to American affairs.




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.  435
The condition of the laborers of Great Britain, as thus
presented by English witnesses, furnishes a lesson which
Americans should carefully study. It shows us that the
abolition of slavery is only one step in our great social
and political revolution; and that there can be no broad
and permanent basis laid for national prosperity, and no
security for the masses, unless the working population are
landowners. The laborers must own their own homes, as
the general rule, or their condition will be but little above
that of the slave or serf, though nominally invested with
the rights of freemen.
The laboring classes of England are free, but, with the
single exception that they are not chattels, how near does
the showing of their own countrymen place them to the
condition of the slave! In morality and intelligence, in
the manner in which they are housed and fed, there is by
no means the wide difference which we once thought between the agricultural laborers of England and Wales, and
the slaves on the grain-farms of the South. It shows, in
the most conclusive manner, that wherever the lands of a
country are in the hands of a few, and beyond the reach
of the workers, nothing can save the laboring classes from
degradation,. poverty, ignorance, and oppression. Unless
there can be a land reform for England, unless the process can be arrested by which the small farms are swallowed up by the large estates, it is evident that those
who produce the wealth of England must sink ever lower,
till nothing is left them but such food, raiment, and shelter as fit a human beast.
This is all that capital and selfishness have left the laborer anywhere when free to oppress, and the English
landowner is no worse than the American planter on his
great estate, and no better. The fault is in the system; a
landless peasantry in any country, in any age, have been,
are, and ever will be, either slaves or serfs, or but a single
grade above these, when the great estate system has
reached its ultimate result.
Let Americans then ponder and act upon the lesson, and,




436   ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
in the reconstruction of the nation, insist upon planting
our workers upon homes of their own, and then give each
a rifle and a ballot wherewith to defend them, taking care
meanwhile that the free school imparts the needed intelligence. Then shall we have, indeed, an American nation
of freemen, placed on an immovable basis, and capable of
indefinite growth. These statements of the social condition of England place in a new and equally clear light
the necessity of her policy, and the cause of her hostility
to Russia and America. She must control the manufactures and commerce of the world; she must be the great
money power of earth, or she must decline; and she sees
that, if Russia and America are allowed to grow on unchecked, she must soon hold an inferior position, and
hence her hostility to both.
Let no one, however, suppose that, because such is the
condition of her working population, England is, therefore, weak. On the contrary, she is a mighty power, a
most formidable enemy. She is strong, because, having
wrung all wealth from her laborers and concentrated it in
the hands of a few, it is readily available for the purposes
of the Government, and, through her thousand ships, may
be used to strike a blow at any time in any quarter of the
globe. She is strong for the same reason that Jeff. Davis
is strong, when, crushing all opposition, and all individual
rights, he seizes all men for his army, and all the wealth
of the country to arm, and clothe, and feed them.
Though she holds within the seeds of revolution or decay, for the present, she has at her disposal enormous
power wherewith to defend herself or injure others.
It is well, therefore, for Americans at this time to study
the military power of England. The following tables are
copied from an article in the NORTH BRITISH REVIEW for
August, 1863, on the national defenses of Great Britain.
The writer gives his authority for statements made, showing them to be official, arid they may, therefore, be received
as an authentic account of the land forces of England
only six months since. The article is intended to quiet the




ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.   437
fears of the English people in regard to a possible invasion from France, a dread of which hangs like a shadow
over Britain. Of course, the national defenses are presented in their most favorable aspect, and Americans will
see from  this statement how  much or how  little we have
to fear from  English armies.
STRENGTH OF BRITISH LAND FORCES AT HIOME AND ABROAD.
1805.   1860-1.  18634.  Increase
1805 to 1863.
Asia (exclusive of India and China),   6,724  4,355-  13,826     46 } 1
China,.............. 1,461
West Indies, etc.,...     16,242     4,225
Bermudas....f 1 473 f 1,102 24,389  38,480
Bahamas...    424
North America,.                   4,194     4,329 J
Australia,..                    490     1,250   1,234       744
New Zealand,......     3,626    5,538   5,538
Falkland Isles,.                               35 
St. Helena,........     676   2,514      2,170
West Africa,                         344     1,001
Cape of Good Hope,......4. 4840   4,719                        4,719
Corfu,....    4,256    )         4,256
Malta....            6,490     7,112 117,008       622
ibraltar,...         4,586  5,913 J              1,327
Total in Colonies (excluding India),  39,543    43,144  63,587    24,044
Regular Troops in United Kingdom,  78,426   100,218  84,655     6,229
Total Regular Troops at Home and
Abroad,..                117,969   143,362  148,242    30,273
Militia Establishments,..   110,556   120,000 140,000    29,444
Total Regular and Militia Forces in
United Kingdom,...      188,982   220,218 222,655    33,673
General Total Paid Troops at Home
and in Colonies (excluding India), 228,525   283,362 288,242    59,717
"These  results  are, it must be  admitted, sufficiently
startling. They show that we are now, according to official returns, maintaining a force of 6,000 regulars in this
kingdom, and of 24,000 regulars in our colonies (exclusive
in both cases of India), beyond what we considered, and
found, sufficient for our security when the French eagles
were hovering in the air overhead, poising themselves for
their swoop. In another view, they show that, were we




438  ENGLAND-HER PRESENT CONDITION, POWER, ETC.
still to retain the same force of regulars and militia together that we had in 1805 in these islands, we might
nevertheless dispatch to-morrow an expedition of 33,000
men, without recruiting a man beyond our present strength,
and which would be over and above the war establishment
of 18,000 men whom we at present have in Canada."
The conclusion is, that England can, in the opinion of
the writer, spare about 33,000 men for foreign service, and
maintain her home defenses. This is her full, actual power
for foreign war, as tested in the Crimea.
The idea of an English army on American soil needs
not a second thought.  Whether French and English
troops may threaten us from Mexico, is a question to be
settled hereafter.  When that issue is presented, Europe
will probably discover that the Monroe doctrine is not a
dead letter in America.
But the English navy, as well as that of France, constitutes a power quite different from the army, and the
question, whether we are able to meet this force upon the
sea, is a very serious one, involving our national safety.
It is proposed, therefore, to present, first, a general
statement of the large navies of Europe as well as our
own, and then, by a careful analysis, estimate their comparative strength.




NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA. 439
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
MANY varying newspaper reports of the strength of the
navies of Europe have been spread abroad. The following statement of the condition of the English and French
navies is copied from the NORTH BRITISH REVIEW, for August, 1863.
The writer gives the following in a foot-note as his
authority: "The figures for England are from a Return
to the House of Commons, 1863, No. 30; for France,
from the official statement for 1862, transmitted by our
(the English) embassador, (Parliamentary Pap., 1862, No.
177)."
This table is worthly of especial study. It presents the
latest official statement of the actual condition of the English iron-clad navy, and from it we are able to form a
correct estimate of the force with which England supposes
she can blockade our ports and crush our navy. It shows
us exactly the character, the size, form, and armament of
her most formidable ships, and in which her power, skill,
and science are all concentrated. They are, doubtless,
among the most powerful broadside vessels in the world,
and, perhaps, would find no equal among ships of that
class unless in our own New Ironsides, whose armament
is much heavier than theirs. Whether they are a match
for our Monitors is a question to be considered.




440 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
The account, we are informed, includes vessels afloat and
building:
E0                     4 0  > D3
England,21 59 44 16 30...  9 380.566 103
France,..          16 37 29 18  7  9... 244 360 122
" At Kinburn the French Emperor proved that iron-clad
batteries could, without injury, sustain a fire which would
be utterly destructive to wooden vessels. Ile pursued the
conclusions thus arrived at, and finally, in 1858, ordered
the construction of four iron-plated frigates —La Gloire,
L'Invincible, La Normandie, and La Couronne. The first
three are on wood frames; the latter is iron throughout.
They are about two hundred and thirty-one feet in length,
carrying thirty-six 50-pounders on a single protected deck,
with two more on an upper deck, unprotected. Their
engines are of nine hundred horse power, and the crew
five.hundred and seventy men. All these are at sea, and
have been found successful; but the ports being only about
six feet above the water when at load draught, they are
placed at a certain disadvantage in bad weather. Subsequently two others, the Solferino and Magenta, were
ordered, which have been launched, but are not yet completed. They are armed with a'spur,' projecting from
the bow, carry their guns in two tiers in the center of the
ship, and the lower ports are eight feet from the water-line.
Their length is two hundred and eighty-two feet; draught,
twenty-five feet; and horse-power, one thousand.
"In November, 1860, ten more were ordered, which are
still on the stocks, and are being slowly proceeded with.
They are to be of the Gloire type, and all of wood frames,
except the Heroine, which is of iron; but the thickness
of the plates has been increased from three and a half to
four inches of the Gloire, to four and a half to six inches.




NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA. 441
All the other iron-plated vessels under construction in
France at the present moment are merely floating batteries
for harbor defense.
" Our own armor fleet, though more tardily commenced,
now stands thus:
Hull.   Armor-   Tuns.         Length. Draught. Guns Men.
plated.        Power.
At Sea.                                       feet.  feet. in.
Warrior,...  Iron. Partially. 6,109  1,250   380   22  9   40  704
Black Prince,.  Iron. Partially. 6,109  1,250   380   26  31  40  704
Defense,....  Iron. Partially. 3,720   600   280   24 11   16  445
Resistance,...  Iron. Partially. 3,710   600   280   24 10   16  455
Royal Oak,... Wood. Wholly.  4,056    800   273   25 10  35  600
Launched.
Caledonia,... Wood. Wholly. 4,125  1,000   273   25 101  35  600
Ocean,..         Wood. Wholly.  4,047  1,000   273   25 10  35  600
Prince Consort,. Wood. Wholly. 4,045  1,000   273   25 101 35  600
Hector,....  Iron. Partially. 4,089   800   280   24  8   32  600
Valiant,..    Iron. Partially. 4,063    800   280   24  8   32  600
To be Launched
1863.
Minotaur,...  Iron.  Wholly.  6,621  1,350   400   25  8   37  704
Achilles,...  Iron.  Wholly.  6,079  1,250   380   26  3~  30  704
Royal Alfred,.    Wood. Wholly.  4,045    800   273   25 10   35  600
Zealous,..... Wood. Partially. 3,716   800   252   25  3   16......
Royal Sovereign,. Wood. Wholly.  3,963    800   240   22 11          5  200
Prince Albert,..  Iron.  Wholly.  2,529    500   240   20          5  160
Research,...  Wood. Partially. 1,253   200   195   14             4.
Enterprise,... Wood. Partially.  990    160   180   14  41   4   80
To be Launched
1864.
Agincourt,...  Iron.  Wholly.  6,621  1,350   400   25  8   37  600
Northumberland,.  Iron.  Wholly.  6,621  1,350   400   25  8   37  600
Favorite,... Wood. Wholly. 2,186   400   225   20  5             8  160
Other authorities state the  number of iron-clads in  the
French navy at ninety-four; but, as the English reviewer
remarks, all but those enumerated are merely swimming
batteries for harbor defense, and small gun-boats, such as
were used at IKinburn, in the Crimean war. Of these
swimming batteries and gun-boats, the NATIONAL ALMANAC
for 1863 enumerates seventy-seven, leaving, of the ninetyfour iron-clads, only seventeen for the ocean-going ships,




442 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
which corresponds very nearly to the statement of the
REVIEW.
The condition of the Russian navy is said to have been
as follows in 1862:
STEAM-VESSELS.                              No.
Ships of the line,.               9
Screw frigates,...... 12
Side-wheel frigates,..                      8
Corvettes,.....22
Clippers,..........   12
Floating battery (iron-clad),......  1
Frigate (iron-clad),.                        1
Gun-boat (iron-clad),..                     1
Gun-boats,.....                            79
Yachts,.....   2
Schooners,                                   25
Transports,.                                 9
Small steamers,......  68
249
Sailing vessels,.....       62
311
Besides these there were, for port service, small vessels,. 300
Such an enumeration, however, of the ships of any nation presents a very imperfect idea of the strength of its
navy. The three hundred small ships here set down are,
probably, of no value for offensive purposes, or distant
service of any kind; and the same may be said of hundreds of the thousand vessels of the British navy, or of the
seven hundred ships of France.
Since the spring of 1862, Russia has been actively engaged in enlarging her navy, and its effectiveness has been
largely increased. Like other nations, she has begun the
construction of an iron-clad fleet; and this, like the American navy, will, it is said, be composed mainly, at first, of
ships of the Monitor class, of which many, we are told,
are already being built.
The first necessity of Russia is precisely like our own.
She needs batteries which will effectually protect her harbors against the iron-clads of England and France; and,
at one-fourth the cost of such a ship as the Warrior or the




NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA) AND RUSSIA. 443
Minotaur, she can construct a Monitor battery that would
demolish either of these.
Russia, having an unlimited supply of material for a
navy, whether timber or iron; ship-yards so situated that
she can defend them against all Europe; having also the
benefit of American experience and skill, is able to construct a navy equal to any in the world; and, with her
new and most valuable possessions on the Pacific, nothing
can prevent her from becoming, in the immediate future,
a great maritime power.
The Monitor forms of battery will give to Russia, as it
does to us, an immense advantage for all purposes of defense. Wherever, in her numerous rivers, she has ten feet
of water, she can build a Monitor that will be more than
a match for any broadside frigate yet afloat, or that can
be floated across an ocean.
Defended by these batteries-invulnerable floating forts
as they are-neither America nor Russia can be successfully attacked; while within this impregnable line of defense they can construct, to say the least, as many, as swift,
and as powerful ocean-going ships as any other nation.
But the policy of Russia, like our own, demands peace
and self-development, not war and conquest; and we both
need means of defense that will keep our ambitious neighbors at home, and the means on the ocean of defending
our growing commerce.
The American navy consists, according to the last report of the Secretary of the Navy, of five hundred and
eighty-eight vessels, seventy of which are iron-clad. Of
the whole number, one hundred and four are sailing vessels. The general account of these navies will stand as
follows:
Steam-ships.   Sailing Ships.  Total.
England,....  566             103         669*
France,....   360             122         482t
America,..........                        588
Russia (1862),... 248        65         313
* Exclusive of small gun-boats and transports; when added, they make 1,014.
t If add swimming batteries and gun-boats, 559.




444 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
The NATIONAL ALMANAC says Russia has also four hundred and seventy-four transport and coasting vessels of
various kinds, but it does not appear precisely what they
are. Russia has also an iron-clad fleet in course of construction, of which no mention is here made. Among her
iron-clads are thirteen Monitors of the American pattern,
ordered by the emperor after Admiral Lissovsky's report
of the trial-trip of the Passaic and of her fifteen-inch guns.
These figures, though copied from official statements,
give only approximately the actual number of the ships
of these various navies, because changes are being so rapidly made that the statements for 1863 will not apply to
the present year. So far as numbers alone are concerned,
and including all classes of ships, gun-boats for harbor defense, and floating batteries, these navies may probably be
represented in round numbers, with sufficient accuracy, as
follows: England, 1,000 ships, including all classes; France,
600; America, 600; Russia, 550 to 600.
Numbers alone, however, afford no sufficient data by
which the navies of these nations can be compared.
Steam has so completely revolutionized navigation and the
construction of war ships, that the efficiency of a navy
depends, first of all, upon the number of its steam-ships,
then upon their speed and size, then upon their character,
whether wooden vessels or plated with armor, and, finally,
upon the guns with which they are armed. If we compare the steam navies of these four powers, and take the
figures for France and England from the official statements in the NORTH BRITISH, already quoted, the account
stands thus:
English Steam Navy,....   566
French  do.  do.,.. 860
American do.  do.,.              484
Russian (in 1860),.            242
Since 1860 the Russian steam fleet has been largely increased. A comparison by numbers, though in no case
reliable, would approach more nearly to accurate results
with the navies of Europe, than in comparing their num



NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA. 445
bers with ours. The form, size, and armament of the
European vessels are so far alike as to enable us to estimate, approximately, their relative strength by a statement
of numbers; but the American navy is so different from
all others in the character and armament of its ships, that
mere numbers of ships and guns give no true idea of its
relative power. For example, the reports state the number of guns in the English navy at about 16,500, while
the number in our own is only 4,500; but when we remember that twenty-eight of the guns of England's finest
frigate, the Warrior, are 68-pounders, and the remaining
twelve 100-pounders, while we have many guns on board
our ships which carry a shot of 450 pounds, the apparent
disparity disappears.
Thus it is seen that a correct opinion of the relative
power and efficiency of the American navy can not be
formed without a somewhat minute examination of the
character and armament of European war ships in comparison with our own. It must be remembered, these
comparisons relate to navies and war ships as they are at
present. Inventions can not be monopolized by one nation, and if it appears that our navy and artillery are now,
in some important respects, superior to all others, it will
depend upon the skill and genius of our countrymen, and
the resources of our country, whether this superiority is
retained. Judging from the past, however, we have little
cause for apprehension. Our mechanics and inventors
have never yet failed to protect the country in her hour
of need, and we may safely trust them for the future.
In estimating the relative strength of navies, we have now
to consider an entirely new element of power, the ironclad ship; and we must add to this the newly-invented
heavy artillery. ]Both these inventions are yet in their
infancy, and, astonishing as the results are which are
already reached, all estimates must be based upon things
as they now are, for no one can foresee how soon our
weapons and methods of warfare may be revolutionized
again.




446 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
The fight between the Merrimac and our wooden frigates, and then between her and the Monitor, closed up
one great era in naval warfare. By that battle the wooden
navies of the world were virtually annihilated. After that
fight the powers of Europe, in calculating their naval
force, were reduced to the small catalogue of their ironclad ships. The London TIMES then said that the navy of
England consisted of four ships, and the English statesman was nearly right when he declared, in the House of
Commons, that England had no fleet.
In a lecture by J. Scott Russell, Esq., we find the following: "The first question was, were wooden ships worth
any thing for purposes of warfare?  Sir John C. Hay, the
chairman of the committee appointed by Government to
make experiments on the effects of artillery upon iron
armor, uttered this fatal sentence upon wooden fleets:' The man who goes into action in a wooden ship is a fool,
and the man who sends him there is a villain.' A list of
the'magnificent fleet'. which now defends England had
been recently published, and it amounted to 1,014 ships
of war. This was a very'formidable inventory,' but he
could give them a very simple analysis of the number.
Of these 1,014 there were, of wooden ships, 1,010; of fast
iron ships, 2; of slow iron ships, 2. A fleet of twenty
Warriors would be more formidable than the whole of the
1,010 wooden ships put together."
This is English opinion of high authority in regard to
wooden navies.
It is not intended, by this, to assert that wooden ships
are, hereafter, to be considered as absolutely worthless, but
they must hold, in the future, nearly the same relation to
the iron clads that merchant vessels have hitherto done to
the frigate and the line-of-battle ship. A wooden ship, of
any size, may be regarded as absolutely powerless against
a properly armored vessel, and, therefore, except as against
other wooden ships, or as transports, the immense wooden




NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA. 447
navies of the world may be left out entirely in our calculations for the future. This destroys, at a blow, the
boasted supremacy of England and France, and places
England, France, America, and Russia very nearly upon
an equality in regard to naval power, with the advantage
thus far, however, on the side of the United States, as will
be proved.
When a ship like the Merrimac demonstrated in actual
battle that she could smash up and send to the bottom a
fleet of wooden ships as the mere sport of a day, or, at most,
without impairing her fighting powers, it shows, very conclusively, that wooden navies are already a thing of the
past, except for certain limited purposes. It is scarcely too
much to say that, with the armament which the navies of
the world then carried, the Merrimac might have met and
sunk every wooden ship on the ocean, with no material
damage to herself. She would have destroyed our finest
frigates, the Minnesota and the Niagara, as quickly as she
did the Congress and the Cumberland.
No squadron of wooden vessels can hereafter enter and
hold a harbor, or blockade a port, in the presence of a
single iron-clad, such as every great naval power has
already; nor could they attack a fort, with any chance of
success, under the fire of the new artillery. They may,
possibly, pass a fort without material injury, but they
would only pass to certain destruction if they were to
meet an armored vessel beyond. Laying out of the account, therefore, the wooden navies, in estimating the
actual fighting power of the nations, the comparison is reduced to the armored vessels now owned in Europe and
America, and the power and resources of this and other
countries for the construction of war ships hereafter.
The fact that the armor plate for vessels is an American
invention, will strengthen our confidence in the skill of
our countrymen for the future. As once before, in the
style of their frigates and their heavy guns, now again, in
the iron shield and form of the ship, Americans have
revolutionized the methods of naval war. We may hope,




448 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
therefore, that she will also lead the nations hereafter.
The following account of the invention is copied from the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN for February 7, 1863:
"On the 22d ult., Senator Cowan, of Pennsylvania, presented a petition in the Senate from A. Stewart and others,
asking for a pension to the widow of Thomas Gregg; it
being claimed that he was the original inventor and patentee of iron-clad vessels. This is a new phase of this
subject, and a brief history of the invention, according to
the information we possess, will, therefore, be of some
public interest just now. It is generally admitted by European engineers that, although iron-clad gun-boats were
first brought practically into use during the Crimean war,
the late Robert L. Stevens and E. A. Stevens, of Hoboken,
N. Y., were the inventors of them. Vessels protected
with angulated iron plates were proposed by them  as
early as 1816, and, for coast and harbor defense, a description of such vessels was afterward submitted to a Government board, consisting of Commodores Stewart and Perry
and Colonels Thair and Totten, in 1841. It was stated in
the document proposing the construction of such a vessel
for the defense of lNew York, that plates of iron four
inches in thickness were equal to five feet four inches of
oak in resisting a ball at point-blank distance; and, with
the guns then in use, it was supposed that none of their
shot could penetrate a vessel clad with such armor. In
1843, a contract was formed between our Government and
Messrs. Stevens for the construction of such a floating
battery, and $500,000 was furnished by Government, and
expended on the battery now at Hoboken.
"During the Crimean war, in 1855, it was found that
wooden steam frigates were totally useless in attacking
granite casemated forts, defended by big guns firing shells.
An application of Stevens's invention was suggested, and
several iron-clad gun-boats were then built for the French
and English navies. A few of these were employed at the
siege of Kinburn, and were decidedly successful. This led




NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA. 449
the Emperor of France to extend the application of iron
plates to one of his large frigates —La Gloire-which was
completed three years ago, and was the first regular ironclad war ship ever built. Since then several have been
constructed for the French and English navies-the American invention having thus been first carried into practical
use in Europe."
In order to mark the progress of the art of mailing vessels, from the first rude application of the American idea
by Louis Napoleon to his gun-boats, at ]Kinburn, to its present condition, and to exhibit the marked peculiarities of
the American iron-clads, it will be instructive to trace the
different steps. Passing by the small gun-boats which
fought at IKinburn, the first important trial of the iron
mail was by the French Emperor on the frigate La Gloire,
the construction of which was ordered in 1858. She is
simply a frigate of the common model, cased with iron
plates about four inches thick. The plates are said to be
three and a half inches thick at the stern and bow, and
four and a half inches in the center, covering the ship's
battery.
She is described from French authorities as about 257
feet long, carrying thirty-six 50-pounders on a single protected deck. Her engine is of 900-horse power, and her
crew consists of 500 men. Her ports are only six feet
above the water. Her width is fifty-six feet, and her
speed thirteen and a quarter knots per hour. The French
Emperor is constructing ten more iron-cased frigates of
this class. Besides these, France has now at sea the Normandie, the Invincible, the Couronne, and two larger ironclad rams, the Solferino and the Magenta.
These last carry each fifty-two guns, and have a speed
of thirteen and a half knots per hour; The lower ports
of these are eight feet above the water. It is also stated
by the NORTH BRITISH REVIEW (August, 1863), that these
largest French frigates are plated in the center with iron
six inches thick. It may be stated., then, with sufficient
29




450 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
accuracy, that Louis Napoleon has at present a fleet of
sixteen iron-clad frigates, carrying, each, from thirty-six
to fifty-two rifled 50-pounders; that their armor-plates are
some four and a half and some six inches thick, and that
they have a speed equal to our fastest war ships, with the
exception of some of our small and latest built ships,
such as the Eutaw and the Sassacus, being much swifter
than any of our own iron-clads.
The Normandie has crossed the Atlantic, but no very
favorable account has yet been given of the sea-going
qualities of any of these French ships. They are said to
roll very heavily, and that their batteries can not be used
in a heavy sea, because the ports roll under. They are
also said to be very unhealthy. These are very likely to
be objections to all iron-clads, because, when in action, few
of them  can be properly ventilated, and the same must
be true of them in heavy weather. So far as is known,
all the broadside iron-plated ships roll heavily in a rough
sea, and the remedy for this does not, as yet, appear.
An inspection of the table already copied from the
NORTH BRITISH will show that English mailed vessels are,
many of them, of much greater size and power than any
yet constructed by the French. Nearly all of them are
larger than the American Ironsides or Roanoke, and sev-'eral of them are longer and of greater tunnage than the
Dunderberg, our largest iron-clad. A brief description of
three of these vessels will enable the reader to compare
them with our own iron-plated fleet, and to judge whether
we have reason for apprehension should we be compelled
to meet them.
The Warrior and the Black Prince are regarded as the
model ships of the iron navy of England, and they may
be considered as embodying the utmost skill and science
of Great Britain at the present time. These ships are 380
feet long; their tunnage is 6,000 tuns; their draught is, of
the one, 22 feet 9 inches, and of the Black Prince, 26 feet
3 inches. They each carry forty guns: twenty-eight 68pounder, and twelve 100-pounder Armstrong guns. Their




NAVIES OF ENGLAND2 FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA. 451
crew is 704 men. Their armor-plates are four and a half
inches thick, and the Warrior, on her trial trip, had a
speed of fourteen knots, and the Black Prince ran from
twelve to thirteen knots per hour. Their engines are of
1,250-horse power.
These ships are only plated with iron for two-thirds of
their length, the bow and stern being, as English writers affirm, more vulnerable than a common wooden ship. The
battery only is protected by the iron mail, while about
sixty feet of the stern and bow are like a common vessel.
The Minotaur is 400 feet long; her tunnage is 6,621
tuns; her engines are of 1,350-horse power; her draught
is 25 feet 8 inches, and she is to carry thirty-seven guns.
Her speed has not been ascertained. Portions of the armor
of this ship are said to be six inches thick. The Bellerophon is a newly-devised iron-clad, now being built, whose
coming is thus heralded by the London TIMES: She will
be "as terrible an assailant to iron-clads as an iron-clad
would be to wooden ships. The object with which this
vessel is designed is, in case of another great war, to avoid
repetition of the long, dreary process of blockading an
enemy's fleet, by wearisome and dangerous cruising off the
mouth of harbors. The Bellerophon is, in short, to a fleet
of iron-clads what a fox-terrier is to a pack of hounds.
In case of an enemy's iron fleet running into port, she can
follow them with impunity."
But in the description which the TIMES gives of what it
calls "this monster," one fails to discover the immense
superiority which is claimed.
She'is 300 feet long, 56 feet beam, has a draught of
25 feet, and her tunnage is 4,246 tuns. " It is hoped," if
certain improvements work well, that she will make fifteen knots per hour; but she is on the stocks as yet, and
her speed is yet to be determined. Her armor-plates are
six inches thick, but they reach to the upper deck for only
ninety feet of the ship's length; for the remaining distance
of two hundred and ten feet, the plating reaches only six
feet above the water, and all above this line and both




452 NAVIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AMERICA, AND RUSSIA.
ends of the vessel are unprotected. She is to be armed
with ten broadside guns, of what size we are not informed,
and probably that is not yet determined. Of iron-mailed
vessels, of the general character described-most of them,
however, somewhat smaller-England has between twenty
and thirty built, or in process of construction. Like those
of France, they are all broadside ships, and, of course, expose an immense surface to an enemy's fire. The importance of this will appear, when they are compared with the
American Monitor form of war ship.
The objections made to the French ships are, that they
can not use their batteries except when the sea is smooth,
and that, in rough weather, they roll so as to render them
not only uncomfortable, but dangerous.  The English
ships require from 25 to 26 feet of water, and are, therefore, unable to enter our principal harbors. From their
great size, they are unwieldy; the joints of their armorplates work in a sea, and leak; they do not steer safely;
and, from the general tone of English criticisms, one is
led to infer that they are by no means satisfied with the
performance of the iron fleet. But, as neither the French
nor English ships have been, as yet, tested in battle, no
very definite opinion of their qualities can be formed.
We know, however, exactly the effect which certain
kinds, of artillery will produce upon iron plates, such as
those which form their armor; and as the American ships
have been exposed, at short range, to the heaviest cannon
and the most destructive shot which England could furnish to the rebels, while at the same time our guns have
been tried upon armor-plates in action, we have the means
of forming a very accurate opinion of our power for attack
or defense, as compared with other nations.
The condition and character of the American navy demands a separate chapter, and this will involve, also, a
description of our artillery, and then all will be able to
make the proper comparison between our navy and those
of Europe..




THE AMERICAN NAVY.             453
CHAPTER XXXVII.
THE AMERICAN NAVY.
AT the commencement of Mr. Lincoln's administration
our navy consisted of only forty-six vessels. In December,
1863, it numbered 588 vessels, mounted with 4,443 guns.
The aggregate tunnage of these ships was about 468,000
tuns.
The creation of such a navy in so short a time, considering the number and character of the vessels, is without
a parallel in the history of war. It is at once a most
cheering proof of the vast resources of our country, and
of the wisdom and energy with which our Navy Department has been conducted. In the brief space between the
breaking out of the war and December, 1863, the country
has been elevated into a first-class naval power; and,
probably, those who have been disposed to criticise the
operations of the Secretary would find it very difficult to
point out a course by which the safety and honor of the
country would have been more securely guarded.
It is no small proof of ability in the management of the
navy, that there was skill enough to provide, and independence enough to use, a form of war ship and a kind
of cannon before untried, but which time and experience
have shown were alone, of all ships and weapons then
known, capable of meeting the emergency.
Had there been a frigate built like the Warrior in
Hampton Roads at the time of the appearance of the




454              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
Merrimac, ani armed with the Warrior's guns, there are
good reasons for believing that she would have been overmatched by the rebel ship. - The Merrimac, with her heavy
armament and her sloping armor, could not, probably, at
that time, have been beaten by any ship afloat, except the
Monitor. The Monitors and the fifteen-inch guns have
rendered the creation of a rebel navy impossible, and these
alone could have done it; and this is a sufficient answer to
all by whom they have been condemned.
This subject, however, will be more fully discussed in
another place. The American navy is an original creation.
In the forms of its most powerful ships, and the character
of its armament, it is unlike every other.
A thorough study of all the other navies of the world
would give no data from which to judge of the efficiency
of the American vessels. One would be entirely deceived
by counting their guns, or estimating their length, breadth,
and tunnage, or the number of their crews. These things
alone do not inform us whether they are superior or inferior to the war ships of other nations. They are modeled
after new and strictly American ideas. Whether good or
bad, they belong entirely to this new world. They are
creations of this Western Republic. Not alone our Monitors, but our other ships, are American in their fitting up,
and in the character of their weapons. Judged by the old
standards, nothing is more deceitful. An American ship
of two guns, of the latest model, may, perhaps, prove a
match for a common forty-gun frigate; and it is very certain that we have two-gun vessels, one of which might
destroy the whole fleet with which Nelson fought. It is
necessary, then, to know both the character and the armament of our war vessels before we can judge of their efficiency. The following statements will furnish the necessary
information:
It will, probably, not be denied that, up to the time of
the invention of armor-clad vessels, the Americans had
been the teachers of the nations in the art of ship-building, whether sail or steam vessels, whether for commerce




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              455
or for war. Great length, as compared with tunnage,
sharpness of bow, and speed, were characteristics of American ships and steamboats. It is not deemed exaggeration
that American genius has revolutionized naval architecture,
and that the speed of European ships has been obtained
by following, in the main, the model of the vessels of the
United States. The ocean tub has been displaced everywhere by the long, graceful structure, which first of'all
bore the Stripes and Stars. The London TIMES sneered at
the Niagara when she went over to aid in laying the
Atlantic cable; but the finest frigates and corvettes which
England has since built have assumed the Yankee form,
and their boasted Warrior appears like a Niagara somewhat magnified.
A writer in an English quarterly boasts that the British
ocean mail-steamers have driven the American ones from
the seas; but he forgets to state that the Collins line furnished the model for her ships, and that the American line
failed only because, in a new enterprise, and one so expensive, private capital could not contend against the patronage of the British government.
Had our government given a liberal and steady support
to our own vessels, there would have been a different result. The fact that our steamers have obtained a speed of
twenty-five miles per hour upon the Hudson; that some
of our lake vessels have made twenty-two miles per hour
for hours together-such steam-ships as the Vanderbilt and
those of the California line; and the fact that our new war
steamers overhaul the swiftest steamers that our English
friends have built to run the blockade, these things do not
indicate that we shall be very soon driven from the ocean
by the superiority of the vessels of other nations.
Such of our iron-clads as are yet afloat lack speed, but
the main idea in their construction was invulnerability;
and the event has shown, that if this had been sacrificed
to speed or any other quality, it would have been fatal to
our navy and our country's cause.
There is great reason to be thankful that those at the




456              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
head of our navy were wise enough, in the first experiment upon which our all depended, to construct ships
which no artillery of the enemy could penetrate; for upon
that single question the destiny of the country was at that
moment hung.
The best and most destructive projectiles of Europe
were hurled against our ships at Charleston, and Europe
was watching earnestly the result. It would inform England and France whether intervention would be safe.
The only armored vessel of the common form which
attacked Fort Darling was ruined by ten-inch shot; and
the only Monitor-shaped ship in which speed was aimed at
in the construction, was riddled and sunk at Charleston.
Had all our vessels at Charleston been as vulnerable as
the Keokuk, the rebel cause would have triumphed at
home and abroad, though our fleet had been the swiftest
on the ocean.
Four distinct eras appear in the creation of our navy.
In one of these we followed the European models, and
failed to produce an effective ship.  The distinctive
American idea has controlled the other three —the placing the heaviest possible armament in the smallest
possible space, thus diminishing the size of the ship in
proportion to her armament, presenting a smaller surface
to an enemy's shot, and lessening the number of the crew.
If to this is added the American idea of a heavy shot with
a low velocity, rather than a small one with greater veloc-'ity, the idea of a smashing projectile rather than a penetrating one, the reader will have the leading principles
which have governed the construction of the American
navy and the manufacture of American cannon. Through
various steps and countless experiments, these ideas have
led to the Monitors and the fifteen-inch and twenty-inch
guns, while, at the same time, every effort has been made
to perfect our rifled cannon.
The ships with which the Americans won their first
naval renown, in the war of 1812-'15, were constructed
with the intention of bringing the armament of a line-of



THE AMERICAN NAVY.               457
battle ship within the limits of a frigate. This was so
nearly accomplished as to fill England with astonishment
and alarm. It was found that the registered rate of our
vessels by no means indicated their actual power; and the
result was, that when the Guerriere, a British forty-fourgun frigate, was laid along side the Constitution, an American forty-four, the English frigate was demolished in
fifteen minutes. Similar results followed, as is well known,
in other actions; and though it was conceded that the
rapidity of the American fire was generally greater than
that of the English, still our almost unbroken success was
probably mainly due to the superior weight of the American broadside. The manner in which the American idea
of a heavy armament was carried out, will appear from
the following comparison between British and American
ships which fought in the war of 1812-'15. The figures
rest upon the authority of "James's Naval History," and
"Cooper," as quoted by Mr. Alison. The weight of the
broadside is thus stated:
American frigate Constitution,      768 lbs.
American frigate United States,..  864 lbs.
British frigate Guerriere,....   517 lbs.
British frigate Macedonian,.. 528 lbs.
The advantage thus gained was decisive, and the results
gave an eclat and character to the American navy which
it has never lost. It was the first triumph of American
sagacity on the ocean, and it has shaped since their whole
naval policy. The character of the American frigate of
that period will more fully appear from another comparison. The NORTH 3BRITISH, for August, 1863, states, upon
the authority of "' James's Naval History," the broadside
of a hundred-gun ship-the three-decker, such as Nelson
fought with-at 1,260 lbs.
The broadside of the United States frigate was 864 lbs.,
more than two-thirds of that of the English line-of-battle
ship with her one hundred guns.
The American and English ideas will appear still more




458              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
strongly contrasted by another statement. According to
the NORTH BRITISH, in the article alluded to, the English
ship of the line in the beginning of this century, in the
time of Nelson, averaged about 2,000 tuns burden, and
her broadside weighed 1,260 lbs. Now the Warrior's tunnage is more than 6,000 tuns, and the weight of her broadside is no more than 1,612 lbs. The American frigate
Minnesota is of 3,300 tuns burden, but the weight of her
broadside is about 2,500 lbs.
One of our sloops, like the Brooklyn, throws a broadside equal in weight, and far more than equal in efficiency,
to that of the old English hundred-gun ship. The difference between a British and American ship is again
illustrated by the American New Ironsides and the English Warrior, both iron-clads, and representative ships.
The American frigate is 3,400 tuns burden, the Warrior
a little more than 6,000 tuns. The American ship throws
a broadside about equal in weight to that of the British
vessel, which is nearly double her size; and to make the
American idea stand forth more prominent, the New Ironsides mounts only eighteen guns, while the Warrior carries forty.
Again: the turreted frigate Roanoke throws from her
six guns a weight of metal, at a broadside, almost equal
to that of the Warrior when using twenty guns on a side;
and, if armed with six fifteen-inch guns, as she can be
if needed, her broadside from these six cannon would
exceed that of the Warrior's guns by at least one thousand
pounds.
These facts present, very clearly, the peculiarities of
American ships and American artillery, and the difference
between them and the vessels and cannon of Europe.
They show that the American mind is not working at
random in regard to our weapons of war, but in accordance with original and clearly-defined ideas. The second
era in the construction of the United States navy began
after the war of 1812-'15, in which an effort was made to
follow the European model of the three-deck line-of-battle




THE AMIERICAN NAVY.             459
ship. It resulted in those failures which are now used for
receiving-ships, such as the Ohio, the North Carolina, the
Pennsylvania, and the Vermont, which are utterly worthless, except as a sort of floating warehouse. The American mind does not work successfully in European harness.
In the third era there was a return to the American idea,
and it produced such frigates as the Minnesota, the Wabash,
the Merrimac, the Roanoke, and the Niagara. They were
by no means perfect ships. They failed in speed; but still
they were the most formidable frigates afloat. The direction which American improvement has taken is indicated
by the Minnesota, whose battery of fifty guns throws more
than twice the weight of shot, at a broadside, that was
thrown by the hundred-gun ship of Nelson's time, while
the British Warrior, three times the size of the old threedecker, uses less than 400 lbs. more shot than the " old
liner" in a broadside.
The French and English hundred and hundred-andtwenty-gun ships, that were fought at Trafalgar and the
Nile, would be greatly overmatched by such a frigate as
the Minnesota, with her heavy guns, and firing shell horizontally, as the Russians did at Sinope, and by which the
Turkish fleet was destroyed.
The fourth era in the creation of the navy of the United
States has been marked by the introduction of three new
classes of ships: the swift, heavily armed, wooden corvette, such as the Lackawanna, the Canandaigua, and the
Sacramento; the still swifter, double-bowed steamers, like
the Sassacus and the Eutaw, and the various forms of ironclads, of which the Monitors are the most numerous.
This period has also been distinguished by a new form of
American cannon; and these new ships and this new
artillery have, it is believed, revolutionized the art of war,
both by sea and land. The reasons for such a belief will
appear from what follows. As has been stated in a
previous chapter, France and England began the construction of iron-clad vessels soon after the close of the Crimean war-France in 1858, and England somewhat later.




460              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
The general character of these ships has been already described. The rebel leaders, in preparing for rebellion, had
made themselves familiar with these operations in Europe,
and, almost immediately after the war had begun, turned
their attention to the preparation of a formidable iron-clad
ship.
They'had seized the most important navy-yard of the
country-that of Norfolk-though not before the vessels
lying there had been scuttled or set on fire and sunk.
Among these was the frigate Merrimac, of the class of the
Minnesota, of about 3,200 tuns burden. This ship the
Confederates soon raised, and proceeded to convert her
into an iron-clad battery and ram. In size she was about
equal to the New Ironsides, to which ship she bore some
general external resemblance. There was nothing original
in her construction. Her armor formed an angle with her
sides, covering her deck and guns after the manner of a
roof, according to a plan which had been proposed but
not adopted in England, at least in her first-class vessels.
In the absence of official information, the exact form and
thickness of her armor can not be stated. It has been
variously described, some believing it to have been formed
of railroad iron, and others stating that she was mailed
with plates, four inches or four and a half inches in thickness. One important test was, however, applied, which
showed more conclusively her powers of resistance than
any measuring the thickness of iron plates could have
done. She was attacked with nine-inch, ten-inch, and
eleven-inch guns, their shot weighing, respectively, about
100 lbs., 128 lbs., and 169 lbs. The heaviest guns of the
Minnesota, the Cumberland, and the Congress made no
impression upon her, and, although the Monitor engaged
her for five hours with eleven-inch guns, and, at times,
only a few yards from her side, it is not known, certainly,
that her armor was once penetrated, although compelled
to haul off and signal for assistance, her hull shattered by
the smashing power of the heavy shot that yet did not
pass through her armor. This proves that she was a ves



THE AMERICAN NAVY.              461.
sel of the most formidable character, and that her mail
was equal in resisting shot to that of any French or English vessel which had then been built. Her destructive
power was sufficiently shown, by her shattering and sinking, in a few minutes, with perfect ease, and with not the
slightest inconvenience to herself so far as is known, two
heavily armed wooden ships. She destroyed them as
readily as if they had been bark canoes, and no one doubts
that the Minnesota would have shared the same fate, had
the Merrimac been suffered to approach her. The wooden
navies of the world were virtually sunk with the Congress
and Cumberland, and from that time it was evident that
the ships which were to rule the seas in future were yet
to be built. The ocean-scepter of Britain was broken by
the blow which crushed in the sides of the Cumberland,
and all nations were to start anew in the creation of navies. England, said the TIMES, had but two ships.
The morning after the destruction of the Congress and
Cumberland was the most hopeful one, and the proudest
one, that ever rose on the slaveholding Confederacy. They
seemed to have a war-engine capable of destroying with
ease the whole American navy, and of entering any harbor, of capturing or burning all our sea-coast cities. If
the Merrimac was indeed a sea-boat, all this was really
within reach of the rebels, so far as then was known. It
is believed that nothing could have prevented her, if opposed only by our wooden ships, or our forts as they then
were, from reaching Washington, Philadelphia, or New
York.
Had she succeeded in this, it probably is not too much
to say, that the cause of the Union would have been lost.
The Christians of the country will never cease to believe
that it was the special interposition of God which brought
the Monitor to the scene of action just in the hour of the
country's greatest need, and put an end to the career of
the sea-giant which threatened to crush us at a blow.
The Merrimac had settled, conclusively, the helplessness
of a wooden ship, or squadron of ships,. when attacked by




462              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
an iron-clad. This was a mailed ship, patterned in general after the European model, differing mainly in her
sloping armor; but the next day she was met by a war
ship such as the world never saw before, a fresh invention
of the genius of the West, a hurried, rough, imperfect
embodying of an idea destined to work another revolution
in the structure of ships and the methods of naval war.
The reader should remember the size of the Merrimac in
order to judge correctly the combat which followed. Her
tunnage was more than twice as great as that of the
frigates Constitution and United States, with which the
victories of 1812-'15 were won, and almost twice as great as
that of the hundred-gun ships of the time of Nelson. She
ranked with the most formidable iron-clads of Europe, for
she was completely mailed, and her angulated armor was
thought to give her an advantage even over these.
The next morning after the terrible feat with which she
had startled the country, she came forth for the purpose
of destroying the Minnesota, and then she intended, as
was thought, to proceed at once to Washington and the
Northern cities.
As she approached the Minnesota, her progress was interrupted by a strange-looking something, no one on board
the frigate knew what. "A cheese-box on a raft," they
called the queer little boat, raft, or canoe, or whatever it
might be. The huge, mailed monster seemed at first disposed to take no notice of this diminutive craft, and steered
for the Minnesota. But the first shot from her small
adversary was a startling proof of power.
The practiced ear was taught by that report that the
new-comer had at least one formidable gun. The Merrimac stopped her engines and paused to observe her little
enemy. It came straight on, showing no sign of fear,
indicating a wish to come at once to close action. The
first shot which struck the Merrimac showed her officers
that the Monitor was throwing projectiles of unusual
weight, and created some anxiety, which was by no means
lessened when they found that their own broadside made




THE AMERICAN NAVY.             463
no impression upon the little turret, which hurled forth
shot in return, whose stroke made the huge ship shudder.
Fearing for the result, at length, the Merrimac undertook
to do what many think so easily done-to run the Monitor
down and sink her. She failed, but in the attempt exposed
herself more than before to the Monitor's shot, while the
Monitor was uninjured. This first battle of the iron-clads
continued for five hours, and then the Merrimac, apparently much injured, drew off, signaled for aid, and was
accompanied by some steam-tugs back to Norfolk. This
was the end of her career. She was shortly after blown
up, rather than risk her in another action.
In its bearings upon naval war, the structure of war
ships, and the destinies of this country and Europe, this
may be considered the most important naval battle of
modern times. The ships engaged in it so far represented
the navies of the world, that safe general inferences could
be drawn from it in regard to the future.
The wooden navies of Europe and the United States
were virtually on trial there, through the Minnesota, the
Cumberland, and the Congress. The iron-clads of France
and England were so nearly represented by the Merrimac,
that an opinion formed of her would equally apply to them
with very little modification; while the Monitor presented
the rude germ of the turreted navy which the United
States has constructed since.
The result was, that while the wooden ships were as
egg-shells before the iron-plated one, the little turreted
vessel, with her two heavy guns, defeated and drove off,
with no injury to herself, a first-class iron-clad broadside
frigate, armed with the heaviest guns then known to
European war.
This combat not only saved our own navy and our
cause, but it prevented the rebels from constructing one,
by destroying the basis of it; and showed England and
France that the Americans could build a ship in three
months which would be a formidable antagonist for their
most powerful frigates. To suppose that this fact had no




464              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
bearing upon their policy, is to believe them less prudent
than usual. The Monitor did, indeed, admonish Europe
that intervention would be dangerous. Persistent efforts
are made to show that the Monitors are all inefficient, an
almost worthless class of ships, not worthy to be compared
with the broadside frigates of England and France, and
that the government is merely wasting the people's money
in their construction.
Before entering into a particular discussion of the peculiarities, merits, and defects of the Monitors, it may be well
to offer a few suggestions in regard to this now famous
battle in Hampton Roads. First, let it be asked, How
would that fight have terminated had the Merrimac encountered, instead of the Monitor, a frigate the exact
counterpart of the English Warrior?  The Merrimac was
plated, it is said, all round; the Warrior only for twothirds of her length. Considering the terrible effect of the
shells of the Merrimac upon the Congress and Cumberland,
"converting them," as an English reviewer says, " into
helpless, burning charnel-houses," how would the Warriorbuilt frigate have escaped a similar shattering in her unprotected bow and stern? The Warrior is armed with
68-pounder smooth-bores and twelve 100-pounder Armstrong rifles.  The batteries of the Cumberland  and
Minnesota threw heavier shot than these, and made no
impression upon the Merrimac; while the shot of the
Monitor weighed 169 pounds, and, by some statements,
180 pounds, and these were fired often at the shortest
possible range, and yet it is not known that the frigate's
armor was pierced.
What reason is there, then, for supposing that such a
ship as the Warrior could have seriously injured the
Merrimac? and how much reason we have, on the contrary, to think that the rebel frigate would, with her
heavier armament and shell-guns, have been victorious!
Our own broadside frigate, the New Ironsides, armed as
she now is, would, in all probability, capture or destroy
such a ship as the Merrimac; but it would be with far




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              465
greater risk than was run by the Monitor, because her
ends, like those of the Warrior, are not protected by
armor.  At Charleston, shells pierced these unshielded
parts at the distance of a mile; and, in close action with
the Merrimac, she might, perhaps, have been seriously injured, or destroyed even, by her shells. The conclusion
seems inevitable, that, for the purpose intended, the little
Monitor was better adapted than any other ship then
afloat.
Indeed, it is very doubtful whether any other vessel then
in existence could have stopped and driven back into Norfolk this formidable iron-clad of the rebels. But suppose
that one of the new Monitors had encountered the Merrimac with fifteen-inch instead of eleven-inch guns. It is
now known, both from the fate of the Atlanta and subsequent experiments, that a few minutes would have sufficed to disable the frigate. While the eleven shot did not
pierce the Atlanta's armor, the fifteen-inch gun sent its
shot crashing through, and with such a shock, that the
crew of the rebel ship could not be brought back to their
guns.
It is not, then, exaggeration to say, as the Charleston
correspondent of the London TIMES has done, that the
Americans, since the rebellion broke out, have twice
revolutionized the art of war-once on the sea, with the
Monitors and their enormous guns; and once on the land,
with their new rifled artillery.
The invention of the Monitor form of war vessel and the
heavy cannon have saved the country, at least for the present, from intervention and foreign war; for they have
rendered it certain that no ship known, that can cross the
ocean, could withstand an attack from our small Monitors
even, armed with fifteen-inch guns, or our heaviest rifled
ones. Experiments already made leave no doubt on this
point.
The extraordinary performance of the small nondescript
craft, that saved from destruction our finest wooden frigate,
and beat off the first iron-clad frigate that ever went into
30




466              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
action, determined the government to rely mainly upon
this class of ship for the present defense of our harbors,
and for the reduction of the sea-coast fortifications in the
hands of the rebels. As large sums of money have been
spent upon this new fleet, and as severe censure has been
cast upon the Navy Department on this account, it is important that Americans should fully understand what the
peculiarities are of those ships which the government has
made so prominent in the creation of our navy.
It will be seen that Mr. Ericsson, in his Monitor ship,
has aimed, first, to carry out the American idea of the
heaviest possible battery in the smallest possible space;
and then to construct an iron-clad vessel with the least
possible space exposed to the enemy's shot, and so render
it invulnerable by thicker armor than a broadside ship can
carry. As an example, the side armor of the Dictator is
eleven inches thick, and her turret is fifteen inches thick.
She is, consequently, invulnerable to any shot yet known,
but no broadside ship could swim a moment cased all round
with such an armor as that. Mr. Ericsson then places two
heavy guns in a revolving turret, whose walls, in the first
Monitor, were nine inches thick. This turret is placed
upon an open deck, so that the guns, as the turret revolves,
can be fired in any direction. This deck is sunk almost
to a level with the water; and the small space above the
water-line can be so heavily armored as to be impenetrable,
without destroying the buoyancy of the ship. In action,
then, the Monitor ship presents a very small mark to an
enemy's guns-only her turret, nine feet high, and some
twenty or twenty-two feet in diameter, and a very narrow
line of her side, just at the water's edge. These ships, in
addition to the battle with the Merrimac, have been exposed, at short range, to the heaviest artillery and steel-shot
at Charleston, and no shot has yet penetrated either a turret or a side. That they should be injured by a fire which
would have sunk any other ship afloat, was a matter of
course; but no gun, rifled or smooth-bore, which the rebels
yet have tried, with all the skill of England at their dis



THE AMERICAN NAVY.                467
posal, has sent a shot through a turret or the side of a
Monitor.
Plates have been cracked and bent, but, with the exception of two or three casualties from bolt-heads, (now guarded
against), the Monitors have protected their crews from shot
under a fire which no other vessels were ever exposed to,
and which there is no reason to believe any other ships
afloat could endure.
In the creation of the new navy, the government has
constructed-or is building, at least-four classes of Monitors, besides other forms of iron-clad vessels, both for ocean
service and for our rivers. A brief description of one of
each kind will enable the reader to judge of the present
efficiency and probable future of the American iron-clads;
and this, with an account of our new wooden ships, will
show what claim we have to be considered a first-class
naval power, and whether we shall be able hereafter to
defend our commerce abroad and our cities at home.
The small Monitor, which encountered and beat the
Merrimac, the pioneer ship of her class, was truly an extempore vessel, hurriedly built, to meet the emergency
which the rebels were preparing for the country at Norfolk; and the great value of the principles upon which she
was constructed is shown in the victory which was won
over so formidable an adversary.
The following facts in regard to the Monitors are derived
from an article in the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, one of the best
authorities upon such subjects in this or any other country.
The dimensions of the original Monitor were as follows:
Extreme length on deck, over the armor,.   173 feet.
Extreme beam on deck, over the armor,  41 feet 6 inches.
Depth,..                  12 feet.
Length of iron hull,..             127 feet.
Width of iron hull,...6 feet 2 inches.
Projection of armor-shelf forward,...   14 feet.
Projection of armor-shelf aft,...    32 feet.
The thickness of the side armor was five inches, above
the water-line, diminishing first to four inches and finally




468                THE AMERICAN NAVY.
to three inches below the water. The whole armor above
the water was two feet three inches of wood, and five
inches of iron. The turret was made of eight thicknesses
of one-inch iron plates. Its inside diameter was twenty
feet, and its hight nine feet.  Her armament was two
eleven-inch guns, laid side by side, and they revolved with
the turret.  Such was the diminutive affair which conquered a first-class iron-clad broadside frigate. Her success was due to three things: the invulnerable turret which
shielded her guns and crew, the great weight of her shot,
and the extremely small surface-little more than her turret-exposed to the enemy's shot. Her defects were many,
but they did not affect the main principles of her construction. She was slow, but there is no good reason why a
vessel built on the Monitor principle should not be a swift
one, and the Puritan and Dictator are expected to be very
fast.
She was not a good sea-boat, nor a safe one. The
shelf or deck which supported her armor projected over the
hull, like the guards of a Western river steamboat; and
this projection, being thirty-two feet aft and fourteen feet
forward, strained her in a heavy sea, and finally separated
the deck from the hull in a storm, and she foundered at
sea.
Notwithstanding these serious faults, she had settled the
value of the principles of her construction, and the government at once determined to build nine more according to
the general plan, with such changes as experience had suggested. The nine vessels of this new Monitor fleet were
modeled alike, and their dimensions are as follows:
Length on deck,.                       200 feet.
Width on deck,.                       45 feet.
Depth on deck,.                 12 feet.
Length of hull proper,.           159 feet.
Width of hull proper,....              37 feet 8 inches.
Overhang of armor-shelf forward,...      16 feet.
Over'hang of armor-shelf aft,            25 feet.
Tunnage,.                              844 tuns.
Draught of water,...... 10 feet.




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               469
The side armor is composed of five one-inch plates.
The thickness of the armor and its wood backing is three
feet eight inches. The deck is plated with two thicknesses
of half-inch iron. The turret is eleven inches thick, made
of eleven plates one inch thick. It is nine feet high, and
the inside diameter is twenty feet. The armament was
originally intended to be two fifteen-inch guns. But this
now varies: some carry one fifteen-inch and one eleveninch gun, and others one fifteen-inch smooth-bore and one
Parrott rifle, a 150 or a 200-pounder. These are the ships
which were engaged at Charleston.
Still another fleet of nine are, at this time, (March,
1864), about ready for use. They vary little from those
last described, except that they are about one-fourth larger,
being about 225 feet long and of about 1,000 tuns burden.
The projection of the armor-shelf is less, and the vessels
are expected to have greater speed, and it is also believed
that they will be good and safe sea-boats.
In addition to these, some twenty Monitors of less
draught are under way, which, in other respects, are similar to the last described, being 225 feet long and 25 feet
wide. They are intended to be fast boats.
Besides these, there is another class of Monitor ships,
now nearly finished, differing, in some particular, from
those already mentioned. They are much larger, some of
them being nearly 1,600 tuns burden. Their side armor
is ten inches thick, and the thickness of the turrets is
fifteen] inches. Some of these have two turrets.
In the frigate Roanoke there is a combination of the
turreted and the broadside ship. She is of the same class
as the Merrimac. Her upper works were taken off, her
sides plated all round with iron four and five-eighths inches
thick in the central portion of the ship, and somewhat
thinner, as is stated, at the bow and stern. Upon her deck
are placed three revolving turrets, of the Ericsson form;
and in these she carries six guns-two fifteen-inch, two
eleven-inch, and two 150-pounder rifles. The weight of
her broadside, as at present armed, is about 1,500 pounds.




470              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
But she can carry six fifteen-inch guns if necessary, and then
the weight of her broadside would be about 2,500 pounds.
She is said to be a slow ship, and it seems not probable that
her peculiar form will be adopted in the construction of new
vessels, although she has never been tried in action.
The Dictator and the Puritan represent still another
class of Monitors, which are intended to be swift sea-going
ships; and, if successful-of which no doubt is entertained,
except in regard to their speed-they will be the most
formidable ships of our navy, and absolutely invulnerable
to any artillery yet in service in Europe. These two ships
are so nearly alike, in general form and construction, that
a description of the Dictator, copied from the New York
TRIBUNE, will answer for- the Puritan, except that the
Puritan is fifty feet longer than the Dictator, and will have
two turrets. In other respects, the ships are, in general,
alike.
"It having been frequently stated that the Dictator is
an ocean iron-clad, the impression prevails that she resembles the New Ironsides and other vessels built for the
purpose of going to sea. This is not so. The Dictator
has none of the paraphernalia of such ocean vessels as we
are in the habit of looking at in our harbors. She has
none of the tall bulwarks, no masts, no rigging, no capstan on deck-nothing, in fact, that looks like an ordinary
ship. A long-armed man could almost dip his hands into
the water from her deck.
"The dimensions of the hull of the vessel are as follows: Extreme length over all, 314 feet. The aft overhang being thirty-one feet, and forward overhang thirteen,
it leaves 260 feet between  perpendiculars.  Extreme
breadth fifty, and depth twenty-two and a half feet. Unlike the original Monitor, and the Monitors that are now
in course of construction, the Dictator is almost exclusively
iron-her frames, beams, etc., being of that metal. A
person looking at her in the river can form no idea of her
appearance when she is completely, out of water. If an




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               471
ordinary ship were lifted up, and an immense shelf of
eleven feet of iron placed on the top of her deck, overhanging for a space of some four feet on each side, she
would resemble the Dictator. Every frame and beam is
fastened in the most secure manner; and we believe the
bolts were all put in red-hot, to render them sufficiently
tight. The frames are put together in the same manner
as those of the Montauk and Passaic, but they are much
more formidable, some parts of them being double. The
skin of the ship-that is, the covering of the frames-is
of wood, put on in slabs lengthwise, each being about
fourteen and a half inches square. These wooden slabs
are fastened to the iron frame with screw bolts, which
have no nuts, thus rendering it impossible for any such
occurrence to take place as that by which the lamented Captain Rogers lost his life. This wooden skin is no less than
three feet six inches in thickness. The magnitude of this
surface can only be understood when we state that the hull
of an ordinary European steamer does not measure more
than eighteen to fifty inches in thickness; so that, without
the outside armor at all, the hull of the Dictator is nearly
twice as thick as that of the Persia. Both forward and
aft there are inserted in these wooden slabs immense blocks
of iron, to make them still more formidable and powerful.
The length of the hull, in the case of this vessel, is the
entire length of the ship, as a man can stand on the extreme end of the bow and stern. Taking into account the
usual slope of the sea, the Dictator could not be seen four
miles off.
" The armor of the original Monitor consisted of four
and a half inches of iron, laid on in single plates, each
one inch thick. That of the Warrior consisted of four and
a half inches of iron, laid on in a solid slab like our own
iron-clad frigate Roanoke. The French frigate La Gloire
had also four and a half inches of iron laid on in a solid
slab. Now, the Dictator has on her sides above eleven
inches of iron, and five inches of this is in one solid beam,
somewhat like the Warrior, the La Gloire, and the Roan



472              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
oke, except that the plates of the latter were in very large
slabs, while those of the Dictator are in beams five by
three inches. Over these five-inch blocks of iron are six
one-inch plates of iron; making altogether an armor of
eleven inches of iron, the same dimensions as the armor
of a turret of the original Monitor, the Passaic, Montauk,
etc. The armor begins at the deck and goes down only
six feet, which takes it about four feet below water; so
that the deck of the ocean iron-clad Dictator will only be
about two feet over water. Below this armor there is
twenty-two feet of the ship, only two feet of which is covered by the eleven inches of iron mail. There are, therefore, eighteen and a half feet of the hull which has only
a skin on of one-inch iron plate. The weight of the armor
is about five hundred and twenty-five tuns-the burden of
a pretty large-sized steamer. At six cents a pound, the
armor would cost about $63,000, without workmanship.
"' There will be but one turret, of a very improved pattern. It was originally intended to cover it with twentyfour inches of iron, but the perfection to which its
construction has now been brought will render fifteen
inches sufficient.  This is four inches more than the
armor of the original Monitor and the Passaic, and ten
inches more than the armored sides of the vessels. The
magnitude of the different beams and machinery of the
turret is immense, and it is in this magnitude, and in its
improved pattern, that it chiefly differs from the old turrets. The apparatus for working the guns will be of a
still newer principle than any yet carried out. The revolution in naval artillery, caused by the facility with which
four or five men can work the old fifteen-inch gun, will
be made still more startling when one or two men can
easily handle the immense pieces of ordnance to be placed
in the Dictator. The turret will be covered in actiofi
when necessary. The new bar, which was recently added
to the turrets of the last batch of iron-clads, since the
disabling of the Passaic, will be adopted in the new turret
on a much more improved principle. The bar is sixteen




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               473
inches thick, and fastened on with bolts. The gear of the
turret is different from  that of the other vessels, and is
much better. The turret complete will weigh almost five
hundred tuns, or thereabout, being as heavy, almost, as
the entire armor of the vessel. It is not on board at
present, but will be put in its place immediately, as it is
completed.
"The ram is the finest piece of mechanism aboard the
ship. The ram proper is twenty-two feet of solid oak and
iron; unlike the Keokuk, which protruded from the bottom of the hull near the keel, this extends from the top
of the deck, being, as it were, an extension of the entire
armor of the ship. Another advantage in this ram is, that
it could be carried away without any material damage or
injury to the vessel, and without her making water.
" The decks are perfectly clear of all incumbrances, except the turret. The same objection made to the other
Monitors, relative to their liability to be injured by plunging shot, is valid in the Dictator's case; but it is only just
to say, that, of the iron-clad vessels engaged in the attack
on Charleston, none has suffered any serious inconvenience
from injuries done to the deck. It seems almost impossible, and has proved so, that a projectile fired from  an
ordinary boat could enter the deck. The armor of the
deck consists of one and a half inches of iron, laid on in
two plates, in the same manner as in the other vessels.
" The main-deck-that on which the crew and officers are
to live-is a very commodious one, being as high as that
of any first-class sailing frigate in the navy. A man six
feet high, with his hat on, can walk, without stooping,
from end to end of it. Of course the different apartments
have not been as yet arranged, all that sort of work being
left to the last.
" The ship is ventilated by three immense blowers; two
for the use of the vessel generally, and one for the express
purpose of ventilating the engine-room. These blowers
are of immense size, about seventy-two inches by fortyeight inches. An air-trunk, supplying a blower eight feet




474              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
in diameter, is within about thirty-five feet of the stern.
The air to supply the other blowers is drawn from the
top of the turret and distributed through the ship.
" The most untraveled individual knows how vessels are
steered.' The man at the wheel' has before him a compass, the hands of which point to the different parts of
the globe. In the iron-clads this arrangement is impracticable, the needle refuses to do its accustomed business,
surrounded by such masses of iron as are in each turret,
acts sluggishly, and is, in fact, perfectly useless. Several
means have been adopted to remedy this inconvenience,
the most successful of them being that now in use. It is
no other than by the help of a looking-glass. The helmsman stands with the wheel in his hands, and before him
is a mirror. Seven feet above his head, situated in a copper pipe lifted above the pilot-house, is the compass, which
directs the course of the vessel. This compass is so
arranged that the movement of its hands is reflected in
the mirror, and thus will the Dictator be steered.
" The machinery of'the Dictator is of a more extensive
character than that of any man-of-war built in this country or in Europe. The cylinders will not be less than a
hundred inches in diameter. Cylinders of these dimensions have never, we believe, been built in this city, except
once for a side-wheel steamboat called the Petropolis.
The cylinders are bolted into two massive wrought-iron
kelsons, tell feet deep, and some twenty-four inches or
more in width. They are both in line, athwart ships,
and have large slide and expansive valves, the latter working over the former. A peculiar feature of the machinery
is the absence of guides, cross-heads, and other cumbrous
parts. The piston, four feet stroke, has a trunk attached to
it. The boilers are immense, six in number, and have fiftysix furnaces, and an aggregate grate-surface of 1,100 feet:
allowing twelve pounds of coal per square foot of gratesurface, the vessel will require at least one hundred and seventy-five tuns of coal per day of twenty-four hours steaming
at full speed. The weight of these boilers will be almost




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              475
seventy tuns each, that is, four hundred and twenty tuns
altogether, without water; so that when they are completed they will weigh over seven hundred tuns. The
cast-iron in the boilers alone, at six cents a pound, will
amount to $14,000. The shaft is also a gigantic piece of
mechanical work; it weighs something like thirty-six tuns,
the burden of an average sloop. The propeller is a righthanded true-screw, twenty-one and a half feet in diameter;
has thirty-four feet pitch, and weighs 39,000 pounds.
There is no outboard bearing for the shaft. What piston
speed will be obtained from the engines remains to be seen.
The propeller is in a well, and can not be struck by any
projectile, as a shot would have to pass through twentysix feet of water to strike it. The engines are calculated to be something in the neighborhood of 5,000-horse
power.
"One of the greatest difficulties in the way of making
the iron-clads permanently useful was that of protecting
the bottoms from the filth which concentrated there and
prevented them from moving. The original Monitor had
to be towed from Fortress Monroe to Washington, on
account of her bottoms being so foul. The English frigate
Warrior also experienced a similar inconvenience, and we
learn that some Monitors at present off Charleston are
very foul. All sorts of paints have been tried, and all
with want of success. The most popular was a sort of
English'peacock' paint, which was used in some of the
mail steamers; but it did very little good. On the bottom
of the Dictator, however, and on all of our iron-clads to
be built henceforward, and most of the naval-built vessels,
a successful remedy has been devised, which will keep
the bottoms perfectly clear of all filth. It is called'shipzinc' paint, and is perfectly white in color. Some thirty
years since a vessel was coated with it in England; she
arrived here a few weeks ago, and her bottoms were found
in perfect order. The government has responsible parties
furnishing the paint, and its purity can be relied on. It
is confidently expected that a vessel so complete, with




476              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
eleven inches of armor and such a heavy battery, will
prove herself the Dictator of the ocean."
This description is the latest given of this ship, it having been written at the time when she was launched.
HIer armament, it is said, will be two thirteen-inch wroughtiron guns, made after the patterns furnished by Mr. Ericsson himself.
The Dunderberg is another monster iron-clad, much
larger than either the Puritan or the Dictator, and very
different in form, size, and general construction from any
previously described. This is being built at the ship-yard
of W. HI. Webb, New York, and will soon be ready for
launching. The following description will give a general
idea of this powerful ship. It is copied from the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, of March 14, 1863:
" The formidable ram-frigate Dunderberg, now building
for the government by W. H. Webb, at his yard at the
foot of Sixth Street, this city, is in a very forward state,
and being completed as fast as possible. We lately visited
this vessel, and are able to furnish a few details of her construction, which we think will prove acceptable to our
readers.
1" The hull of the Dunderberg is massive, being solid
from stem to stern. It is 378 feet long, sixty-eight feet
wide, and thirty-two feet deep. The frames are twelve
inches thick, and are built of oak, firmly bolted and
fastened together. The model of the ship is very peculiar.
The floor is dead flat for the whole length, and the sides
rise from it at an angle everywhere save forward, where
they are very nearly vertical. The bow is as sharp and has
as fine lines as it is possible to give it; and the stern and
run aft are very clean and handsomely modeled. The hull
is divided by several water-tight compartments, both longitudinally and transversely-a precaution common to
nearly all modern sea-going ships, which has been found
indispensable. The frames are strapped diagonally with




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              477
heavy irons, five inches wide by seven-eighths of an inch
thick, blunt bolted to them. There is a slight sheer on
deck, but it is almost invisible to the casual observer at
a short distance. There is but one rudder: provision is
made, however, for steering by an auxiliary apparatus of a
peculiar nature, should the main steering-gear be shot away.
The frame timbers, twelve inches thick, are ceiled inside
five inches thick, planked outside five inches thick, and
over the planking two courses of heavy oak beams, twelve
inches thick, are again laid, making in all an aggregate
amount of nearly five feet of solid timber on the ram's sides.
The planking is all caulked, and the seams payed, before
the last protection is applied, and the entire mass is as
firmly bolted together as it is possible to do it.
" The ram on the Dunderberg is about as formidable a
looking object as one can conceive. The entire fore-foot
of the vessel is prolonged thirty feet from the hull proper,
and, rising easily upward from the keel about half the distance from the water-line, is there rounded, presenting a
blunt end in shape like the profile of an ax-edge; it then
runs back toward the stem again. The mass of wood
which forms this ram projects inside of the hull almost as
far as it does outboard, and is there substantially secured
to the main timbers. The sides and edge of the ram will
be iron-plated; and even should the whole of it be knocked
off in an affray, the builders say that the hull will be
water-tight.
c" The Dunderberg has, on top of the main-deck, casemated quarters for the guns and crew. This casemate
slopes at an acute angle from the sides to the top. It
takes up a large portion of the vessel amid-ships, and is
an elongated octagon in shape. It is made of heavy timber, plated with iron four and a half inches thick. It is
pierced on each side for three broadside guns, and has one
port forward and another aft, in the casemate, for bow and
stern firing. The hull of the ship is built out from a distance below the water-line to meet the edge of the casemate above, so that the broadside of the Dunderberg will




478              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
present an acute angle to the line of the enemy's fire. We
do not know what the inclination of the casemate and side
is, but it can not be less than 45~. The mass of wood and
iron presenting a resistance to the enemy's rams or projectiles at this point amounts in all to seven feet. There
are to be two turrets on the top of this casemate. The
thickness of the turret-walls will be much greater than
those of the'Monitor' batteries, and strong enough to
resist the heaviest ordnance.
" The armament of the Dunderberg has been variously
guessed at by parties. As it is not publicly known what
it will be, we are not able to inform our readers, further
than that rumor assigns the twenty-inch guns to the
broadside, while each turret will also contain two heavy
guns. The deck of the casemate, and also the main-deck,
will be plated bomb-proof; and the quarters for the officers
and crew, being in the fortress on deck, will be thoroughly
ventilated and open to the light and air: there will then be
none of that depressing influence which is so marked in the
departments assigned to the crews on the other batteries.
"One great and overwhelming advantage that this
splendid vessel has is, that she is built of wood. She may
leak, become water-logged, roll, pitch, and toss, but there
will still be some hope for the crew as long as they stick
to her. Iron batteries fill and plunge out of sight with
very little warning. The effect of this fact upon sailors
morally is not the least important one. Although no men
could have behaved better than the crew of the Monitor
did in their peril, yet they all felt that their case was
hopeless; and if they were saved, it would be more the
result of good fortune than any aid which their ship could
afford them. The Dunderberg will draw about twenty
feet of water. }Ier speed is not stated. Her engines are
estimated at 6,000-horse power. We are not able at present to give particulars of them."
This is one of the largest war ships in the world, and
quite different from all others yet devised.




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               479
If to these descriptions is added an account of some of
the iron-clads intended for the rivers, the reader will have
the means of forming a correct opinion of the mailed navy
of the United States in its present condition, (March, 1864).
The gun-boats Lafayette and Tuscumbia have been selected
as types of our most powerful river iron-clads.
The Lafayette is 304 feet long, fifty feet beam, and
draws eight and a half feet of water. Her plating is two
and a half inches thick, backed by two inches of Indiarubber and twelve inches of solid oak. Her armament
consists of two 200-pounder Parrott guns, two 100-pounder
Parrott guns, and four nine-inch Dahlgrens.
The description of the Tuscumbia is taken from the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN:
"The Tuscumbia is one among the largest vessels in
the Western fleet. In strength of timbers, imperviousness
of her coat of iron mail, stanchness of build, and completeness of outfit, she will rank among the very best of
the iron-clads yet built. Her length is 182 feet, breadth
of beam seventy feet, depth of hold eight feet. She will
draw five and a half feet of water with all her armament,
stores, coal, etc., aboard.
" Her machinery is of superior finish and extraordinary
strength, and is all below the iron-clad deck, and is constructed upon an entirely new plan, lately approved and
adopted by the navy. She has two cylinders, thirty inches
in diameter, six feet stroke, working two powerful sidewheels twenty-five feet in diameter, twelve feet bucket.
She is also supplied with two other cylinders, twenty
inches stroke, working two screw propellers six feet six
inches in diameter.  She is furnished with two small
engines for working the capstan; one forward and the
other aft.  She has six twenty-eight-feet boilers forty
inches in diameter, with five flues each, with an auxiliary
pumping-engine for filling the boilers. By her pumps the
vessel could be flooded in a short time.
"The Tuscumbia has, in addition to her armament, an




480              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
apparatus for throwing hot water, capable of ejecting a
scalding stream to a distance of two hundred feet. The
armament consists of three eleven-inch Dahlgren guns, in
battery, forward, and two 100-pounder rifled guns, in battery, aft. The iron plating on the batteries or gun-rooms
is six inches in thickness forward, and four inches thick
aft. The sides of the vessel are plated with three-inch
wrought-iron; the deck with one-inch wrought-iron.
"The cost of the Tuscumbia will be about $250,000.
Her magazines are provided with an apparatus by which
they can be completely flooded in the short space of one
minute. A bulwark of iron, loop-holed, for musketry, is
placed around her guards. Her speed will be about twelve
miles an hour against the current. She will be manned
by 150 marines. Her custom-house measurement is 980
tuns."
It must not, however, be thought that these two boats
represent nearly all the Western iron-clads. They are of
many different forms, and vary greatly in their armament
and general efficiency. Many of them are expensive and
powerful vessels. Some of those lately constructed have
turrets; and the form of these has been varied, in order
to try experiments which might settle important questions
of construction.  Their armament, in general, is very
heavy-nearly all of them carrying one or more guns of
greater caliber than can be found on the largest French
and English frigates. Eleven-inch smooth-bores and 200pounder rifles are common guns on board the larger class
of the river iron-clad gun-boats. They have been used
successfully against fortifications armed with the largest
cannon, rifled and smooth-bore, which the rebels have, and
have proved a most efficient arm of the nation's power.
The only broadside ocean ships which the Americans
have yet plated with iron, except the Roanoke, which has
an exposed side and turrets also, are the -small corvette Galena and the New Ironsides frigate. It is stated that the
Galena was mailed with plates three and a half inches thick.




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              481
She was pierced and nearly ruined by ten-inch shot in the
fight at Fort Darling, while the same kind of shot made
no serious impression on the armor of the Monitor.
The New Ironsides is a first-class frigate, whose tunnage,
according to the register, is about 3,500 tuns. She is,
therefore, somewhat larger than the Minnesota, and about
1,000 tuns less in burden than the Niagara. Her armorplates are four and a half inches thick; and her armament
consists of fourteen'eleven-inch smooth-bores, two 150pounder rifles, two 50-pounder rifles, and two howitzers.
Her broadside, therefore, is very nearly the same with
that of the rWarrior in weight; but her principal shot
weigh 170 and 150 pounds, while those of the English frigate weigh 68 and 100 pounds-the latter used in Armstrong
guns.
Such guns as the New Ironsides carries defeated the
Merrimac, though the Monitor had only two of them;
while the Ironsides has been exposed at Charleston to far
more formidable guns than any yet used on an English,
or, indeed, on any European ship, and has received in all
those battles no serious injury. The Charleston correspondent of the London TIMES describes her broadside as
the most terrible one in its effects ever thrown from a ship.
Except in speed, this ship has fully answered the expectation of the country. She was constructed, however, with
a more anxious care to obtain a powerful and invulnerable
battery than to give her unusual speed. The broadside
ship and the Monitor batteries are designed for different
spheres'of action; and while swiftness is desirable in both,.
it seems more important for the broadside ship that is intended for an ocean cruiser.
It must be remembered, when comparing the armament
of American and European ships, that changes are continually going on; and the indications are that England
is disposed to follow our lead in the adoption of heavy
guns; and we may expect to see some of her new ships
armed with the largest guns which she is able to fabricate.
It is announced, for instance, that the Royal Sovereign, a
31




482              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
turreted ship, is to carry 300-pounder guns. As yet England has not produced a reliable cannon of this size, much
less has she mounted one on the deck of a ship. But if
Americans teach her the art, she will do it hereafter.
Our largest wooden frigates, such as the Wabash, the
Minnesota, and the Niagara, are ships of only medium
speed, but they are heavily armed with the most formidable cannon which have ever been used, except those on
board the Monitors. As an example, the Niagara, which
has been undergoing extensive repairs, in the hope of increasing her speed, lately took on board, as her armament,
twenty-four eleven-inch smooth-bore guns and twelve 200pounder Parrott rifles, with which the weight of her broadside would be 3,200 pounds, twice that, or nearly so, of
the English Warrior. This armament, however, was found
to sink the ship too low in the water, and it has been
changed. The case, however, indicates the direction of
American experiments. Our new corvettes, such as the
Lackawanna and the Canandaigua, are very swift ships,
and, in size, are nearly equal to the old form of the lineof-battle ship, while their armament is far more formidable.
This general survey of the American navy may be completed by stating that among our smaller vessels are
some of the swiftest in the world.
AMERICAN ARTILLERY.
It will be seen, from the foregoing statements, that the
comparative efficiency of the new American navy depends
upon two things: the American, or Ericsson form of the
turreted ship, and the power of our new artillery. If the
Monitor batteries are really invulnerable, yet, if they are
not armed with guns that can shatter or pierce the sides
of an enemy's ship, they would be nearly worthless, while
the superiority and even the safety of our ships of other
forms must depend upon the character of their guns.
Other nations as well as our own are earnestly engaged
in costly experiments with artillery.  What they may




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              483
hereafter produce, of course, none now can know; but, up
almost to the present hour, the effort of the artillerists
of Europe has been to obtain the highest possible velocity
for the shot, the greatest possible power of penetration,
sacrificing to these ends the weight of the projectile.
The American theory, on the contrary, has been to
increase the weight of the shot, at the expense of its
velocity if necessary-to use, in any event, for breaching
walls and smashing armor-plates, a heavy projectile, and
then, by rifling or otherwise improving the gun, to increase
velocity and range.
Acting upon these opposite theories, the English have
mounted, as yet, upon their ships no smooth-bore cannon
larger than the eight-inch 68-pounder, which forms the
principal broadside guns of the Warrior, while the Americans have already in actual service, on their vessels, nineinch, ten-inch, eleven-inch, and fifteen-inch smooth-bore
guns, while a twenty-inch gun has just been cast at Pittsburg, said to be intended.for the Dunderberg; and 200pounder rifles are found on even our gun-boats, and 300pounder Parrott rifles are in our batteries at Charleston.
Before stating facts in regard to American cannon which
might seem an empty boast, it may be well to present
some very late English opinions upon our new artillery.
The first extract is from the Richmond correspondent of
the London TIMES, and, of course, not inclined to overestimate an American invention.
"Again I feel tempted to raise a warning voice about
the disparity of the armament on board of the Engl.ish
and American navies. It is impossible for those who have
been many months absent from England to be well informed as to the actual state of public opinion at the
present moment upon this vital subject. But, judging
from the officers of tier Majesty's navy who have, at rare
intervals, brought vessels of war into Confederate ports, it
appears still to be held that the 68-pounder or eight-inch
smooth-bore is England's best weapon of offense against




484              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
iron-clad vessels. The experience gained at Charleston
enables me confidently to affirm that as well might you
pelt one of the Yankee Monitors or the Ironsides with
peas as expect them to be in any way damaged by eightinch shot.
"Another disagreeable question forces itself upon an
Englishman's attention when he is cognizant of the terrific
broadside thrown by the eight eleven-inch guns of the Ironsides-one of the most formidable broadsides, in the opinion of the defenders of Charleston, which has ever been
thrown by any vessel upon earth. Have we any ship in
existence which could successfully resist such a broadside,
and respond to it with any thing like commensurate
weight and vigor? I should be faithless to my duty
if I did not mention that it is the universal opinion
of all the English officers serving in the Confederate army,
with whom I have conversed, that England is behind
America in the weight and power of the guns sent by both
nations to sea.
" It is still a matter of the greatest surprise to those who
are cognizant of the endless experiments in guns and projectiles which are every day made by the Federal and
Confederate States, that England has not thought it worth
her while to attach to the armies of both nations such a
commission as McClellan had in the Crimean war, with a
view to their gaining such scientific information with regard to ordnance and projectiles as at this moment can be
gained nowhere else on earth. It is my conviction that
from both sections such commissioners would receive nothing but courteous and unreserved information upon all
that it imported them to know. It is scarcely creditable
to our government that they should be blind to the opportunities for gaining information which this gigantic
conflict affords, or that, from Old World pride, they
should refuse to avail themselves of the experience to be
derived from a continent destined henceforth and evermore to play no secondary part in the drama of the
world."




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               485
The second opinion is taken from the ARMY AND NAVY
GAZETTE (London):
" It may be concluded as certain that the guns used by
Gillmore were Parrott's rifled ordnance. Their work has
been effectually done. Ilad such guns been available in
the trenches before Sebastopol, the Allies would have made
short work, not only of the Redan and Malakoff, and
bastion du mdt, but of the shipping and of the forts at the
other side of the harbor. It must not be supposed that
Sumter was a flimsy, gingerbread fort. It was constructed
of a peculiar kind of hard, close brick, six and seven feet
thick; the arches of the casemates and the supporting
pillars were of eight and nine feet thickness. The faces
presented to the breaching batteries must have subtended,
at 3,500 yards, an exceedingly small angle, and the elevation of the fort was low. But so great was the accuracy
of the fire that a vast proportion of the shots struck it;
so great the penetration, that the brick-work was perforated'like a rotten cheese;' so low the trajectory, that the shot,
instead of plunging into, passed through the fort, and
made clean breaches through both walls. Now, the guns
that did this work cost, we believe, just one-fourth of our
ordnance, cwt. for cwt.; they are light and very easily
handled.  The gun itself is finely rifled, with grooves
varying from four and five in number, for small calibers,
to six and seven for the larger; but, as Mr. Parrott is
still'experimenting,' no settled plan has been arrived at,
and all we know is that the pitch is not so sharp as is the
case in our rifled guns. The projectile is like the conical
Armstrong, and has a leaden sabot and coating-at least
it is coated and based with some soft metal.
" In this journal the attention of the government authorities has been called, again and again, to the Parrott and
Dahlgren guns. The Americans have constructed cannon
of calibers which to us are known only as of theoretical and
probable attainment, and they have armed batteries hundreds of miles from their arsenals, with the most powerful




486               THE AMERICAN NAVY.
guns ever used in war, which have been carried by sea and
in stormy waters to the enemy's shores. Before such projectiles as these guns carry, the breaching of masonry,
whether of brick or stone, is a question of short time. And,
in face of these facts, we are obliged to record that our scientific officers are of opinion that our'best gull for breaching purposes is the old 68-pounder!' Why, we know what
that can do! We know that at 3,500 yards its fire would
be about as effectual as that of Mons. Meg. These trials
at two hundred yards are perfectly fatuous, if no other
results than these, or such as these, be gained by them.
It is of no use saying Sumter was of brick; it was at least
as good a work as most of our existing fortifications, and
infinitely less easy' to splinter up' than a work of granite
or rubble masonry. In substance it resembled very much
our martello-towers on the beach at Hythe. Have we
any gun which could breach one of these at 3,500 yards?... The authorities have had no experience of the
effect of such shot as the Dahlgrens propel. They have
not got the guns to discharge them. When next the
ordnance officers and gentlemen meet, let them apply their
minds to the little experiments the Americans have been
making for their benefit at Sumter. It is astounding to
see what progress has been made in artillery since the
Crimean war."
Another English periodical, by no means favorable to
Americans, makes the following observations upon the
operations at Charleston:
"' The Swamp Angel,' as the Federals call the big gun
of General Gillmore, has surely bellowed loud enough at
Sumter to wake up some of our critics at home to what is
a fact in despite of them. As they have underestimated the
civil contest, so they have overlooked the Titanic character of the military duel, peddling and muddling over
strategics on the map, and blind, meanwhile, to the revolution which these giant combatants are accomplishing in




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              487
the art of warfare. If the Americans are vain of being'big,' why not do them the justice of confessing that they
attain that adjective, in their contentions, their sufiferings,
and their engines and methods of warfare? Twice in the
course of this two-years struggle they have altered the
complexion of the science of destruction-once on the
water, and once on land. The Monitor and Merrimac
confessedly initiated a new era in naval tactics. The plates
of both are hardly rusted by the salt water into which
they went down so soon; but already every country that
pretends to keep the sea armed is fitting out vessels after
their kind. Now, it is a revolution in the art of attack
by battery and defense by battlements, which these energetic fighters have developed. Sumter is down-breached
and shattered into such a ruin that hardly one stone stands
upon another. And this, after repeated failure with such
artillery as could be made to float aboard ship, has been
accomplished by enormous cannon fixed on a land-battery,
discharging bolts of two hundred pounds weight, at a
range of four thousand four hundred yards. Six hundred
of these Olympian thunderbolts were hurled across this
interval upon the walls and parapets of Sumter during the
course of three days, and with such deadly accuracy that
the proud key-stone fortress of Charleston Harbor withered
under them; and an eye-witness writes, that a moldy
cheese fired at for a month with pistols could not present
a more forlorn appearance than Fort Sumter at the close
of the bombardment. No arsenal is safe, no empire secure
which is too proud to study this lesson. Nevertheless, what
is chiefly remarkable about the destruction of Sumter is
the range at which it was accomplished, and the precision
of the fire by which these huge bolts were flung. The
200-pounders are said to have gone through and through,
till the further channel of the fort could be seen between the gaping rents and fissures of the double wall.
Neither Mr. Whitworth nor Sir William Armstrong has
shown us any thing in range and accuracy like this. The
American officers have, first in their profession, laid, and




488              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
kept at work throughout three days, siege-guns the like
of which for weight were last used when Mohammed besieged Constantinople. We do not hesitate to say that
our Spithead forts must be reconsidered, as to structure
and position, if our enemies, whoever they may be, can be
made to fire these American guns from their floating
batteries."
The facts upon which these Englishmen have been compelled to review and change their opinions of American
affairs are such as all Americans should know and study,
and they are presented to the reader, in order that he may
feel confidence in American genius, and know the nature
and power of our new weapons of war. It is proposed to
confine these statements to our largest cannon, for they
alone are peculiarly American. The 300-pounder Parrott
gun is the most destructive one, at long ranges, which has
as yet been used, either in this country or elsewhere.
Its range is between five and six miles, and Charleston
has been effectually shelled at a distance of five miles.
This gun, as is said, has thrown its shot through nine
inches of solid iron.
The 200-pounder Parrott rifle has a range scarcely less
than the former; and with these guns Sumter was riddled
and demolished at the distance of two miles and a half, a
feat before unheard of in all the records of war. In the
destruction of Fort Sumter the Monitors and the New
Ironsides assisted, but the work was performed mainly by
the land-batteries, because the destruction was certain
without exposure of the fleet, and with little loss of life.
Some of the Monitors are armed with one of these guns,
and one fifteen-inch one.  The shot of the fifteen-inch
gun weighs 425 pounds, and the shell 334 pounds. These
monster guns, being as yet experiments, have been handled
very cautiously in regard to the charges of powder. In
the trial of this gun at Fortress Monroe, General Barnard,
of the Engineer Corps, says the shell, with a charge of
forty pounds of large-grained powder, had an initial veloc



THE AMERICAN NAVY.                 489
ity of 1,328 feet per second, and a range of more than
three miles, with 28~ 35' elevation.
He gives his opinion that the maximum range of this
gun is "considerably beyond four miles."  It has been
lately found that these, as well as our other large cast-iron
smooth-bores, will bear charges heavier than those hitherto used. The French armor-plates are said to be superior in resisting power to the English ones. A French
plate, six inches thick, and prepared especially for a target, was lately, at the Washington Navy-yard, smashed in
pieces by a single shot from one of these fifteen-inch guns.
" While rifle sea-coast guns give vastly increased accuracy,
range, and penetration at the higher elevations, the effect
upon armored vessels of their projectiles of relatively
smaller diameter is very much less destructive than the
smashing shock of the immense iron spheres projected
from the thirteen, the fifteen, or the twenty-inch.
"! There is no longer any question of the fact, that the
introduction of guns which project such enormous spheres
of' iron have restored to forts their pristine superiority over
ships. No sea-going armored vessel can withstand the
shock of a fifteen-inch shot; and it is believed that a
thirteen-inch, or even a ten-inch solid shot will be found
to be quite as effective. It is, therefore, safe to assert,
that our harbors, defended by forts armed with such guns,
and having the advantage of artificial submarine obstructions, are securely barred against any ship that can cross
the ocean. The wreck produced by the impact of these
mighty spheres will set at defiance the most energetic
efforts of ships'-pumps or ship-carpenters' plugs; and, as
in the case of the brief but eloquent duel of the Weehawken and the Atlanta, the men of which latter vessel were
driven below from their guns, and could not be induced to
return to them, it produces a moral effect as irresistible as
it is fatal."
The armor of the Atlanta, equal, as is said, to five inches




490              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
of solid iron, was pierced by a shot from a fifteen-inch
gun, and the ship captured.
The government has lately constructed a thirteen-inch
gun of the same external dinzensions, or nearly so, as the
fifteen-inch gun. It is supposed that this will bear a much
heavier charge of powder, and the velocity and range of
the shot be proportionately greater. To test the penetrating and smashing power of cannon-shot, a ten-inch gun
was lately loaded heavily and fired at an iron target ten
inches thick, and the ball pierced it through.
The heavy Parrott rifles will pierce armor-plates of four
inches and five inches thickness with ease. The 300pounder smashes a nine-inch plate; and Stafford's projectiles,' thrown from  a cast-iron smooth-bore, have gone
through seven inches of solid iron, with only fourteen
pounds of powder.
These facts, in connection with what has been before
stated, will enable one to judge of the comparative power
of our navy, and our means of attack and defense. The
reader must remember that the results already reached are
the first fruits only of American genius when earnestly
applied to the arts of war; and that experiments are even
now going on which promise still more formidable cannon
than any now in use.
In estimating the power of our weapons, the reader
must not forget that the old solid cast-iron spherical shot
and the spherical shell are no longer the most formidable
projectiles used in cannon. Elongated shot and shells of
many different forms are used in our rifled cannon, and
lately such projectiles have been used in our smooth-bores,
and even in the fifteen-inch guns. According to Captain
Rodgers' report, it was a conical shot from a fifteen-inch
gun which smashed the side of the Atlanta, and drove the
crew in a panic from their guns-the eleven-inch gun having failed to injure her.
Some of these elongated missiles, whose length is about
twice and a half their diameter, are rounded like a cone,
some are flat-headed, some have the end formed like a




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              491
punch, some are cast-iron, some are of chilled-iron, some
have case-hardened ends, some are of wrought-iron, and
some are of steel. These last are said to be the most destructive shot which have yet been tried, so far as penetration is concerned; but whether these or the smashing
heavy shot-a 425-pounder —would soonest destroy a ship
or fort, is a question yet to be tried.
The reader can now form an intelligent opinion of the
comparative power for attack and resistance of the American and the European iron-clad. But before the direct
comparison is made, let the following statement be carefully read. It is the opinion of one of the most competent
judges of such matters in this country-the editor of the
SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN —upon the condition of the Monitors
after the attack upon Sumter; an opinion formed, as is
shown, after a personal inspection of the vessel most injured in the fight:
"Now that the smoke of battle has cleared away, and
the fearful cannonading at Fort Sumter, which so annoyed
the twittering reporters, has ceased, we may review the
event dispassionately and with reason, at least in so far as
it concerns the offensive and defensive powers of the Monitors. The daily press, through its accredited representatives, made great haste to assure the public that their
favorite batteries, those in which (not unwisely) they
placed the greatest confidence, were altogether unsuitable,
and, in fact, were not available against heavy artillery.
At the time we were compelled, against our judgment, in
view of the overwhelming representations of these selfconstituted authorities, to accept as a fact that we were
beaten in the contest, and compelled to retire from the
fort by sheer force alone. Even at the time of the action,
and in days supervening, that portion of the press of the
country who criticised the conduct of the attack were immediately frowned down, and, to say the least, sent to'Coventry' by other papers, whose interests or opinions
led them to sustain the part our commanders took on that




492               THE AMERICAN NAVY.
occasion. We were treated with graphic accounts of the
effects of the rebel shot on the Monitor's turrets; and it
was asserted that the most destructive shot that was fired
on the occasion struck the Passaic's turret near the top,
and, after scooping out an immense portion of it, broke all
the eleven plates, and spent its force on the pilot-house,
which it very nearly demolished. This is the spirit, if not
the exact letter, of the accounts furnished. Now, we have
examined the turret of the Passaic since her arrival here
for repairs, and, with all due respect for the reporter's
rhetoric and his sensational paragraph, we must say that
it is bosh. The shot did strike the turret, did scoop out a
portion, (which might weigh twenty-five pounds), and did
strike the pilot-house with great force, besides breaking
the turret-plates in its passage. But what of all this?
When iron meets iron, (as when Greek meets Greek), then
comes the tug of war; and it is not to be supposed that a
shot, moving at the rate of say 1,500 feet per second, will
strike an iron structure in its weakest part and not damage it.
"' The simple facts of this loudly-trumpeted performance
of the rebels are, that the shot which struck the Passaic
did not endanger her safety in the least; for all the effect
they had on her externally, she might have been fighting
away till this hour, and, in reality, have been none the
worse for it. We have examined the shot-marks on the
Passaic, said to be sixty-eight in all, though we did not
count them, and find an accurate representation of the
Whitworth shot impressed in the turret in many places.
If these much-boasted projectiles are not able to do any
greater damage than they did, we may safely defy all the
English iron-clads and their armaments. The Whitworth
shot, orfac-similes of them, in a majority of cases, struck
sideways; they reached the turret in all possible positions,
and show very poor shooting on the part of the rebels.
There were several bolts driven in on the turret, which
injured the persons within; but the majority of the indentations and scars could be covered by and filled with a com



THE AMERICAN NAVY.              493
mon tea-saucer. These are, simply, the'terrible' effects
of the rebel shot. Now, what person possessing ordinary
judgment and at all conversant with the properties of iron,
could conscientiously report that the Monitors were unable
to cope with artillery? For our own part, we assert that
the favorable opinions hitherto expressed in regard to those
vessels have been greatly strengthened, and we do not hesitate to say, that, with the present artillery, they can successfully defy any fort or any iron-clad afloat. So far as
the impregnability of their armor is involved, we would
not hesitate an instant to confide our personal safety to
the thickness of their walls. We have no desire to disparage any official in connection with this subject; but, so far
as the Monitors being disabled (except temporarily) in the
late attack is concerned, we must avow our utter skepticism. The Passaic is the only iron-clad sent North; ergo,
the Passaic must be the one most injured. What injuries
are those that merely indent iron plates! and what terrible shot those must be which strike and leave no sign
internally to tell the story of their spent force and impotent rage! We think a much better sensational report
could have been made on the occasion by writing the facts:
How the minions of the rebel government did their utmost
to demolish the Monitors, and how signally they failed;
how, backed and aided by English capital and skill, they
hurled their powerful projectiles against the impenetrable
iron-clads, and were worsted in the encounter; how grandly
those little vessels withstood the enemy's fury; and how,
saving one poor little egg-shell craft, they bore unflinchingly
the most furious cannonading that was ever known in the
shortest space of time. These features would have been
worth commenting upon; and were we in the rebels' situation, we should prefer a naval assault to take any shape
but that proceeding from a fleet of those vessels. Properly
handled and armed, they can defy any ship now floating;
and improvements are being made which will render their
utility past all doubt.
"' We have considered in this light merely the question




494              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
of the impregnability of the Monitors-supposed to be the
first requisite of a modern war vessel. That they have
other objectionable features, we do not deny; but, taking
them as representatives of fighting machines-the greatest
offensive power in the very smallest compass-they can
not be excelled, and the nation does well to estimate them
among its stanchest defenses.
" It is singular, in viewing the effects of the shot on the
Passaic's turret, to note that they exhibit none of the characteristics of a plunging fire. The shot that'scooped out
a tremendous portion' of the top of the Passaic's turret,
struck the pilot-house at nearly the same hight, showing
that it must have been fired at point-blank range, or nearly
so. So also those that struck the base of the turret-no
marks are visible on the deck which would lead the observer to suppose that the missiles were fired from such an
elevation as the barbette of Fort Sumter; and we conjecture that the batteries on Morris Island and Battery Bee
must have taken a hand in the engagement, although we
think it is stated in the reports that those batteries were
silent."
ILet it be remembered that every form of missile, shot,
and shell which English skill and capital could supply was
hurled at the Monitors in that fight, and at short range,
and then, in the light of the foregoing statement, judge
of their powers of endurance. Let it now be supposed
that one of these our smallest Monitors were to engage
such a ship as the English Warrior, and let us observe the
combatants. Let them be placed so that each is within
range of the other's guns. The Monitor carries two guns;
the Warrior has forty. Of the Monitor's guns, one is a
fifteen-inch smooth-bore, the other a 200-pounder Parrott
rifle. The Warrior has twenty-eight 68-pounder smoothbores and twelve 100-pounder Armstrong rifles.  First
observe the difference in the surface which each presents
to the other's fire when lying broadside opposed to broadside. This would not often be the case in action, perhaps,




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               495
but it is the only method of making a' comparison. The
exact hight of the Warrior above the water is not known
to the writer. The battery of the Gloire is said to be six
feet above the water, and the lower battery of the Normandie is eight feet, and these are said to be lower than
in the English frigates, and too low for service in a rough
sea.
Without pretending to entire accuracy-nor is this necessary-it will probably be safe to estimate the sides of
the Warrior as rising eighteen feet above the water, from
the water-line to the top of her bulwarks. She is about
three hundred and eighty feet long, and her broadside
presents, therefore, in round numbers, 6,800 square feet to
an enemy's fire. The small Monitors, such as those at
Charleston, are two hundred feet long. Their decks are,
at most, it is said, not more than twelve inches above the
water, and this narrow strip of hull and the turret are all
that is exposed. The turret is about twenty-two feet outside diameter, by nine feet high, presenting a surface of
not quite two hundred feet. The hull and the turret together, then, offer a surface of about four hundred square
feet to fire, compared with the more than 6,000 square feet
of the Warrior's broadside.
Here, then, is at once an immense advantage in favor of
the Monitor. Her chances of being struck, at the distance
of a mile, would be exceedingly small, while at that distance the huge hull of the broadside frigate would be
almost certainly hit by a majority of shots fired. It is
doubtless true that the ships in action would not often
thus be exposed broadside to broadside; and yet it would
seem that this might be the Warrior's safest position, for
her bow and stern are unprotected with armor, and are as
vulnerable as any wooden ship.
Let their comparative vulnerability be now considered.
Experiment has conclusively shown that no gun now on
board the Warrior, or any other European ship, can pierce
the turret of a Monitor, or even materially injure her side.
The bombardment from the Charleston forts has proved




496              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
this beyond all contradiction. A Monitor, therefore, could
not be materially injured by the Warrior's guns. On the
other hand, the 200-pounder Parrott gun pierces armor
like that of the Warrior with ease; the shot from the
fifteen-inch gun pierced the Atlanta's armor, and a fifteeninch gun has smashed plates much thicker than the armor
of the English ship; and we have the opinion of General
Barnard, already quoted, that no sea-yoing, armored ship
can withstand the shock of a fifteen-inch shot.
All these facts go to show that the boasted Warrior
would be overmatched by one of our small Monitors, like
those at Charleston. This would inevitably be the case, if
she were restricted to the use of her guns only. But it is
said that such a frigate could easily run down and sink a
Monitor. It should be remembered that the huge frigate,
almost four hundred feet long, is unwieldy, while the
Monitors, only half as long, are easily maneuvered. It
requires, as is said, fifteen minutes to turn the Warrior,
and it may be seen, therefore, that it is probably a very
difficult instead of an easy thing for a long, heavy frigate
to run down a Monitor. The attacking ship would be
much more likely to miss her foe, and receive the fifteeninch and 200-pounder rifled shot at short range. It is
true, a slow Monitor can not pursue and capture a swift
frigate like the Warrior; but when a pet ship of the
English navy shall avoid a combat with a diminutive craft
like a Monitor, it will do more to establish our supremacy
on the sea, than to capture that frigate in battle. Should
a European iron-clad ever visit our shores on a hostile
errand, it will not endeavor to save itself from a Monitor
by flight. In such a case the issue of battle must be tried.
But the Warrior is, probably, not now the most formidable ship in the English navy. As none of those ironclads have been yet tested in battle, it is impossible to
judge correctly their comparative merits. There are some
new frigates, however, of about the Warrior's size, whose
armor over the battery is stated to be, for one five inches,
for another five and a half inches, and for still another six




THE AMERICAN NAVY.              497
inches in thickness; and these ships are reported to have
a speed of about twelve knots per hour. This was on the
trial trip, and, as with our own vessels, it will be much
less in actual service.
Let it now be supposed that the most formidable one
of this class, with an armor six inches thick in the central
portion of the ship, the vessel being of the Warrior's size,
were matched against one of our new Monitors, like the
Agamenticus, the Monadnock, or the Miantonomoh.
These Monitors have a side-armor, as is stated, of ten
and a half inches in thickness, while the turrets are fifteen
inches thick. No shot yet fired, either here or in England,
has penetrated such an armor as this; and such an armor
can not be placed upon a broadside ship of the common
form: it would sink her at the dock. Between the English
frigate Minotaur, part of whose armor is said to be six
inches thick, and such a Monitor as the Agamenticus,
there would be the same disparity before mentioned, in the
surfaces exposed to shot. The Minotaur is more than four
times the tunnage of such a Monitor, and while the deck
of the Monitor lies almost level with the water, the Minotaur presents her huge broadside high above the water-line,
and four hundred feet long. The Monitor, besides having
this immense advantage in the chances of being hit by
shot, is herself invulnerable to any cannon now in use;
while the fifteen-inch gun she carries smashes through a
six-inch plate of the best French manufacture, and her
Parrott shot goes through plates six inches and even nine
inches thick. How, then, will the Minotaur withstand the
Monitor's attack?  Nothing is plainer than that she can
not do it with her guns. Can the frigate run the Monitor
down?  It is useless to speculate upon the issue of such
an experiment. The Monitors are also rams of a very
formidable kind, and the broadside frigate, considering the
effect of the Monitor's guns at short range, would, to say
the least, be in as great peril as the American vessel. But
if the Minotaur can not run down such a Monitor, and
should choose to continue the combat, it is a matter of
32




498              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
certainty that she would be captured or sunk. But again:
suppose any European ship of which we have any account,
should engage the Dictator, now nearly ready for sea.
Her side-armor, more than eleven inches thick, and her
turret, fifteen inches, can not be pierced by any shot now
known.
She, too, lies almost level with the water, presenting a
small mark to her adversary, and, with half the tunnage
of the Minotaur, she has engines of 5,000-horse power,
while English official papers, quoted in the NORTH BRITISH
REVIEW, state the horse power of the WVarrior's engines at
1,250, and those of the Minotaur at 1,350. The Dictator,
then, ought to be much the fastest vessel, but this must
be determined by trial. Certainly, however, she can not,
with such engines, be a slow ship. She is built especially
for a ram, and she will carry two guns of no less power
than the fifteen-inch gun and the 300-pounder Parrott, because we know that we have those at command. But Mr.
Ericsson is making his own guns for this new ship, and
expects them to be more formidable than any now in use.
Should he not succeed in this, we already have cannon for
her that, in the opinion of our best engineer officers, no
sea-going ship can withstand. What chance would the
Minotaur have with the Dictator?
Or, finally, select the most powerful broadside ship in
the English navy, and place her by the side of Mr. Webb's
immense frigate and ram combined, the Dunderberg. Her
size is equal to the Minotaur, or nearly so. Her turrets
can not be penetrated; her casemates and sides are as well
protected as those of the English ships; she will have
engines of far greater power; and her guns will crash
through any armor that a broadside ship can float. The
reader can judge what the result of an engagement would
be between any European ship now known, and either the
Dictator, the Puritan, or the Dunderberg.
Compared with their tonnage and displacement, these
ships have, by far, the most powerful engines ever placed
on a war ship. They ought to be the swiftest armed ves



THE AMERICAN NAVY.              499
sels afloat. This remains to be tried. Should they prove
so, however, it is easy to see that England and France will
once more be compelled to begin their navies anew, if
they intend to attack the United States.
Such is the navy which the United States government
has created in a little more than two years; and, gigantic
and efficient as it already is, it is but the first step in our
new career-only the earnest, the first fruits, of what the
nation is capable of performing. American genius has not
yet reached the limit of its inventive power, and we have
no reason to fear that it will not hereafter, as it has hitherto done, keep pace with the progress of Europe.
Mr. Ericsson's invention not only saved the country in
an hour of great peril, but it will revolutionize the structure of war ships, for the Monitors and the big guns,
smooth-bore and rifled, have rendered it certain that no
broadside ship can cross the ocean which our vessels can
not sink; and Mr. Webb's monster sea-going ram seems
likely to present another American idea, which will attract
the attention of the world.
The government has been severely criticised for constructing so many Monitors, and no broadside and swift
vessels. Events will probably vindicate the wisdom of
those who have controlled the navy. The country needed,
first of all, not so much swift ships, nor large ocean cruisers, to match the European navies, as batteries, for coast
service, as nearly invulnerable as human skill and science
then could make them.
This want was undeniably met by the Monitors better
than it could have been by any other vessels yet known.
It needed, at the same time, gun-boats for the rivers. It
will be conceded that these have done admirable service,
and, so far as yet appears, the best of them will be used
as models for future fleets. The broadside type of ironclads was followed in the New Ironsides, and, notwithstanding she is one of the finest frigates of this class afloat,
yet, as the improvements in cannon show how easily her
armor can be pierced, no one will regret that these experi



500             THE AMERICAN NAVY.
ments in artillery have been made before we had expended
$250,000,000, as England has done, in constructing broadside ships. If a fleet of iron-clad broadside ships is
needed at any time hereafter, we can construct it with all
the added light derived from the experiments of the
world.
The country needed swift wooden cruisers for the work
of the blockade, and the Navy Department has furnished
from its own yards some of the fastest ships that floatvessels that overhaul the swiftest blockade-runners that
ever left an English port; and these ships are the beginning of a new class of American ships which, in speed and
power of armament, are not yet matched elsewhere. Having produced such a navy in a little more than two years,
and which is only the germ of the future American navy,
with a commercial marine already greater than that even
of England, with unlimited resources at command, with
two great oceans washing a coast-line of thousands of
miles, nothing seems too great to anticipate in regard to
the future naval power of America.
We want, however, no fleets for conquest; we have no
wish to interfere with the affairs of other nations-as England and France have threatened, and still desire, in regard to
us —and enough is already known to show them that, until
some new war ship shall be invented in Europe, no fleet
can be sent to irivade us that can not be destroyed with the
means we already have; and we may feel entire confidence
that the genius of our inventors and the skill of our workmen will hereafter devise ships and guns that will protect,
on every sea, the Stripes and Stars, which will represent,
hereafter, a Free and Christian American Nation.
SINCE the foregoing chapter was written, letters have
been addressed to the Secretary of the Navy, upon the
subject of the Monitors and the fifteen-inch guns, by three
of our most distinguished naval officers-Commodore Rodgers, Commodore Porter, and Admiral Dahlgren-whose
opinions are so important that extracts from them are




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               501
added here, for the views of such men in high official stations should be considered as decisive upon subjects with
which they are perfectly familiar. Every American will
feel encouraged, in regard to the present and future of the
American navy, by these letters, while they can not fail to
make a profound impression on Europe.
In describing the difference between the ordinary ship
and the Monitor model, Commodore Rodgers says:
" In the Ironsides class, the hull of a wooden man-of-war,
as constructed for general purposes, is clad with iron. It
is true, some modification of shape and increase of size is
required to meet the additional weight which she has to
carry; but still, in essentials, she is a vessel of the ordinary model; she has the advantage of ample quarters for
her crew, with free access to her decks in storms; with
natural ventilation; with abundance of light; with numerous guns, giving her a rapidity of fire unattainable in a
Monitor, and essential in battering forts; and she is as able
to carry canvas as other men-of-war.
" The Monitor class, as far as I know, is new. If I understand the idea, it is to cut off all the surface above
water, except that which may be necessary to flotation, and
to carry the guns in a revolving turret, or turrets, near
the center of motion, supported upon the keel and kelsons.
"The plans upon which Mr. Ericsson has worked out
this idea of his may be modified by further experience;
but the idea itself will be employed while iron-clad vessels are used in warfare."
He describes the advantage of the Ericsson model as
follows:
"It has these advantages:
"The Monitor has the least possible surface to be plated,
and therefore takes the least possible tunnage to float
armor of a given thickness, or, with a given tunnage,




502              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
allows the greatest possible thickness of armor, and, consequently, the greatest possible impregnability. The ability
to carry armor is proportionable to the tunnage, but the
Monitor of 844 tuns has actually thicker plating than the
Ironsides of 3,480 tuns, and than the Warrior of 6,000;
and yet the Ironsides and Warrior have only the middle
portion of their hulls plated, their ends being merely of
wood without armor.
" The guns of the Monitors, near the center of motion,
are supported upon the keel and kelsons, upborne by the
depth of water under them, and carried by the whole
strength of the hull.
"In Monitors heavier guns are, therefore, practicable
than can ever be carried in broadside out upon the ribs of
a ship.
"In the Monitors, concentration of guns and armor is
the object sought.
"In them the plating is compressed into inches of elevation; while in the Ironsides class it is extended over
feet; and the comparatively numerous guns distributed
over the decks of the Ironsides class are molded into a
few larger ones in the turrets of the Monitors."
In speaking of the principle upon which the Monitors
are armed, he says:
"When power enough is required in the individual guns
to crush and pierce the side of an adversary at a single
blow, the most formidable artillery must be employedand fifteen-inch guns are the most formidable which, so
far, we have tried; but no vessel of the Ironsides class can
carry these guns, and the Monitors actually do carry them.
If target experiments are reliable, a shot from a fifteeninch gun will crush in the side of any vessel of the Ironsides class in Europe or America. A single well-planted
blow would sink either the Warrior, La Gloire, Magenta,
Minotaur, or the Bellerophon."




THE AMERICAN NAVY.               503
Commodore Porter says, also, that the Monitors roll
very little in a seaway, and relates the following incident
to show their steadiness. A bottle of claret, he says, remained standing for an hour on the dinner-table of the
Weehawken at a time when no one could stand on the
deck of her convoy, the Iroquois, a fine sea-boat, without
holding on to the life-lines.
Admiral Dahlgren declares that, to meet the wants of
the government in this war, the Monitors are far better
than the broadside models adopted by France and England; and that, if contractors had met the government
demand, every Southern port would, ere this, have been
in our possession.
Commodore Porter says that, with one of our Monitors,
he could begin at Cairo, and, going down the Mississippi,
destroy every vessel we have on the Western waters, unless
they should escape by flight.
Commodore Rodgers states his conclusions as follows:
"To sum up my conclusions, I think that the Monitor
class and the Ironsides class are different weapons, each
having its peculiar advantages-both needed to an ironclad navy-both needed in war; but that, when the Monitor class measures its strength against the Ironsides class,
then, with vessels of equal size, the Monitor class will
overpower the Ironsides class; and, indeed, a single Monitor will capture many casemated vessels of no greater individual size or speed: and as vessels find their natural
antagonists in forts, it must be considered that upon the
whole the Monitor principle contains the most successful
elements for plating vessels for war purposes.
" I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
"JOHN RODGERS, Commodore U. S. N.
" Hon. GIDEON WELLES, Secretary of the Navy."
The importance of these statements from experienced




504              THE AMERICAN NAVY.
naval officers, who have been eye-witnesses of the performance of the Monitors, and the effect of the shot of the
fifteen-inch guns, can not be overrated. They seem to insure our nation from foreign attack, at least, until great
changes are made in naval war. No ship of the broadside class, Commodore Rodgers thinks, can carry a fifteeninch gun safely, while the Monitors do carry them; and
one well-directed shot from one of these guns, he says,
would sink any broadside vessel, even the last and most
powerful ones of England or France.
Every American should reflect upon the bearing which
these facts have upon the future of our nation. It is
proved, beyond dispute, that we can build vessels of the
Monitor class which can traverse, safely, the whole American coast, which no artillery carried on a broadside ship
can penetrate, while the cannon which a Monitor can carry,
and with which even our small Monitors are armed, can
sink any broadside ship that floats.
The fleets of France and England can not, therefore,
approach our coasts without almost certain destruction.
Such a ship as the Dictator, or the Puritan, according to
the opinions stated by these eminent officers, would be
able to destroy the whole iron-clad navies of France and
England, if their ships could be encountered singly, and
the only danger from a squadron would be that of being
run down. The solution of a mathematical problem is not
more certain than that even such a Monitor as the Catawba, now lately launched at Cincinnati, would destroy
any ship in the British or French navy, unless (a thing
most improbable) she could be run down before she could
use her guns. The side-armor of the Catawba, a ship of
about eleven hundred tuns, is equal to ten inches of solid
iron on the hull above the water-line, while her turret is
eleven inches thick, and she is, therefore, absolutely invulnerable to any artillery which a broadside ship can carry.
The government, then, has acted most wisely in adopting the Monitors for its present need. They have secured
the nation against foreign attack, and rendered it certain




THE AMERICAN NAVY.                                  505
that, within the lines defended by these impregnable floating batteries, we can safely develop our national life, free
from all external danger.
In the mean time the two finest broadside iron-clads in
the world have been built in America-the Ironsides and
the Italian frigate; and we are able to produce any form
of vessel which the nation may need, and to any extent
that may be required.
In order to give the reader a complete view of our navy,
a full list is added here of all the vessels in it March 12,
1864. This is from the official catalogue, published by the
government in answer to a resolution of the Senate.  It
will be found very valuable for future reference, as it is
alphabetically arranged, and shows the character, the size,
the rate, and the armament of every one of our national
ships, and the location of each at the time of its publication.
COMPLETE LIST OF THE VESSELS OF THE AMERICAN NAVY,
MARCH 12, 1864.
RATES.
FIRST RATES,                               THIRD RATES.
Sailing ships of 2,000 tuns and upward.     Sailing ships from 700 to 1,300 tuns.
Screw steamers of 2,500 tuns and upward.    Screw steamers from 600 to 1,200 tuns.
Paddle-wheel steamers of 2,400 tuns and up-  Paddle-wheel steamers from  700 to 1,000
ward.                                       tuns.
Iron-clad steamers of 2,500 tuns and upward.  Iron-clad steamers from 500 to 1,200 tuns.
Purchased screw steamers from 700 to 1,400
tuns.
SECOND RATES.                 Purchased paddle-wheel steamers from 900
to 1,500 tuns.
Sailing ships from 1,300 to 2,000 tuns.     Receiving-ships.
Screw steamers from 1,200 to 2,500 tuns.
Paddle-wheel steamers from 1,000 to 2,400
tuns,                                                 FOURTH RATES.
Iron-clad steamers from 1,200 to 2,500 tuns.
Purchased screw steamers of 1,400 tuns and   Sailing ships under 700 tuns.
upward.                                 Screw steamers under 600 tuns.
Purchased paddle-wheel steamers of 1,500  Paddle-wheel steamers under 700 tuns.
tuns and upward.                        Iron-clad steamers under 500 tuns.
Purchased screw steamers under 700 tuns.
Purchased paddle-wheel steamers under
900 tuns.
Store and supply vessels.
Name.         Rate.      Class.    Guns Tun-               Station.
nage.
Abraham............ Fourth Paddle-wheel   0    700 Mississippi Squadron.
Acacia............... Fourth Screw........  4    300 South Atlantic Squadron.
Adela................. FourthlPaddle-wheel  6    583 East Gulf Squadron.
Admiral......      Fourth Screw.....        5  1,248Supply  Steamer, W. Gulf
Squadron.




506                        THE AMERICAN NAVY.
nage.
Adolph Hugel...... Fourth Schooner......  3    269 Potomac Flotilla.
Agamenticus...... Second Iron-clad......  4  1,564 Building  at  Portsmouth,
N. H., navy-yard.
Agawam             Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Waiting for crew, at Portsmouth, N. H.
A. Houghton....... Fourth Bark........  2    326 South Atlantic Squadron.
Alabama........   Third.. Paddle-wheel 10  1,264 Repairing  at Portsmouth,
N. H.
Albemarle.........Fourth Schooner......  0    200 N. Atlantic Squadron ordnance-ship, Newbern, N. C.
Albatross............ Fourth Screw.........  6    378 West Gulf Squadron.
Alert......F...........ourth Screw.........   2  65 North Atlantic Squadron.
Alexandria......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2        60 Mississippi Squadron.
Alfred Robb........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  4         86 Mississippi Squadron.
Algonquin......... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Allegany........... Third.. Screw......... 10    989 Receiving-ship, Baltimore.
Althea............. Fourth Screw.........  1     72 Fitting for sea, at N. York.
America............. Fourth Yacht.........  3    100 School-ship, Newport, R. I.
Ammonoosuc....... First... Screw......... 10  3,200 Building  at navy-yard,
Boston.
Anacostia......... Fourth Screw.........  4    217 Potomac Flotilla.
Annie.....    Fourth Schooner......  1           27 East Gulf Squadron.
Antelope....      Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    173 Mississippi Squadron.
*Antietam.........ISecond Screw.........  20  2,200
Antona...............IFourth  Screw.........  4    565 West Gulf Squadron.
*Arapaho........... Second Screw.........  8  2,200
Argosy............. Fourth Paddle-wheel   8    219 Mississippi Squadron.
Arkansas........... Third.. Screw.........  6    752 West Gulf Squadronm
Aries................ Third.. Screw........   7    820 North Atlantic Squadron.
Ariel.................Fourth  Schooner......  1  19 East Gulf Squadron.
Arizona............. Third.. Paddle-wheel   6    959 West Gulf Squadron, (Mississippi Squadron temporarily).
Arletta.............. Fourth Schooner......   3    199 N. Atlantic Squadron ordnance-ship, Beaufort.
Aroostook........ Fourth Screw.........  7    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Arthur............. Fourth Bark........... 6    554 West Gulf Squadron.
Ascutney..........Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Ashuelot........... Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at Boston.
Atlanta.............Third.. Iron-clad.....  4  1,006 North Atlantic Squadron.
Augusta.............Third.. Paddle-wheel 10  1,310 Waiting crew  at N. York.
AugustaDinsmore Third.. Screw........  2    850 West Gulf Squadron.
Avenger............ Third. Ram.........   7    750 Building at N. Albany, Ind.
Baltimore........  Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    500 Ordnance vessel, Washington.
Banshee............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    533 Fitting for service at N. Y
Beauregard........ Fourth Schooner......  1    101 East Gulf Squadron.
Benton.............. Third.. Iron-clad....   16  1,033 Mississippi Squadron.
Ben Morgan....... Fourth Ship...........   0    407 North  Atlantic  Squadron
ordnance-ship.
Bermuda..........Fourth Screw.........   3  1,238 Supply  steamer for West
Gulf Squadron.
Bienville............Second Paddle-wheel 11  1,558 Repairing at New York.
Black Hawk.......[Third.. Paddle-wheel 11    902 Mississippi Squadron.




THE AMERICAN NAVY.                                507
u
Name.         Rate.      Class.    Guns  nage.           Station.
Bloomer..........Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    130iWest Gulf Squadron.
Blue Light.......... FourthScrew.........  1    103 Building at the navy-yard,
Portsmouth, N. H., (powder tug).
Bohio.......... F....... Fourth Brig............   6    196 West Gulf Squadron.
Brandywine........Fourth Frigate.........   1  1,726 Store-ship, Norfolk navyyard.
Braziliera...........FourthBark.......          540 South Atlantic Squadron.
Brilliant............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    226 Mississippi Squadron.
Britannia........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  4    495 North Atlantic Squadron.
Brooklyn............Second Screw.......... 26  2,070 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Buckthorn..........Fourth Screw.........  1    128 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Cactus...............Fourth Paddle-wheel  1    176 Waiting crew at N. York.
Calhoun.............Fourth Padde-wheel  5    508 West Gulf Squadron.
Calypso..............Fourth Screw.........  6    630 North Atlantic Squadron.
Camanche...........Third.. Iron-clad 2.....     844 San Francisco, California.
Cambridge.......... Third.. Screw......... 10    858 North Atlantic Squadron.
Camellia............ Fourth Screw.........  2    198 South Atlantic Squadron.
Canandaigua......[Second Screw......... 11  1,395 South Atlantic Squadron.
Canonicus.......... Third.. Iron-clad......2  1,034 Ready for sea at Boston.
Carmita........... Fourth Schooner...... 61 East Gulf Squadron.
Carnation.......... Fourth Screw.........  2   82 South Atlantic Squadron.
Carondelet......... Third.. Iron-clad     11    512 Mississippi Squadron.
Carrabasset......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    202 West Gulf Squadron.
Casco................ Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at East Boston.
Catawba........... Third.. Iron-clad......  2  1,034 Building at Cincinnati.
Catskill............Third.. Iron-clad......  3    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Cayuga.............. Fourth Screw.........  7    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Ceres...............Fourth Screw.........  4    144 North Atlantic Squadron.
Champion......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  4    115 Mississippi Squadron.
Charlotte......F..ourth Schooner.....   2       70 West Gulf Squadron.
Chas. Phelps...  Fourth Ship............  1    362 North Atlantic Squadron,
ourthSip....... (coal vessel).
Chattanooga........ First... Screw.........  8  3,000 Building at Philadelphia.
Chenango..........Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Cherokee............Fourth Screw.........  6    606 Ready for sea at Boston,
(waiting crew).
Chickasaw.......... Third.. Iron-clad......  2    970 Building at St. Louis.
Chickopee...........Third.. Paddle-wheel  9    974 Ready for sea at N. York.
Chillicothe........ Fourth Iron-clad......   3    203 Mississippi Squadron.
Chimo.............. Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at South Boston.
Chippewa.......... Fourth Screw.........  4    507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Choctaw............ Third.. Paddle-wheel  8  1,004 Mississippi Squadron.
Chocura............ Fourth Screw.........  5    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Chotank.............Fourth Schooner......  0    53 Navy-yard, New  York,
(laid up).
Cimarron......... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    860 South Atlantic Squadron.
Cincinnati.........Third.. Iron-clad...... 13    512 Mississippi Squadron.
Circassian.........Fourth Screw.........  6  1,750,Supply steamer, repairing
at Boston.
Clara Dolsen...... Fourth Paddle-wheel  1    852 Mississippi Squadron.




508                      THE AMERICAN NAVY.
Gn TunName.        Rate.     Class.    Guns nae.Station.
Clover...............IFourt Screw........  2    128 South Atlantic Squadron.
Clyde............. IFourth Paddle-wheel  2    294 East Gulf Squadron.
Coeur de Lion..... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3       60 Potomac Flotilla.
Cohasset........... Fourth Screw........  2    100 North Atlantic Squadron.
Cohoes............... Third.. Iron-clad  2    614 Building at Greenpoint, N.
Yolrk.
Colorado............First... Screw......... 52  3,425 Navy-yard, Portsmouth, N.
Hampshire.
Columbine.........Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    133] South Atlantic Squadron.
Commodore..... Fourth Paddle-wheel  4         80 West Gulf Squadron.
Comn. Barney...... Fourth Paddle-wheell   7   513 North Atlantic Squadron.
Com. Hull.......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    376 North Atlantic Squadron.
Comn. Jones......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    542 North Atlantic Squadron.
Com. McDonough.. Fourth Paddle-wheel  6  532 South Atlantic Squadron.
Com. Morris........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    532 North Atlantic Squadron.
Comrn. Perry........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  5   513 North Atlantic Squadron.
Comn. Read.......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    650 Potomac Flotilla.
Conemaugh....... Third.. Paddle-wheel  9    955 West Gulf Squadron.
Conestoga........... Fourth Paddle-wheel/ 5    512 Mississippi Squadron.
Connecticut....... Second Paddle-wheel 11  1,800 North 4tlantic Squadron.
Constellation.......Second Sloop........... 24  1,425 Mediterranean.
Constitution....... Second Frigate........ 17  1,607 School-ship, Newport, R. I.
Contoocook.      Second Screw.........  8  2,200 Building at Portsmouth, N.
Hampshire, navy-yard.
Cornubia.....     Fourth Paddle-wheel  3    600 Ready for sea at Boston,
(waiting crew).
Corypheus..... Fourth Sloop..........   2     82 West Gulf Squadron.
Courier....... ourth Ship............  4    554 Store-ship, on way to Pensacola.
Covington..........Fourth Paddle-wheel  8   224 Mississippi Squadron.
Cowslip.....F.......ourth Paddle-wheel  3   220 West Gulf Squadron.
C. P. Williams..... Fourth Schooner......   4    210 South Atlantic Squadron.
Cricket...............Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    156 Mississippi Squadron.
Crusader......    Fourth Screw.........  7    545 North Atlantic Squadron.
Curlew..... Fourth Paddle-wheel  8    196 Mississippi Squadron.
Currituck.......... Fourth Screw..........] 5    193 Potomac Flotilla.
Cyane............. Third..Sloo.............. 19   972 Pacific Squadron.
Dacotah............ Third.. Screw......  7    996 North Atlantic Squadron.
Daffodil............. Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    160 South Atlantic Squadron.
Dahlia......... Fourth Paddle-wheel[ 0       50 Mississippi Squadron.
Dai Ching........... Fourth Screw..........7    520 South Atlantic Squadron.
Daisy......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  0           50 Mississippi Squadron.
Dale.............. Fourth Sloop...3......  3    566 East Gulf Squadron (ordnance-ship).
Dandelion....... Fourth Screw....  2    111 South Atlantic Squadron.
Dan Smith......... Fourth Schooner.......  7    149 South Atlantic Squadron.
Darlington......... Fourth Paddle-wheel    0    300 South Atlantic  Squadron,
(quarter-master's service).
Dart....... Fourth Schooner......  1  94 West Gulf Squadron.
Da wn..........,,   FFourth Screw.........   3    391 North Atlantic Squadron.
Daylight............[Fourth Screw.........   8    682 North Atlantic Squadron.
Decatur............. Fourth Sloop...........  0   566 San Francisco, Cal.
Delaware.......F....ourth Paddle-wheel  3    357 North Atlantic Squadron.
De Soto...............Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,600East Gulf Squadron.




THE AMERICAN NAVY.                              509
TunName.        Rate.      Class.    Guns nage.           Station.
Dictator............. First.. Iron-clad..... 2  3,033 Building at New York.
Dragon............... Fourth Screw.........  2    118 Potomac Flotilla.
Dunderberg......... First. Iron-clad...... 10  5,090 Building at New York.
Eastport............. Third.. Iron-clad.....  8    800 Mississippi Squadron.
E. B. Hale..... Fourth Screw..........  6    192 South Atlantic Squadron.
Elk.................Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    162 West Gulf Squadron.
Ella.......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    230 Potomac Flotilla.
Ellen................ FourthPaddle-wheel  4    341 South Atlantic Squadron,
(laid up).
Emma...............Fourth Screw.........  8    350 North Atlantic Squadron.
Essex............ Third.. Iron-clad...... 12    614 Mississippi Squadron.
Estrella............Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    438 West Gulf Squadron.
Ethan Allen........ Fourth Bark.         9    566 South Atlantic Squadron.
Etlah............... Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at St. Louis.
Eugenic............. Fourth Schooner.....  1    150 East Gulf Squadron.
Eureka...............Fourth Screw....   1      50 Potomac Flotilla.
Eutaw...............Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    955 North Atlantic Squadron.
Exchange......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  7   211 Mississippi Squadron.
Fahkee............... Fourth Screw........  3    699 North Atlantic Squadron.
Fairplay............Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    156 Mississippi Squadron.
Farallones.... Fourth Screw.........6    382 Pacific Squadron, storeship, Acapulco.
Fawn.................]Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    174 Mississippi Squadron.
Fearnot.F............ Fourth Ship............  1  1,012 Store-ship, W. Gulf Squadron.
Fern..................Fourth Paddle-wheel  0   50 Mississippi Squadron.
Fernandina......... Fourth Bark...........  8    297 South Atlantic Squadron.
Flag.................. Third.. Screw.........  8    963 South Atlantic Squadron.
Flambeau........... Third.. Screw.........  5    900 Repairing at New York.
Florida..............Third.. Paddle-wheel  7  1,261 North Atlantic Squadron.
Forest Rose......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  8    260 Mississippi Squadron.
Fort Donelson......Third.. Paddle-wheel  5    900 Fitting for sea at Boston.
Fort Henry......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    519 East Gulf Squadron.
Fort Hindman..... Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    286 Mississippi Squadron.
Fort Jackson....... Second Paddle-wheel  7  1,770 North Atlantic Squadron.
Fortune.............. Fourth Screw..........  2    350 Building at Boston.
Fox.................. Fourth Schooner......  2  80 East Gulf Squadron.
Franklin............First.. Screw....... 50  3,684 Building at Portsmouth, N.
H., navy-yard.
Fredonia....       Fourth Sloop..........    800 Pacific Squadron, store-ship
at Callao.
Fuchsia..... Fourth Screw..3.......3    180 Potomac Flotilla.
Galena.............. Third.. Iron-clad..... 14    738 At Baltimore.
Galatea.............Third.. Screw....... 11  1,244 West India Squadron.
Gazelle..........Fourth Paddle-wheel  6 J  117 Mississippi Squadron.
Gem of the Sea... Fourth Bark...........   5    371 East Gulf Squadron.
Gemsbok............ Fourth Bark...........    7    622 West India Squadron.
Genessee....     Third.. Paddle-wheel  8    803 West Gulf Squadron.
General Bragg.... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    950 Mississippi Squadron.
General Lyon...... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    468 Mississippi Squadron.
General Pillow.... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2       38 Mississippi Squadron.
General Price...... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3    633 Mississippi Squadron.




510                       THE AMERICAN NAVY.
TunName.        Rate.     Class.    Guns nage.            Station.
G. W. Blunt....... Fourth Schooner       2    121 South Atlantic Squadron.
George Mangham Fourth Schooner.....      5    274 South Atlantic Squadron.
Geranium.......Fourth Paddle-wheel  3   222 South Atlantic Squadron.
Gertrude............ Fourth Screw..........  8    350 West Gulf Squadron.
Gettysburg......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    726 Fitting for sea at N. York.
Glasgow............. Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    252 West Gulf Squadron.
Glaucus............. Third.. Screw........  11  1,244 North Atlantic Squadron.
Glide.................Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    232 West Gulf Squadron.
Gov. Buckingham. Third.. Screw.........6    886 North Atlantic Squadron.
Grampus............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  0    300 Receiving-ship, Cincinnati,
Ohio.
Grand Gulf......Third.. Screw....e....  11  1,200 North Atlantic Squadron.
Granite............. Fourth Sloop..........    75 North Atlantic Squadron.
Granite City........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    315 West Gulf Squadron.
Great Western..... Fourth Paddle- wheel  3    800 Mississippi Squadron.
*Guerriere.......... Second Screw.. 20  2,200
Hartford........... Second Screw....... 28  1,900 West Gulf Squadron.
Harvest Moon..... Fourth Paddle-wheel   3   546 South Atlantic Squadron.
*Hassalo............ Second Screw........  8  2,200
Hastings......  Fourth Paddle-wheel  8    293 Mississippi Squadron.
Heliotrope......   Fourth Paddle-wheel  1    238 Waiting crew at N. York.
Hendrick Hudson. Fourth Screw..  6    460 East Gulf Squadron.
Henry Brinker.... Fourth Screw.........  1    108 North Atlantic Squadron.
Henry Janes....... Fourth Schooner......  3    261 West Gulf Squadron.
Hetzel..........F.....Iourth Paddle-wheel  2    301 North Atlantic Squadron.
Hollyhock........... FourthlPaddle-wheel  3    300 West Gulf Squadron.
Home................ Third.. Screw......3.... 713 South Atlantic Squadron.
Honduras........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3    376 East Gulf Squadron.
Honeysuckle...... Fourth Screw.........2    234 East Gulf Squadron.
Hope.................. FourthlSchooner..1..    1    134 South Atlantic Squadron.
Horace Beals...... Fourth Barkantine...  2    296 New York.
Howquah......... Fourth Screw.........  4    397 North Atlantic Squadron.
Hunchback......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    517 North Atlantic Squadron.
Huntsville......... Third.. Screw.........  4    817 East Gulf Squadron.
Huron............... Fourth Screw.........  4    507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Hyacinth........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  0      50 Mississippi Squadron.
Hydrangea........ Fourth Screw.........  2    224 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Ida................ Fourth Screw........   1    104 West Gulf Squadron.
Idaho................ First... Screw........   8  2,500 Building at Brooklyn.
*Illinois...........Second Screw......... 20  2,200
Independence...... Third.. Frigate......50  2,257 Receiving-ship, navy-yard,
Cal.
no............... Third.. Ship........   11    985 Hampton Roads.
Ion.Fourth Paddle-wheel  O    230 Mississippi Squadron, (Receiving-ship, Cairo).
losco.           Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Ready for sea at Boston,
(waiting crew).
Iris................... Fourth Screw..  2    159 South Atlantic Squadron.
Ironsides, jr. Fourth Bark....        0    200 South Atlantic  Squadron,
(store vessel).
Iroquois........... Third.. Bark...........  9  1,016 Repairing at Baltimore.
Itasca....... FourthBark............  4    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Iuka..............Third..'Screw.........  4    940 Waiting crew at N. York.




THE AMERICAN NAVY                               511
Name.        Rate.      Class.    Guns  nage.          Station.
Ivy.......        Fourth Paddle-wheel  0         50 Mississippi Squadron.
Jacob Bell.......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    229 Potomac Flotilla.
J. C. Kuhn...... Fourth Bark..........  4    888 West Gulf Squadron.
James L. Davis.... Fourth Bark...........  4    461 East Gulf Squadron.
Jas. S. Chambers.. Fourth Bark...........    6    401 East Gulf Squadron.
Jamestown......... Third.. Sloop.......... 22    985 East Indies.
James Adger....... Third.. Paddle-wheel  9  1,151 Repairing at Philadelphia.
Jasmine............Fourth Sloop...     2    122 Tender to Pensacola navyyard.
*Java................ Second Screw..........20  2,200
John Adams....... Third.. Sloop...........  8    700 South Atlantic Squadron.
Jno. L. Lockwood.. Fourth Paddle-wheel  3    180 North Atlantic Squadron.
John Griffith....... Fourth Schooner......  3    246 West Gulf Squadron.
John Hancock..... Fourth Screw....... 1        82 Navy-yard, San Francisco.
J. N. Seymour...... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    133 North Atlantic Squadron.
John P. Jackson... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    777 West Gulf Squadron.
Jonquil............. Fourth Screw..........    90 South Atlantic Squadron.
Judge Torrence... Fourth Paddle-wheel  1    700 Mississippi Squadron.
Julia............ Fourth Sloop........         10 East Gulf Squadron.
Juliet................Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    1.57 Mississippi Squadron.
Juniata..............Second Screw........  9  1,240 Repairing at Philadelphia.
Kalamazoo......    First.. Iron-clad......  4  3,200 Building  at navy-yard,
New York.
Kanawha.......... Fourth Screw.........  4    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Kansas...........  Fourth Screw.........  8    593 North Atlantic Squadron.
Katahdin............ Fourth Screw.........  7   507 West Gulf Squadron.
Kearsarge..........Third.. Screw.........  8  1,031 Special service.
Kennebec........... Fourth Screw.........  5   507 West Gulf Squadron.
Kensington......... Third.. Screw.........4  1,052 Repairing at New York.
Kenwood............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6   232 Mississippi Squadron.
*Keosauqua....... Second Screw.........  8  2,200
*Kewaydin........Second Screw......... 20  2,200
Keystone State.... Third.. Paddle-wheel 13  1,364 North Atlantic Squadron.
Key West........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  9    207 Mississippi Squadron.
Kickapoo.......... Third.. Iron-clad......  4    970 Building at St. Louis.
Kineo.............. Fourth Screw.........  6    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Kingfisher......... Fourth Bark............  7    450 South Atlantic Squadron.
King Philip...... Fourth Paddle-wheel  0    500 Attached  to  navy-yard,
Washington.
Kittatinny....... Fourth Schooner......  6   421 West Gulf Squadron.
Klamath........... Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at Cincinnati.
Koka....          Third.. Iron-clad......2    614 Building at Camden.
Lackawanna...... Second Screw......... 14  1,533 West Gulf Squadron.
Lafayette.......... Third.. Paddle-wheel  8  1,000 Mississippi Squadron.
Lancaster........    Second Screw......... 30  2,362 Pacific  Squadron, (Flagship).
Larkspur........... Fourth Screw.......  2    125 South Atlantic Squadron.
Laurel.............. Fourth Paddle-wheel  0     50 Mississippi Squadron.
Lehigh........... Third.. Iron-clad......  2    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Lenapee............ Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Leslie............. Fourth Screw.........    100 Navy-yard, Washington,
(Tender).




512                       THE AMERICAN NAVY.
Name.        Rate.      Class.    Guns nage.           Station.
nage.
Lexington.......... ourthPaddle-wheel  7   448 Mississippi Squadron.
Lilac.................. Fourth Screw........  2    129 North Atlantic Squadron.
Linden............Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    177 Mississippi Squadron.
Little Rebel....... Fourth Paddle-wheelI 4    151 Mississippi Squadron.
Lodona..........Third.. Screw.....  7    861 South Atlantic Squadron.
Louisiana.......... Fourth Screw........  5    295 North Atlantic Squadron.
Louisville........... Third.. Iron-clad...... 13    527 Mississippi Squadron.
Lupin............Fourth Screw.....0       68 Tender to New York navyyard.
Macedonian........  SecondlSloop......    16  1,341 Practice-ship,  Newport,
Rhode Island.
Mackinaw......... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Fitting  for sea, Baltimore.
Madawaska......... First... Screw......... 10  3,200 Building, navy-yard, N. Y.
Magnolia............Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    843 Waiting crew at N. York.
Mahaska............ Third.. Paddle-wheel  8    832 South Atlantic Squadron.
Mahopac........... Third.. Iron-clad......  2  1,034 Building at Jersey City.
Malvern....... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3    627 North Atlantic Squadron.
Manayunk...... Third.. Iron-clad......  2  1,034 Building at Pittsburg.
Manhattan....... Third.. Iron-clad       2  1,034 Building at Jersey City.
*Manitou........... Second Screw.........     8  2,200
Maratanza......... Third.. Paddle-wheel  6    786 North Atlantic Squadron.
Marblehead......... Fourth Screw.........  6    507 Repairing at New York.
Maria................ Fourth Screw.........  2    170 Building at New York.
Marietta............ Fourth Iron-clad......  2    479 Building at Pittsburg.
Marigold...........Fourth Screw......  2    115 East Gulf Squadron.
Marion.........FourthSloop..........  8    566 Naval Academy, Newport.
Marmora............IFourth Paddle-wheel  8    207 Mississippi Squadron.
Maria A. Wood... Fourth Schooner..        2    344 West Gulf Squadron.
Mary Sanford...... Third.. Screw.........  3    757 South Atlantic Squadron.
Massachusetts..... Fourth Screw.........  5  1,155 Supply steamer for South
Atlantic Squadron.
Massasoit...........Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Waiting for crew at Boston.
Mattabesett       Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Matthew Vassar.. Fourth Schooner...   3    182 Potomac Flotilla.
Maumee............ Fourth Screw..  5    593 New  York, (receiving engines).
Mayflower........ Fourth Screw........  2    350 Building at Boston.
Memphis........... Third.. Screw.........   7    791 South Atlantic Squadron.
Mendota.......    Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Waiting crew at N. York.
Mercedita....       Third.. Screw........  9    776 North Atlantic Squadron.
Mercury...........ourth Paddle-wheel  2    187 Repairing at New York.
Merrimac.....Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    684 Fitting for sea at N. York.
Metacomet......    Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 West Gulf Squadron.
Meteor..............Fourth Paddle-wheel  6   221 West Gulf Squadron.
Miami....Third,. Paddle-wheel  8    730 North Atlantic Squadron.
Miantonomoh...... Second Iron-clad.... 4  1,564 Building, navy-yard, N. Y.
Michigan.......F.... Fourth Paddle-wheel 18    582 On the Lakes, (Erie, Penn.)
Midnight............ Fourth Bark.....     7   386 South Atlantic Squadron.
Mignonette....... Fourth Paddle-wheel  0     50 Mississippi Squadron.
Milwaukie...........Third.. Iron-clad.....   4    970 Building at St. Louis.
Mingoe............... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building, Bordentown, N.J.
Minnesota...  First... Screw.......... 52  3,307 North Atlantic Squadron,
(Flag-ship).
*Minnetonka...... Second Screw......... 20  2,200




THE AMERICAN NAVY.                               513
TunName.        Rate.      Class.    Guns Tag.             Station.
_I Ra e..    __nage.
Mistletoe............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  0     50 Mississippi Squadron.
Modoc.............. Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at New York.
Mohawk........... Fourth Screw..........   9    459 South Atlantic Squadron.
Mohican............. Third.. Screw.........  7    994 Special service.
Mohongo............Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at New York.
Monadnock........ Second Iron-clad......  4  1,564 Building  at navy-yard,
Philadelphia.
*Mondamin........ Second Screw.........  8  2,200
Monocacy..........Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at Baltimore.
Monongahela......ISecond Screw......... 12  1,378 West Gulf Squadron.
Montauk..........Third.. Iron-clad......  2    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Monterey........... Fourth Screw.........  1   87 San Francisco, California.
Montgomery........ Third.. Screw.........  6    787 North Atlantic Squadron.
Monticello......... Fourth Screw........ 7    655 North Atlantic Squadron.
Moose............... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    189 Mississippi Squadron.
Morse............... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    5131 North Atlantic Squadron.
*Mosholu...Second Screw.........   8  2,200
Mound City.........Third.. Iron-clad     14    512 Mississippi Squadron.
Mount Vernon..... Fourth Screw.........  5    625 North Atlantic Squadron.
Mt. Washington... Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    500 North Atlantic Squadron.
Muscoota............ Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at Boston..............,Fourth Paddle-wheel  0     50 Mississippi Squadron................ Fourth Screw.........  7    541 North Atlantic Squadron.
Nahant..............Third.. Iron-clad......  2    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Nansemond......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  4    340 North Atlantic Squadron.
Nantucket..... Third.. Iron-clad 2.....       844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Napa.................1Third.. Iron-clad......2    614 Building at Wilmington.
Narcissus........... 1FourthScrew.........   2    101 West Gulf Squadron.
Narragansett......Third..Screw.........  6    809 Pacific Squadron.
National Guard... Fourth Ship..     1  1,046 West India Squadron, coalship, Cape Haytien.
Naubuc............. Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at Williamsburg.
Naumkeag.......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    250 Mississippi Squadron.
Nausett............ Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at East Boston.
Neosho............... Third.. Iron-clad   2    523 Mississippi Squadron.
Neptune............. Third.. Screw.........11  1,244 West India Squadron.
Nereus.............. Third.. Screw.........11  1,244 Waiting crew at N. York.
Neshaminy......First...Screw......... Screw10  3,200 Building, navy-yard, Phil.
Nettle...............IFourth Paddle-wheel  0    50 Mississippi Squadron.
Newbern............ Fourth Screw.........  6    948 Supply steamer, North Atlantic Squadron.
New Era........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    157 Mississippi Squadron.
New Hampshire... First... Ship..... 10  2,633 Fitting at Portsmouth, N.
H., for a store vessel.
New Ironsides...... First... Iron-clad   20  3,486 South Atlantic Squadron.
New London....... Fourth Screw.........    5    221 West Gulf Squadron.
New National...... Fourth Paddle-wheel  1    379 Mississippi Squadron.
New Orleans...... First... Ship..........  84  2,805 On stocks at Sackett's iar.
Niagara............. First... Screw...   15  4,582 Ready for sea at N.. York,.
(waiting crew).
Nightingale........ Fourth Ship............  1  1,000 West Gulf Squadron, coalship.
Nina.....F.......  Fourth Screw.........  2    350 Building at Chester.
Niphon...............Fourth Screw..........   9    475 North Atlantic Squadron.
33




514                       TlE  AMERICAN  NAVY.
Name.        Rate.     Class.    Guns  ng.Station.
nage.
Nipsic.............. Fourth Screw.......... 5    593 South Atlantic Squadron.
Nita.................. Fourth Paddle-wheel  4    210 East Gulf Squadron.
Norfolk Packet.... Fourth Schooner...5..      349 South Atlantic Squadron.
North Carolina.... Third.. Ship.........      2,6338 Receiving-ship, New York.
Norwich............. Fourth Screw.........6    431 South Atlantic Squadron.
Nyack.............. Fourth Screw..........7    593 Building at New York.
Nyanza............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6   203 West Gulf Squadron.
Octorara............ Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    829 West Gulf Squadron.
Ohio..................Third.. Ship............ 17  2,757 Receiving-ship, Boston.
Oleander............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    263 South Atlantic Squadron.
O. H. Lee........... Fourth Schooner...... 3    199 West Gulf Squadron.
O. M. Pettit....... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    165 South Atlantic Squadron.
Oneida............. Third.. Screw........ 10  1,032 West Gulf Squadron.
Oneoto..............Third.. Iron-clad    2  1,034 Building at Cincinnati.
Onondaga...........ISecond Iron-clad     4  1,250 Preparing for sea at N. Y.
*-Ontarnio......S Iecond Screw........ 20  2,200
Onward............ Third.. Ship.        9    874 Special cruise.
Orvetta............Fourth Schooner......  3    171 West Gulf Squadron.
Osage.............. Third.. Iron-clad.....  2    523 Mississippi Squadron.
Osceola............Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Waiting crew at. Boston.
Ossipee............. SecondlScrew.........  13  1,240 West Gulf Squadron.
Otsego............. Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Ottawa.... Fourth Screw.........  5    507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Ouachita............ Fourth Paddle-wheel 14    720 Mississippi Squadron.
Owasco..... Fourth Screw.........   4    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Ozark..          Third.. Iron-clad.....   2    578 Mississippi Squadron.
Pampero............ Fourth Ship............   6  1,375 West Gulf Squadron.
Panola........... Fourth Screw..........  4    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Pansy..............Fourth Paddle-wheel  0      50 Mississippi Squadron.
Para................. Fourth Schooner......  3    190 South Atlantic Squadron.
Passaconaway.... First.. Iron-clad      4  3,200 Building   at  navy-yard,
Portsmouth, N. H.
Passaic..............Third.. Iron-clad.... 2    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Patapsco...........Third.. Iron-clad.... 2    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
Paul Jones......... Third.. Paddle-wheel  7    863 South Atlantic Squadron.
Paul. Jones, jr...... Fourth Steam launch   1  30 South Atlantic Squadron,
(Tender).
Pawnee... Second Screw.......... 11  1,289 South Atlantic Squadron.
Pawpaw........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  8    175 Mississippi Squadron.
Pawtuxet............ Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at Providence.
Pembina............ Fourth Screw..      6    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Penobscot........ Fourth Screw..         4    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Penguin...........IFourth Screw.....   7   389 West Gulf Squadron.
Pensacola........... Second Screw.......... 24  2,158 West Gulf Squadron.
Peoria...............Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Peosta............... Fourth Paddle-wheel 14    233 Mississippi Squadron.
Pequot.... Fourth Screw..........! 11    593 North Atlantic Squadron.
Perry.............Fourth Brig............9    280 South Atlantic Squadron.
Petrel...          Fourth Paddle-wheel  8   226 Mississippi Squadron.
Philadelphia... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    500 South Atlantic Squadron.
Philirpi...........Fourth Paddle-wheel  2    311 Fitting for sea at Boston.
Pilgrim............ IFourth Screw..........2    170 Building at Wilmington.
Pink............... [Fourth Screw.......... 184 Waiting crew at N. York.




TIHE AMERICAN NAVY.                               515
Guns Tun-        Station.
Name.         Rate.      Class.    Guns g                 Station.
Pint................Fourth Screw.........  2    350 Building at Chester.
*Piscataqua.......ISecond Screw......... 20  2,200
Pittsburg............ Third.. Iron-clad.....14    512 Mississippi Squadron.
Pocahontas........ Fourth Screw.........  7    694 Ready for sea at Phila.
Pompanoosuc......First... Screw..... 14  3,200 Building  at navy-yard,
Boston.
Pontiac.............. Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at Philadelphia.
Pontoosue........ Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at Portland, Me.
Poppy................ Fourth Screw........  2    93 North Atlantic Squadron.
Portfire..............Fourth Screw...1....       103 Building at Portsmouth, N.
H., navy-yard, (powder
tug).
Port Royal......... Third.. Paddle-wheel  8    805 West Gulf Squadron.
Portsmouth........ Third.. Sloop........... 20  1,022 West Gulf Squadron.
Potomac............. Fourth Frigate......... 32  1,726 West Gulf Squadron, (storeship).
Potomska........ Fourth Screw.........  6    287 South Atlantic Squadron.
Powhatan........... First.. Paddle-wheel 21  2,415 West India Squadron,
(Flag-ship).
Prairie Bird........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  8    171 Mississippi Squadron.
Primrose....... Fourth Paddle-wheel  2            94 Potomac Flotilla.
Princess Royal.... Third.. Screw.........  7    828 West Gulf Squadron.
Princeton.......... Third.. Screw.........  0    990 Receiving-ship, Philadel'a.
Proteus............. Third.. Screw...... 11  1,244 Waiting for crew at N. Y.
Puritan.............First.. Iron-clad.....   4  3,265 Building  at Greenpoint
New York.
Pursuit............ Fourth Bark............  7    603 East Gulf Squadron.
u-Pushmataha......[Second Screw........     8  2,200
Quaker City........ Second Paddle-wheel  7  1,600 North Atlantic Squadron.
Queen............... Fourth Screw.........  7    630 At New York.
Queen City........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  9    212 Mississippi Squadron.
Quinsigamond.....First... Iron-clad..     4  3,200 Building  at navy-yard,
Boston.
Racer................     Schooner......  3    252 South Atlantic Squadron.
Rachel Seaman... Fourth Schooner.......  2    303 At New York.
Rattler............... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    166 Mississippi Squadron.
Red Rover.......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  1    787 Mississippi Squadron.
Reindeer.........   Fourth Paddle-whee    6    212 Mississippi Squadron.
Release............Fourth Bark........   3    327 North Atlantic, store-ship,
Beaufort.
Relief.............. Fourth Ship.3    468 At Boston, receiving stores.
Renshaw........... Fourth Schooner..      0      80 Ordnance vessel, Newbern,
North Carolina.
Rescue............... Fourth Screw........  1    111 South Atlantic Squadron.
Resolute............ Fourth Screw..........  2   90 Potomac Flotilla.
Restless............. Fourth Bark...........  7    265 East Gulf Squadron.
Rhode Island......        Paddle-wheel 12  1,517 West India Squadron.
Richmond.....Second Screw.........  24  1;929 West Gulf Squadron.
Roanoke........  irst.. Iron-clad......  6  3,435 North Atlantic Squadron.
Rocket..............Fourth Screw.........  0    127 Ordnance vessel, N. YoF k
navy-yard.
Rodolph.............Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    217 West Gulf Squadron.
Roebuck...........Fourth Bark............  5    455 East Gulf Squadron.
Roman.........      FourthShip..1......... 1     50 North Atlantic Squadron.




516                      THE AMERICAN NAVY.
Name         Rate.     Class.    Guns TunStation.
nage.
Romeo.............. Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    175 Mississippi Squadron.
Rosalie.............. FourthlSloop...........   1  28 East Gulf Squadron.
Rose......,   Fourth Screw.........  1      96 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
R. R. Cuyler....... Third.. Screw....  12  1,202 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Sabine............... Second Frigate.........  52  1,726 In ordinary, Boston.
Saco............... Fourth Screw.........  8    593 Building at Boston.
Sacramento........ Second Screw......... 14  1,367 Special cruise.
Sagamore..I....... Fourth Screw.........  4    507 East Gulf Squadron.
Saginaw............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  4    453 Pacific Squadron.
Sandusky........... Fourth Iron-clad....   2    479 Building at Pittsburg.
Sangamon......... Third.. Iron-clad......  2    844 South Atlantic Squadron.
San Jacinto........ Second Screw....... 14  1,446 East Gulf Squadron, (Flagship).
Santee........   Second Frigate.........I 49  1,726 School-ship, Newport, R. I.
Sam Houston...... Fourth Schooner......  1    66 West Gulf Squadron.
Samson............. Fourth Paddle-wheel  0    600 Mississippi Squadron.
Samuel Rotan...... Fourth Schooner......  3   212 North Atlantic Squadron.
Santiago de Cuba. Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,567 Repairing at Boston.
Sarah Bruen.......Fourth Schooner......  3   233 West Gulf Squadron.
Saranac............ Second Paddle-wheel 13  1,446 Pacific Squadron.
Saratoga...........Third..Sloop....  22    882 South Atlantic Squadron.
Sassacus........... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 North Atlantic Squadron.
Saugus.......Third.. Iron-clad......  2  1,034 Building at Wilmington.
Savannah.......... Third.. Sloop...........  7  1,726 Instruction-ship, N. York.
Scioto.............Fourth Screw.........  5    507 West Gulf Squadron.
Sea Bird............ Fourth Schooner......  1  57 East Gulf Squadron.
Sea Foam.......Fourth Brig..            4    264 West Gulf Squadron.
Sebago............... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    832 West Gulf Squadron.
Seminole............ Third.. Screw.........  9    801 West Gulf Squadron.
Seneca.............. Fourth Screw.........  4    507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Shakamaxon.... First.. Iron-clad......  4  3,200 Building, navy-yard, Phila.
Shamokin......... Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at Chester.
Shamrock........... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Shark........IFourth Schooner......  0      87 South Atlantic Squadron.
Shawmut............Fourth Screw.........  5    593 Building, Portsmouth, N. H.
Shawsheen......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3    180 North Atlantic Squadron.
Shawnee........... Third.. Iron-clad..... 2    614 Building at East Boston.
Shenandoah........Second Screw......... 10  1,378 North Atlantic Squadron.
Shiloh......... Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at St. Louis.
Shokokon.........  Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    700 North Atlantic Squadron.
Signal...........Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    190 Mississippi Squadron.
Silver Cloud........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6   236 Mississippi Squadron.
Silver Lake......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    212 Mississippi Squadron.
Snowdrop........... Fourth Screw......  2    125 Waiting crew at N. York.
Somerset............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    521 East Gulf Squadron.
Sonoma............ Third.. Paddle-wheel[ 7   955 South Atlantic Squadron.
Sophronia...... Fourth Schooner......  3   217 Potomac Flotilla.
South Carolina.... Third.. Screw.......  8  1,165 South Atlantic Squadron.
Southfield...........Fourth Paddle-wheel  7    751 North Atlantic Squadron.
Sovereign........... Fourth Paddle-wheel  0    440 Mississippi Squadron.
Speedwell.......... FourthIScrew........  2    350 Building at Boston.
Springfield......... FourthlPaddle-wheel  6    146 Mississippi Squadron.
Squando....T........Third.. Iron-clad......   2    614 Building at East Boston.




THE AMERICAN NAVY.                              517
Name.        Rate.     Class.    Guns TunStation.
nage...
Standish............Fourth Screw......... 2    350 Building at Boston.
St. Clair............ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    203 Mississippi Squadron.
St. Lawrence...... Fourth Frigate........ 12  1,726 North Atlantic Squadron,
(ordnance-ship).
St. Louis............Third.. Sloop.......... 18    700 Special service.
St. Mary's...... Third.. Sloop.......... 28    985 Pacific Squadron.
Stars and Stripes. Fourth Screw.........    5    407 East Gulf Squadron.
State of Georgia... Third.. Paddle-wheel  8  1,204 North Atlantic Squadron.
Stepping Stones... Fourth Paddle-wheel  5    226 North Atlantic Squadron.
Stettin.........Fourth Screw.........  6   600 South Atlantic Squadron.
Stockdale............ [Fourth Paddle-wheell 6    188 West Gulf Squadron.
Stonewall.......... Fourth Schooner......  1  30 East Gulf Squadron.
Suncook............ Third.. Iron-clad    2    614 Building at South Boston.
Sunflower......... FourthlScrew.........  2    294 East Gulf Squadron.
Supply......     Fourth Ship............ 7    547 South Atlantic Squadron.
Susquehanna......[First.. Paddle-wheel 16  2,450 Repairing at New York.
Suwanee............ Second Paddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at New York.
Sweetbrier........ Fourth Screw.........  2    240 South Atlantic Squadron.
Tacony......... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 North Atlantic Squadron.
*Tahgayuta......... Second Screw..........  82,200
Tahoma............. Fourth Screw.........  6   507 East Gulf Squadron.
Tallahoma.......  Third.. PaddIe-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Tallahatchie........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  6    171 West Gulf Squadron.
Tallapoosa......... Third.. Paddle-wheel 10    974 Building at New York.
Tawah........ Fourth Paddle-wheel  8    108 Mississippi Squadron.
Teaser............... Fourth Screw..........  1  90 Potomac Flotilla.
Tecumseh........... Third.. Iron-clad.....  2  1,034 Preparing for sea, N. York.
Tennessee.......... Third.. Paddle-wheel  5  1,275 West Gulf Squadron.
Tensas...............ourth Paddle-wheel  2    150 Mississippi Squadron.
Thistle.F.............Fourth Paddle-wheel  0     50Mississippi Squadron.
Thos. Freeborn.... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3   269 Potomac Flotilla.
T. A. Ward......... Fourth Schooner......  5    184 South Atlantic Squadron.
Ticonderoga....... Second Screw.......... 20  1,533 Ready for sea at Phila.
Tioga................. Third.. Paddle-wheel  8    819 East Gulf Squadron.
Tippecanoe...    Third.. Iron-clad....  2  1,034 Building at Cincinnati.
Tonawandah....... Second Iron-clad......  4  1,564 Building, navy-yard, Phila.
Triana..............Fourth Screw........  2    3 50Building at New York.
Tritonia.............Fourth Paddle-wheel  1   202 Ready for sea at N. York,
(waiting crew).
Tulip...........     Fourth Screw..........  5    1831 Potomac Flotilla.
Tunxis............... Third.. Iron-clad  2    614 Building at Chester.
Tuscarora..........Third.. Screw.........  10    997 North Atlantic Squadron.
Tuscumbia... Third.. Iron-clad......         565 Mississippi Squadron.
Two Sisters....... Fourth Schooner......  1    54 East Gulf Squadron.
Tylor...............Fourth Paddle-wheel 10    575 Mississippi Squadron.
Umpqua............. Third.. Iron-clad......  2    614 Building at Pittsburg.
Unadilla............ Fourth Screw.........  7   507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Union...............Fourth Screw...   1  1,114 Supply  steamer for East
Gulf Squadron.
Valparaiso.........Fourth Ship............  0    402 South Atlantic Squadron.
Vandalia........... Third.. Sloop..    22    700 Receiv'g-ship, Portsmouth,
New Hampshire.
Vanderbilt......... Second Paddle-wheel 15  3,360 Repairing at New York.




5128                     THE  AMERICAN  NAVY.
Name.       Rate.      Class.    Guns  nage. Station.
nage.
Valley City........ Fourth Screw.........  6    190 North Atlantic Squadron.
Vermont.........Third.. Ship..Ship.    18  2,633 South Atlantic Squadron,
(store and receiv'g ship).
Vicksburg........Third,. Screw.........  6   886 North Atlantic Squadron.
Victoria............. Fourth Screw.........   254 North Atlantic Squadron.
Victory..............FourthlPaddle-wheel  6   160 Mississippi Squadrons
Vincennes......... Third.. Sloop........... 10    700 West Gulf Squadron.
Vindicator.......... Third.. Ram......... 4    750 Building, N. Albany, Ind.
Violet................ Fourth Screw.........  2    146 North Atlantic Squadron.
Virginia...      First... Ship...........84  2,638 On the stocks, Boston.
Virginia....     Fourth Screw........  7   581 West Gulf Squadron.
Wabash.............First..Screw. 48  3,274 South Atlantic Squadron.
Wachusett.......... Third.. Screw......... 10  1,032 Coast of Brazil.
Wampanoag....... First... ScreW 5....... 3,200 Building, navy-yard, N. Y.
Wamsutta.........Fourth Screw.........   6   270 Repairing at Philadelphia.
*~Wanaloset....... Second Screw.       5......  8  2,200
Wanderer.........Fourth Schooner......  3   300 East Gulf Squadron.
Wassuc............. Third.. Iron-clad.... 2   614 Building at Portland, Me.
*Watauga......... Second Screw.........  8  2,200
Wateree............ Third.. Paddle-wheel 14   974 On the way to the Pacific.
Water Witch.......Fourth Paddle-wheel  4   378 South Atlantic Squadron.
Wave....F.............Fourth Paddle-wheel  6   229 West Gulf Squadron.
Waxsaw............ Third.. Iron-clad......  2   614 Building at Baltimore.
Western World.... Fourth Screw..........  5   441 Potomac Flotilla.
Whitehead..........[Fourth Screw.........  4    136 North Atlantic Squadron.
Wild Cat............ Fourth Sailing vessel  1  30 South Atlantic Squadron.
*Willamette....... Second Screw.........  8  2,200
Wm. Bacon......... Fourth Schooner......  5   183 Potomac Flotilla.
Wmi. Badger........Fourth Ship...........   1   334 North Atlantic Squadron.
Wm. G. Putnam... Fourth Paddle-wheel  4    149 North Atlantic Squadron.
Wm. H. Brown..... Fourth Paddle-wheel  1   235 Mississippi Squadron.
Wm. G. Anderson. Fourth Bark........  8   593 West Gulf Squadron.
Winnebago.........IThird.. Iron-clad.... 4   970 Building at St. Louis.
Winnipe.........  SecondPaddle-wheel 10  1,030 Building at Boston.
Winona.............Fourtl; Screw..........       507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Winooski............Third..Paddle-wheel 10   974 Building at New York.
Wissahickon....... FourthScrew..........  5    507 South Atlantic Squadron.
Wyalusing.........[Third.. Paddle-wheel 10   974 North Atlantic Squadron.
Wyandank......... Fourth Paddle-wheel  3   399 Potomac Flotilla.
Wyandotte.......... Fourth Screw........   5   458 North Atlantic Squadron.
Wyoming............ Third.. Screw.........  7   997 1East Indies.
Yankee.............. Fourth Paddle-wheel  4   328 Potomac Flotilla.
Yantic..., Fourth Screw..........6    593 Building, navy-yard, Phil.
Yazoo................ hird.. Iron-clad...... 2    614 Building at Philadelphia.
Young America... Fourth Screw........  2    178 North Atlantic Squadron.
Young Rover..F. ourth Screw.....     6 5   418 North Atlantic Squadron.
Yuma.hird.. Iron-clad......  2   614 Building at Cincinnati.
Zouave.............. FourthlScrew.........  2    127 North Atlantic Squadron.: Machinery contracted for in November, 1863. Hulls about being commenced.




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.   519
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
THE reported numerical strength of the armies of the
four great powers which are under discussion, is, in round
numbers, as follows:
France,....    500,000
England,.... 200,000
Russia,....    950,000
United States, North and South, say,. 900,000
These figures, though obtained mainly from official
sources, do not, of course, express the exact truth. They
merely present, in a general way, the relative military
strength of these nations. Each of them could command
a far greater number to resist an invasion of its territory,
while neither could send from home, on distant service,
one-fourth of the number here set down. France and
Russia could maintain large armies on the fields of Europe,
but neither they, nor any other power, could send a formidable force to operate here.
Still, with France controlling Mexico and Central America, it might be possible, at any time, with a French army
as a nucleus, to assemble a very formidable force upon our
Southern borders.
The character of the Russians, as soldiers, has been
already considered, because Americans should know the
quality of those who, alone, among all nations, can now




520  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
be regarded as our cordial friends, and whose interests
may yet ally them with us, against the central despotisms
of Europe.
The soldiers of France and England have written their
own history on the battle-fields of modern Europe, and
their distinguishing traits are known to all. None will
dispute their courage or their skill. Those who expect to
meet them with success, must be masters of the science
of slaughter.
But America is now, for the first time, assuming the
character and position of a great military power. For
the first time we have gathered great armies, and have
fought battles on a scale proportioned to the great conflicts of Europe. It is, therefore, important to inquire,
whether our armies and our soldiers have exhibited an
individual, a national character? Can we speak of the
American soldier and the American army as having characteristics of their own, distinctive and peculiar? If we
can, what are the military traits of the American nation?
Are they such as give us confidence in our ability to meet
the troops of other nations should they invade our shores?
In attempting to answer this question, it will be assumed
as certain, that this rebellion will soon be over, and our
military strength will be drawn from the whole territory
of the Union, and from every portion of the population.
This being so, the armies of the United States will,
hereafter, be drawn from the following elements: the white
population of the North, the whites of the South, the
blacks both North and South, and the foreign population.
The foreign element in our armies requires but a passing
notice. These soldiers will certainly be equal to those of
Europe, while we have every reason to expect that those
who are to come, like those who are already among us,
will exhibit, under the influence of free institutions, a
higher form of manhood than their countrymen who remain.behind.
When the proper manhood of the blacks is fully acknowledged, and their rights as citizens are sanctioned and




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  521
protected by law and by practice, we can easily draw from
them, at any time, an army of two hundred and fifty thousand men, and perhaps double that number in case of a
pressing emergency. The war, by the emancipation of
the slaves, will add this to our effective fighting force, and
enough is already known of these soldiers, from the sternest
experience of battle, to show that, with proper encouragement and discipline, they will not be inferior to any.
Great injustice will be done to the race if we judge
them only by what they have done when they have barely
escaped from the brutehood of slavery, with all its crushing influences still bearing them down; but even in this
condition their record has been a noble one, and we know
that, if we do our duty, if, as a nation, we prove true to
God and humanity, we shall have at our disposal an immense force, which will be invaluable to us should Louis
Napoleon compel us to operate upon our Southern border,
or in Mexico.
Two hundred and fifty thousand stalwart men, who can
brave unharmed both the Southern malaria and the yellow
fever, and guided by skillful officers, would present a very
effectual barrier to all the schemes of France in Mexico.
These black soldiers are to form a most important element hereafter in the American army and navy, and, although their capabilities have not yet been fully tested, what
they have already done gives noble promise for the future,
and it is perhaps not fanatical to believe that God has
delivered them just at the time when they will be needed
most for the defense of the country which they have enriched by their toils, their blood, and their tears.
No candid man, even at the North, will deny that the
Southern troops have fought, in general, with desperate
courage; all will confess that their chief leaders have exhibited skill, daring, and energy, while the fortifications
of the Southern cities are, for the purpose designed, masterpieces of engineering science.  These qualities, these
talents, this skill and science, now used for the destruction
of the Republic, are all American, and will in the future




522  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
all be available for the defense of the country against a
common foreign foe. Probably no troops were ever hurled
with more impetuous bravery upon defensive lines, than
was Lee's army at Gettysburg, or Bragg's at Chickamauga.
The rush of the successive assaults was more like the
spring of the tiger than the march of columns, and of a
tiger foiled and hurled back, only to spring again.
There is an intensity of passion in the Southern charge
that gives the utmost possible effect to the material power,
and which, it is thought, will scarcely find a parallel in
the movements of any of the regular troops of Europe.
Americans would not expect that the veterans of Lee and
Longstreet would be defeated by an equal number of the
best soldiers of any nation in Europe. The defense of
Fort Wagner was a marvelous instance of persistent heroism, certainly not often surpassed in the history of war.
Such a terrible storm of shot and shell as swept over and
into, and tore through those defenses, man never saw
before, and yet the garrison held bravely out, till forced
to evacuate by a regular siege. History surely has not
many stories like that of the defense of Sumter, where
such an immense work was defended till its massive masonry was all leveled with the sea, a heap of rubbish, and
yet the flag was kept defiantly hoisted over its foundation-stones. This engineering skill, and this unyielding
tenacity of courage, are all to be available for the defense
of the future American nation. They are examples of
what the South will do in a better cause, and supported
by the sympathies and arms of the North. They admonish Europe of the reception which invaders will meet.
What this fiery semi-barbarism which slavery has produced will yet become, when quickened by general intelligence, and balanced and molded by free institutions, and
when its energy springs from principle instead of passion,
does not now appear; but none can doubt that it will be
a nobler and more reliable power than it now is-a firmer
basis on which to build a nation.
The Southern people have borne the privations and




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  523
hardships to which they have been subjected, through the
desolations of war and the rigor of the blockade, with a
firm endurance that awakens admiration in all who forget
the atrocity of their treason and the savage cruelty of
their spirit; and the wretched food and clothing of the
rebel soldiers often astonish our Northern men, presenting
an appearance of extreme hardship heroically borne; but
it may be doubted, perhaps, whether the common people
and the private soldiers suffer as severely as many suppose.
They know little or nothing of the comforts and luxuries
of Northern homes; most of them have lived in the log
hut only, and have been accustomed to the coarsest food,
and to little variety in that.
Their endurance of hardship partakes more of the sullen
indifference of the savage than the lofty heroism of the
cultivated man; and yet, with all needed deductions, the
people of the South have exhibited qualities which, when
cleansed from the defilement and curse of slavery, and
ennobled by the influences of freedom, will become a
mighty power in the State.
The worst condition of the rebel soldier is not so far
below his ordinary home-life, as the best aspect of a camp
is inferior to the every-day comforts of the home of the
Northern laborer; and, therefore, with far better fare, the
actual privations of the Northern soldier have been greater,
and the endurance which springs from true heroism has
been more fully exhibited by the army of the North.
The true American life is found only in the free States,
and the army of the North is the only true representative
of the military power of the Republic-the American nation of the future; because this Northern life-power will
assimilate and mold after its own image the whole material of the nation. The vital force of the free States will
energize and transform the whole population, and the
nation will be quickened, guided, and glorified by the
indwelling spirit of Christian freedom. Among the peculiar traits of the real American army, the most prominent
is its intelligence. In this respect it stands alone among




524  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
armies. It has been drawn from the whole population,
and every class, and all forms of business, and all mechanical arts have their representatives in every Northern
regiment. Such an army is not a mere aggregation of
human puppets or machines under the direction of an
engineer in shoulder-straps, but it is a body of thousands
of individual thinkers, combining thought, skill, and experience, for a common purpose. A majority of Northern
regiments could furnish from their ranks mechanics that
could build or repair a locomotive, or construct a bridge
or a steamboat, or repair a watch; and with them  are
associated lawyers, and physicians, and ministers, printers,
editors, painters, and authors. No army ever gathered
before has embodied such an amount of educated, thinking power, and such a variety of gifts and attainments.
It is not only a fighting engine, but it is a thinking machine of the highest order. And precisely those qualities
from which the aristocrats of Europe, and the slave-lords
of the South, predicted its ruin, have made it the most
admirable army of the world. They predicted that such
men would not fight. The slave-owner, blinded by his
own false system, believed that common soldiers must be
half-brute, half-savage, in order to be brave, and that an
officer must be a tyrant in order to command.
The nobility of Europe have adopted a military maxim
suited to their ideas of man, and their false notions of
courage: " the worse the man the better the soldier," and,
therefore, they, too, believed that the men of the North
would not fight, and would be scattered by the fiery onset
of a Southern army. They forgot that the highest forms
of courage, the sternest and most persistent bravery,
spring directly from intelligence and principle. They
ought to have known that these are stronger than passion,
or hate, or revenge. They thought that these freemen of
the North, accustomed to no restraint, and insisting upon
thinking for themselves, would submit to no discipline,
and that the Northern army would be only an armed mob.
The first letter-writers and observers from Europe, having




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  525
known only the machine-movements of military puppets,
saw only tumult, disorder, and inefficiency in the Northern troops.
They knew nothing of the true nature of freedom. They
ought to have known that what they saw, and censured so
eagerly, were indications of real power, and that the intelligence of these men would, of itself, soon render them
the most obedient of soldiers, because they would obey
from principle, and as a means of safety and success.
Perhaps the peculiar and sterling qualities of American
troops have never been exhibited under circumstances
which could test more severely the spirit of men, than by
the Army of the Potomac. Since its first organization
after the battle of Manassas, it has shown no cowardice,
no faltering in the face of an enemy, nor in the performance of any duty; it has fought more than half of the
great and bloody battles of the war, and, though never
wholly defeated, it has never been completely victorious.
Victory, fairly earned by its own valor, has been repeatedly
lost to them by the incompetency or treachery of some of
its commanders, and yet it has maintained its faithfulness,
its discipline, its courage, and its confidence in itself and
in its cause.
Its steadfast courage is based on intelligence and principle, and therefore it survives disaster, and springs up
afresh after the severest disappointment. The career of
the Army of the Potomac is, in many respects, a mortifying one, and yet it is a very noble exhibition of the military capabilities and qualities of the freemen of the North,
and to it yet may be given, as its final reward, the crowning victories of the war.
These qualities have been exhibited in a more brilliant
light by the armies of the West, because they have been
more ably and faithfully led, and therefore led to victory.
Many suppose there are marked differences between Eastern and Western troops. The freer, more expansive life
of the West gives somewhat more, perhaps, of impetuosity to the men of the West; but wherever Eastern and




526  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
Western troops have been associated, they blend at once
into one homogeneous mass, and all differences vanish,
and no one could tell, from their manner of fighting,
whether they came from the prairies or the New England
hills.
Eastern and Western soldiers have fought under very
similar circumstances, with results so similar as to forbid
either boasting or complaint. They sustained alike the
honor of our flag. Gettysburg and Chickamauga were not
only the great battles of the war, but, in each case, the
best troops of the South were matched against the best
of the North. The North and the South were fairly
represented on these bloody fields, and the main features
of the fighting were the same. One was fought mainly by
Eastern troops, and the other mostly by soldiers of the
West. In each battle the fiery and yet orderly rush of the
Southern veterans, led by their most trusted generals, was
checked and rolled back with terrible slaughter by the
persistent firmness, the long-enduring courage and skill of
the Northern troops; and the two battles were a true type
of the war.
The Southern charge comes with the sweep and roar of
a headlong torrent, but the Northern lines are granite,
upon which it dashes and breaks. The men of the West
fought, it is true, under great disadvantage at Chickamauga. They were outnumbered nearly two to one from
the first, according to the statement of General Rosecrans, and nearly half of the army on the second day was
shaken from its position; but the left, under Thomas,
showed the true qualities of Northern soldiers, by hurling
back charge after charge of Longstreet's chosen men, the
very elite of the Southern army, and in numbers more than
double their own, and compelling them to withdraw after
five hours of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
In these two battles the fighting qualities of the North
and South were tested, with the advantage of numbers on
the side of the South, and with results that show the superior steadfastness and endurance of Northern troops. The




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  527
South will not believe, hereafter, that it can beat a Northern army on an equal field.
Nor are Northern soldiers at all deficient in those qualities which most distinguish the armies of the South. The
storming of Fort Donelson, the rush of Grant's army round
to the rear of Vicksburg, and the running of the batteries
at New Orleans, Port Hudson, and Vicksburg, have not
been matched by any Southern exploit, while the history
of war scarcely shows any thing more brilliant than the
dash up the steeps of Mission Ridge, and the storming of
Lookout Mountain. The South has performed nothing
which can bear comparison with these, and the military
superiority of the North has, at length, been fully established.
The conclusion, then, which is fairly reached from the
facts presented, is, that the American nation will be able,
at any time after this rebellion is over, to command an
army, in numbers, in variety of its qualifications, and in
effective power, that will, to say the least, be second to
that of no other nation, and abundantly sufficient for our
complete protection.  With this army, and with our new
navy, with exhaustless supplies of all kinds, whether of
food or munitions of war, with railways and navigable
rivers which enable us to concentrate troops and supplies
when and where they are needed, we shall come forth from
this struggle a great military power, quite able not only
to defend ourselves from attack, but to compel the powers
of Europe to relinquish all pretensions to this Western
World.
There are many, who are decidedly in favor of prosecuting the war until the last vestige of rebellion is swept
away and the authority of the government is re-established
over every foot of our territory, who, nevertheless, are
exceedingly anxious in regard to the future, expecting,
after the close of the war, a long period of depression for
every branch of industry, and general commercial disaster.
They know that the country will then be burdened with
an enormous debt, and they think that the South, being




528  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
desolated by the war, the supply of her great staples cut
off, the producing power of the North largely diminished
by the destruction of life, our resources in measure exhausted, and our currency at the same time largely inflated,
there must be a season of universal prostration and embarrassment.
Others, however, take a far more hopeful view of the
future, and believe that the country will pass out of the war
almost immediately into a more prosperous state than it
has ever known. It is admitted that the South will be left
by the war a comparative desert; that she will be stripped
of nearly all the accumulations of her previous life; she
will be destitute of almost every article that belongs to
civilized life.
The land, however, remains undiminished in fertility,
and even refreshed by its rest, and the laborers of the South
have been mostly preserved, by the good providence of God,
amid the ravages of the war, and that which oppressed
labor and hindered production has been taken out of the
way. It can not be doubted that, so soon as the labor
system of the South can be reorganized upon the principles of a free society, the production of Southern staples will be increased far beyond what it was before the
war. And when we consider that this reorganization has
already begun, and is making rapid progress; that thousands of plantations of sugar and cotton will be wrought
by free laborers this very year; and that this process of
reconstruction will go forward almost equally with the
progress of the war, it will be seen that, immediately and
before the war closes, the great staples of the South will
begin to reappear in the markets of the world. As fast as
territory is reconquered and made secure, it will be occupied by the superior producing power of free labor, and the
prosperity of peace will thus gradually return with the
decline of the war, and there will be no abrupt and disastrous transition from a state of war to a condition of peace.
The waste of the South is, indeed, to be repaired; her
railroads are to be reconstructed and furnished anew; tools




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  529
and machinery, dwellings and household furniture are to
be supplied for the whole country which the war has swept
over; but the teeming soil, under the wise culture of free
labor, will pay for it all; and the supply of these wants for
so vast a territory will furnish full and profitable employment for Northern capital, skill, and labor, as the return
of peace shall diminish the demand for the material of war.
The manufacture of locomotives and cars, and sugar-mills
and cotton-gins, of agricultural machinery, and tools of all
kinds, of dwellings and furniture, of steamboats for our
Southern and Western rivers, will take the place of the
work of the government, while the products of the South
will be ready to pay for all. Under the system of Northern industry, moreover, this Southern trade will be as safe,
and will pay as promptly as that of the North. It will
aid us to form  a correct estimate of the condition of
the country after the war, and of the ability which the
nation will then have to pay interest and principal of its
debt, and to expand with a sure and healthy growth, if
we study the rate of progress at which the country has
advanced thus far, and the amount and character of our
resources.
Fortunately, the statistical information which has been
gathered by the government, and by individual effort, is
so varied, so full, and so exact, as to present with accuracy
the actual progress and present condition of the nation,
and friom these facts the future may be safely predicted.
In September, 1863, an International Statistical Congress
assembled at Berlin, at which Hon. Samuel B. Ruggles, of:New York, was present as a delegate from  the United
States, and presented a report, which is a condensed history of the progress and condition of this country. From
this the reader will be enabled to see what resources we
shall probably have at our disposal for the next quarter
of a century, for the payment of our debt, and for general
national progress. Some extracts from this report are here
given:
34




530   THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
" I. The territorial area of the United States at the peace
of 1783, then bounded west by the Mississippi River, was
820,680 square miles, about four times that of France,
which is stated to be 207,145, exclusive of Algeria. The
purchase from France of Louisiana, in 1804, added to this
area 899,680 square miles. Purchases from Spain, and from
Mexico, and the Oregon treaty with England, added the
further quantity of 1,215,907 square miles-making the total
present territory 2,936,166 square miles, or 1,879,146,240
acres.
"Of this immense area, possessing a great variety of climate and culture, so large a portion is fertile, that it has
been steadily absorbed by the rapidly increased population.
In May last there remained undisposed of, belonging to the
government of the United States, 964,901,625 acres.
" To prevent any confusion of boundaries, the lands were
carefully surveyed and allotted by the government, and are
then granted gratuitously to actual settlers, or sold for
prices not exceeding $1.25 per acre to purchasers other
than settlers. It appears, by the report of the Commissioner of the General Land-office, a copy of which is herewith furnished, that the quantity surveyed and ready for
sale in September, 1862, was 135,142,999 acres. The report
also states, that the recent discoveries of rich and extensive
gold-fields in some of the unsurveyed portions are rapidly
filling the interior with a population whose necessities require the speedy survey and disposition of large additional
tracts. The immediate survey is not, however, of vital
importance, as the first occupant practically gains the preemptive claim to the land after the survey is completed.
The cardinal, the great continental fact, so to speak, is this:
that the whole of this vast body of land is freely open to
gratuitous occupation, without delay or difficulty of any
kind.
" II. The population of the United States, as shown by the
census of 1860, was 31,445,080; of which number 26,975,575
were white, and 4,441,766 black, of various degrees of color;
of the blacks, 3,953,760 being returned as slaves. Whether




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.   531
any or what proportion of the number are hereafter to be
statistically considered as'slaves,' depends upon contingencies, which it would be premature at the present time to
discuss.
"The increase of population since the establishment of
the government has been as follows:
1790...  3,929,827,
1800..    6,305,937, increase.   35.02 per cent.
1810...  7,239,814, increase. 36.45 per cent.
1820..    9,638,191, increase.   33.13 per cent.
1830... 12,866,020, increase. 33.49 per cent.
1840..   17,069,453, increase.   32.67 per cent.
1850... 23,191,876, increase. 35.87 per cent.
1860..   31,445,080, increase.   35.59 per cent.
"This rate of progress, especially since 1820, is owing, in
part, to immigration from foreign countries.
"There arrived in ten yearsFrom 1820 to 1830.                                    244,490
From 1830 to 1840.                                      552,000
From 1840 to 1850.. 1,558,300
From 1850 to 1860.2,707,624
Total......      5,062,414
"Being  a yearly average of 126,560 for the last forty
years, and 270,762 for the last ten years.
"' The disturbances in the United States, caused by the
existing insurrection, and commencing in April, 1861, have
temporarily and partially checked this current of immigration, but during the present year it is again increasing.
"The  records of the  Commissioners of Emigration  of
New York show that the arrivals at that port alone have
been for
Total, includ'g
From        From         all other
Ireland.    Germany.     countries.
1861..           27,754      27,159       65,529
1862..... 32,217         27,740       76,306
1863, up to August 20, 7j months, 64,465   18,724 about 98,000
" The proportions of the whole number of 5,062,414 arriv



532   THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
ing from foreign countries, in the forty years from 1820 to
1860, were as follows:
From Ireland,                           967,366
From England,..               302,665
From Scotland,...   47,800
From Wales,..                    7,935
From Great Britain and Ireland,       1,425,018-2,750,784
From Germany,...1,546,976
From Sweden,...    36,129
From Denmark and Norway,.               5,540-1,588,145
From France,....  208,063
From Italy,                              11,302
From Switzerland,....        37,732
From Spain,.                           16,245
From British America,.                 117,142
From China (in California almost exclusively),  41,443
From all other countries, or unknown,   291,558- 723,485
Total,.                     5,062,414
"It is not ascertainable how many have returned to foreign countries, but they probably do not exceed a million.
"If the present partial check to immigration should
continue, though it is hardly probable, the number of immigrants for the decade ending in 1870 may possibly be
reduced from 2,707,624 to 1,500,000.
"' The ascertained average increase of the whole population, in the seven decades from 1790 to 1860, which is very
nearly 33~ per cent., or one-third for each decade, would
carry the present numbers (31,445,080)
By the year 1870 to.                         41,926,750
From which deduct for the possible diminution of immigrants, as above.                        1,207,624
There would remain.                      40,719,126
"Mr. Kennedy, the experienced Superintendent of the
Census, in the Compend published in 1862, at page 7, estimates the population of 1870 at 42,318,432, and of 1880
at 56,450,241.
"The rate of progress of the population of the United
States has much exceeded that of any of the European
nations. The experienced statisticians in the present Con



THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.   533
gress can readily furnish the figures precisely, showing the
comparative rate.
" The population of France in
1801..   27,349,003    1    1841..   34,230,178
1821... 30,461,875         1851... 85,283,170
1831..   32,569,223        1861..   37,472,132
Being about 37 per cent. in the sixty years.  It does not
include Algeria, which  has a  European  population  of
192,746.
" The population of Prussia has increased since 1816 as
follows:
1816..   10,319,983        1849..   16,296,483
1822... 11,664,133         1858..      17,672,609
1834..   13,038,970        1861..   18,491,220
1840... 14,928,503
Being at the rate of 79 per cent. in forty-five years.
"The population of England and'Wales was, in
1801..    9,156,171         1841..   16,035,198
1811... 10,454,529          1851... 18,054,170
1821..   12,172,664         1861..   20,227746
1831... 14,051,986
"Showing an increase of 121 per cent. in sixty years,
against an increase in the United  States, in sixty years,
of 593 per cent.
" III. The natural and inevitable result of this great increase of population, enjoying an ample supply of fertile
land, is seen in a corresponding advance in the material
wealth of the people of the United States. For the purpose of State taxation, the values of their real and personal property are yearly assessed by officers appointed by
the States. The assessment does not include large amounts
of property held by religious, educational, charitable, and
other associations exempted by law from taxation, nor any
public property of any description. In actual practice, the
real property is rarely assessed for more than two-thirds
of its cash value, while large amounts of personal property,
being easily concealed, escape assessment altogether.




534   THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
"The assessed value of that portion of property which
is thus actually taxed increased as follows: In 1791 (estimated) $750,000,000; 1816 (estimated) $1,800,000,000; 1850
(official valuation) $7,135,780,228; 1860 (official valuation)
$16,159,616,068, showing an increase in the last decade
alone of $9,023,835,840.
"A question has been raised in some quarters as to the
correctness of these valuations of 1850 and 1860, in embracing in the valuation of 1850 $961,000,000, and in the
valuation of 1860 $1,936,000,000, as the assessed value of
slaves, insisting that black men are persons and not property, and should be regarded, like other men, only as producers and consumers. If this view of the subject should
be admitted, the valuation of 1850 would be reduced to
$6,174,780,000, and that of 1860 to $14,223,618,068, leaving the increase in the decade $8,048,825,840.
1" The advance, even if reduced to $8,048,825,840, is sufliciently large to require the most attentive examination.
It is an increase of property over the valuation of 1850
of 130 per cent., while the increase of population, in the
same decade, was but 35.99 per cent. In seeking for the
cause of this discrepancy, we shall reach a fundamental
and all-important fact, which will furnish the key to the
past and to the future progress of the United States. It is
the power they possess, by means of canals and railways,
to practically abolish the distance between the sea-board
and the wide-spread and fertile regions of the interior,
thereby removing the clog on their agricultural industry,
and virtually placing them side by side with the communities on the Atlantic. During the decade ending in 1860
the sum of $413,541,510 was expended within the limits
of the interior central group, known as the'food-exporting States,' in constructing 11,212 miles of railway to
connect them with the sea-board. The traffic-receipts from
those roads were:
In 1860.  $31,335,031   ]  In 1861.  $35,305,509
In 1862...  $44,908,405




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  535
" The saving to the communities themselves, in the
transportation, for which they thus paid $44,908,405, was
at least five times that amount, while the increase in the
exports from that portion of the Union greatly animated
not only the commerce of the Atlantic States, carrying
those exports over their railways to the sea-board, but the
manufacturing industry of the Eastern States, that exchange the fabrics of their workshops for the food of the
interior.
13By carefully analyzing the $8,048,825,840 in question,
we find that the six manufacturing States of New England
received $735,754,244 of the amount; that the middle Atlantic, or carrying and commercial States, from iNew York
to Maryland, inclusive, received $1,834,911,579; and that
the food-producing interior itself, embracing the eight
great States of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, received $2,810,000,000.
This very large accession of wealth to this single group of
States is sufficiently important to be stated more in detail.
The group, taken as a whole, extends from the western
boundaries of New York and Pennsylvania to the Missouri River, through fourteen degrees of longitude, and
from the Ohio River north to the British dominions,
through twelve degrees of latitude. It embraces an area
of 441,167 square miles, or 282,134,688 acres, nearly all of
which is arable and exceedingly fertile, much of it in
prairie, and ready at once for the plow. There may be a
small portion adjacent to Lake Superior unfit for cultivation, but it is abundantly compensated by its rich deposits
of copper and of iron of the best quality.
" Into this immense natural garden, in a salubrious and
desirable portion of the temperate zone, the swelling stream
of population from the older Atlantic States and from Europe has steadily flowed during the last decade, increasing
its previous population from 5,403,595 to 8,957,690, an
accession of 3,554,095 inhabitants gained by the peaceful
conquest of nature, fully equal to the population of Sile



536   THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
sia, which cost Frederick the Great the seven years' war,
and exceeding that of Scotland, the subject of struggle
for centuries.
"The rapid influx of population into this group of
States increased the quantity of the improved land, thereby
raising farms, more or less cultivated within their limits,
front 26,689,361 acres in 1850 to 51,826,395 in 1860, but
leaving a residue to be improved of 230,398,290 acres.
The area of 25,146,054 acres thus taken in ten years from
the prairie and the forest is equal to seven-eighths of the
arable land in England.
" The effects of this influx of population in increasing
the pecuniary wealth as well as the agricultural products
of the States in question are signally manifest in the census. The assessed value of their real and personal property ascended from $1,116,000,000 in 1850 to $3,926,000,000
in 1860, showing a clear increase of $2,810,000,000. We
can best measure this rapid and enormous accession of
wealth by comparing it with an object which all nations
value, the commercial marine. The commercial tunnage
of the United States
In 1840 was. 2,180,764 tuns.  I  In 1850 was. 3,535,454 tuns.
In 1860 was.. 5,358,808 tuns.
" At $50 per tun, which is a full estimate, the whole pecuniary value of the 5,358,808 tuns, embracing all our commercial fleets on the oceans and the lakes and the rivers,
and numbering nearly thirty thousand vessels, would be
but $267,940,000; whereas the increase in the pecuniary
value of the States under consideration, in each year of
the last decade, was $281,000,000.  Five years' increase
would purchase every commercial vessel in the Christian
world.
"But the census discloses another very important feature,
in respect to these interior States, of far higher interest to
the statisticians, and especially to the statesmen of Europe,
than any which has yet been noticed, in their vast and
rapidly increasing capacity to supply food, both vegetable
and animal, cheaply and abundantly, to the increasing




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  537
millions of the old world. In the last decade their cereal
products increased from 309,950,295 bushels to 558,160,323
bushels, considerably exceeding the whole cereal product
of England, and nearly if not quite equal to that of France.
In the same period the swine, which play a very important
part in consuming the large surplus of Indian corn, increased in number from 8,536,182 to 11,039,352, and the
cattle from 4,373,712 to 7,204,810. Thanks to steam and
the railway, the herds of cattle that feed on the meadows
of the Upper Mississippi are now carried, in four days,
through eighteen degrees of longitude, to the slaughterhouses on the Atlantic.;" It is difficult to furnish any visible or adequate measure
for a mass of cereals so enormous as 558,000,000 of bushels.
About one-fifth of the whole descends the chain of lakes,
on which 1,300 vessels are constantly employed in the
season of navigation. About one-seventh of the whole
finds its way to the ocean through the Erie Canal, which
has already been once enlarged for the purpose of passing
vessels of two hundred tuns, and is now under survey, by
the State of New York, for a second enlargement, to pass
vessels of five hundred tuns. The vessels called'canalboats,' now navigating the canal, exceed five thousand in
number, and, if placed in a line, would be more than
eighty miles in length.
"The barrels of wheat and flour alone, carried by the
canal to the Hudson River, were,
In 1842..  1,146,292   In 1852..  3,937,366
In 1862..  7,516,397
"A similar enlargement is also proposed for the canal
connecting Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River.
When both the works are completed, a barrel of flour
can be carried from St. Louis to New York, nearly half
across the continent, for fifty cents, or a tun from the Iron
Mountain of Missouri for five dollars. The moderate portion of the cereals that descends the lakes, if placed in
barrels of five bushels each, and side by side, would form




538   THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
a line five thousand miles long. The whole crop, if placed
in barrels, would encircle the globe. Such is its present
magnitude. We leave it to statistical science to discern
and truly estimate the future. One result is, at all events,
apparent. A general famine is now impossible; for America, if necessary, can feed Europe for centuries to come.
Let the statesman and philanthropist ponder well the magnitude of the fact, and all its far-reaching consequences
-political, social, and moral-in the increased industry,
the increased happiness, and the assured peace of the
world."
These facts may well give us great confidence in the
future of the United States, and dispel our fears of being
crushed by the weight of our debt, or of being seriously
embarrassed at the close of the war. Some of these statements and calculations are worthy of particular attention.
It is estimated that our population in six years (in 1870)
will be about 42,000,000; for the great increase, now probable in immigration, will prevent our general rate of advance from being materially lessened by the waste of the
war. Should we close the war in 1864, the national debt
will not be far from $2,000,000,000. We shall have then,
in 1870, a population from three millions to four millions
larger than France, with about the same amount of debt,
and with general resources far greater than hers. Our
population will then be about ten millions larger than that
of Great Britain, and our debt little more than half as
great.
But another important fact is, that, while the rate of
increase of our population for the last decade was about 36
per cent., the rate of increase of our wealth for the same
period was 130 per cent. The wealth of the country in
1860 was estimated at about fourteen thousand two hundred and twenty-five millions. If the same rate of increase
should continue during this decade, the aggregate property
of the United States in 1870 would be about equal to the




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  539
present estimated wealth of Great Britain, while we shall
have little more than half her debt.
The war has destroyed an immense amount of property
in the South; but, in the meanwhile, the wealth of the free
States has been increasing, probably, at a more rapid rate
than ever; for new inventions in agricultural machinery
keep up the rate of production for our cereals, while they
are selling at greatly enhanced prices.
Such calculations can only be regarded as approximately
correct; but they may be so far relied upon as to give us
great confidence in the future ability of the country to meet
all its obligations, and to keep up, at least, the usual rate
of progress. To these statements the report of the Commissioner of the General Land-office should be added in
regard to the metalliferous regions of the United States:
"The report of the Commissioner of the Land-office shows
on what a grand scale God has laid here the foundation of
power, and provided abundantly all the elements of national
greatness. The facts presented prove that our mineral
wealth is in full proportion to the extent of territory, and
that the supply of the precious metals in particular will
meet every want of the country, even when its population
shall amount to hundreds of millions; that it will supply a
specie basis for the whole business of the continent when
it shall be as densely populated as Europe, and when America, placed between India and Europe, shall control the
commerce of the'exhaustless East,' when, through steamers on the Pacific, and railroads across the continent, our
cities will be hearer to Asia than London or Paris.
"Among the elements of national wealth and power,
iron and coal hold, perhaps, the first place, inasmuch as
both these must be so largely used hereafter, not alone
in commerce and the arts, but in all the operations of
war.
"Upon this point the Commissioner's report is full of
interest. He says:




540   THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
"' The extent of the twelve coal-bearing States east of the Mississippi holds but a small proportion to the immense coal-fields west of
that region, as we have information reporting the existence of coal
in Dacotah, Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California,
Oregon, and Washington.'
"It is impossible to overestimate the importance of these
immense coal-fields in the future progress of our country;
and when we remember how coal is almost constantly associated with iron, we see on what a vast scale God has prepared the materials of civilization over millions of square
miles, where these stored-up riches wait for the coming of
the people.
" The following statements in regard to the gold region
will doubtless attract great attention. Though based on
well-ascertained facts, they seem almost like fable:
"'It stretches on the western portion of the continent from 400
north latitude to 310 30', and from the 1020 of longitude to the
Pacific Ocean, embracing portions of Dacotah, Nebraska, Colorado,
all of New Mexico, with Arizona, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon,
and Washington Territory. Its breadth is about 1,100 miles from
north to south, and of nearly equal longitudinal extension, making
an area of more than a million of acres. This vast region is traversed from north to south, on the Pacific side, by the Sierra Nevada
and the Cascade Mountains, then by the Blue and Humboldt; on the
east by the double ranges of the Rocky Mountains, embracing the
Wasatch, Wind River chain, and the Sierra Madre, stretching longitudinally and in lateral spurs-crossed and linked together by
intervening ridges connecting the whole system by five principal
ranges, dividing the country into an equal number of basins, each
being nearly surrounded by mountains, and watered by mountain
streams and snows, thereby interspersing this immense territory with
bodies of agricultural lands equal to tha support of not only miners,
but of a dense population.
"' These mountains are literally stocked with minerals-gold and
silver being interspersed in profusion over their immense surface,
and daily brought to light by new discoveries. The precious metals
are found embedded in mountains of quartz, rich washings marking
the pathways of rivers and floods. Besides their wealth in gold, no




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  541
part of the world is so rich in silver-mines as Nevada and New
Mexico; yet these may be estimated only in proportion to the goldfields which are in process of development with amazing results.
The recent discoveries in the Colorado region of California, and in
the region stretching thence away up to and north of Salmon River,
in Washington Territory, are every day stimulating the mining enterprise of our people.'
"In order to show what an amount of labor may find
profitable employment in this mining region, the Commissioner states that what is called a claim, in the quartz region, is one hundred feet square. If only one-hundredth
part of the mountain district is suitable for mining, there
will still be room for three million six hundred thousand
claims.
"By another estimate, based upon a calculation of Governor Evans, of Colorado, he shows that the gold-bearing
region of our country will give employment to twenty millions of miners. He says that quartz which yields $12 per
tun will pay, under favorable circumstances.  There is,
however, much quartz which will yield from $20 to $500
per tun.  There is some which yields from $500 to $3,000
per tun, and some recent discoveries are estimated as high
as $20,000 per tun.
"' In addition to the deposits of gold and silver, various sections
of the whole mineral region are rich in precious stones, marble,
gypsum, salt, tin, quicksilver, asphaltum, coal, iron, copper, and
lead; together with mineral, medicinal, thermal, and cold springs
and streams. None of these mines have been worked for a great
length of time, except the placers of California, and much the largest
portion of them are comparatively recent discoveries; yet the deeper
the mine is worked, the richer is the ore or rock. Enormous profits
are derived from operations at depths of 150 to 200 feet.'
"The Commissioner states that, prior to the discovery
of gold in 1848, the gold product of the world was only,
on the average, $18,000,000; now the annual yield of our
own mines is $100,000,000, and the working of our goldbearing region has onlyjust begun."




542  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
The Commissioner estimates that " within ten years (from
1863) the annual product of these mines in the precious
metals alone will be two hundred millions of dollars; and
in coal, iron, tin, lead, quicksilver, and copper, half that
sum."  He says: "With an amount of labor relatively
equal to that expended in California, applied to the goldfields already known to exist outside of that State, the production even now, including that of California, would exceed four hundred millions of dollars per year." He is
confident that these mines may be relied upon to pay principal and interest of the national debt, besides supporting
the government. These estimates do not appear extravagant to those who have made our mineral resources a subject of study, and the facts should be known by the whole
American people, in order to remove all anxiety in reference to the future.
A debt of $2,000,000,000 would require for the payment
of its interest probably $100,000,000 annually. If, then, our
other expenses are reduced to the proper rates of peace,
can any man doubt our ability to provide for these amounts
and an additional sinking-fund, which would extinguish
our debt within a quarter of a century? The extent of our
unoccupied lands, and their great fertility, and the increasing inducements for immigration, warrant the belief
that the rate of increase of our population will be nearly
as great for the next half-century as it has been in the last
fifty years. Our ability to pay a debt may be compared
with that of France, whose debt is equal to ours, or nearly
so, and with that of England, who owes nearly twice as
much as we, by comparing our respective rates of progress.
The population of France increased 37 per cent. in sixty
years, ending in 1861, according to Mr. Ruggles. The increase of England and Wales was 121 per cent. in the same
time; while, in this period, the increase in the United
States was 593 per cent. Mr. Kennedy, in his Compendiurn of the Eighth Census, estimates the population, twentysix years from this time (1864), at more than seventy-seven
millions. If this should prove true, it will add some forty



THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  543
seven millions to the present population; and Mr. Ruggles
has shown that the rate in which wealth increases in this
country is about four times the rate of the progress of population; and this rate of production would bring the aggregate wealth of the country in 1880 to more than seventyfive thousand millions of dollars.
These calculations are based upon actual results already
reached, and upon rates of progress which the country has
as yet maintained, and which men of attainment and experience assume are likely to be maintained in the future.
The certain increase of the amount of the Southern staples through- free labor and machinery, our unlimited
capacity for cereal production, our mineral wealth, our
manufacturing and commercial resources, should convince
all that the national debt will scarcely be felt in our future
progress. It has been said by many that Europe will not,
hereafter, purchase as largely as heretofore of our agricultural productions. It is evident, however, that unless new
grain-fields are opened in the old world, its population
must receive yearly more and more of its food from
America; and, in regard to the supply of cotton, unless
England and France can obtain elsewhere an article fully
equal in quality to that of American growth, they must
either buy our cotton or we shall manufacture it ourselves,
and then they must meet us with our superior fabrics in
the markets of the world.
Let those who fear that national bankruptcy is approaching, consider what the material progress of the country
must be for the next quarter of a century while nearly
fifty millions are being added to our population.
There are certain great improvements, of a national
character, which are certain to be made before half that
period has elapsed, if this war shall be speedily closed.
At least one great trunk-line of railway will be finished
to the Pacific, with Eastern branches reaching the Northern lakes, the central Mississippi Valley, and the Southern
sea-coast, and with lateral branches shooting out into the
vast mineral regions of the far West.




544  THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.
The railway intended to connect the Ohio Valley with
East Tennessee and with Charleston will be finished, and
the North Carolina Railway will be carried westward until
it connects with some branch of the Pacific Road, and the
now ruined railroads of the South will be put in complete
order again. That internal coast-line of navigation, even
now almost continuous from Long Island Sound to Florida,
will be perfected by connecting the bays, sounds, and
channels, until our coastwise commerce can pass from New
York to Florida by this inland route, safe alike from an
enemy, and from ocean storms. There will be a shipcanal around the falls of Niagara, and from the lakes to
the Mississippi, and the Ohio River will be rendered navigable through the year. In addition to this, the government
must soon bring its mineral lands into the market in the
same manner as it does all other lands, and give a title in
fee to the purchaser.
While these things are in progress, the tide of our population will set strongly in upon the South, and the mineral
lands of the Western mountains, and industry will plant
itself precisely where it is most needed to sustain our
finances, where it will produce the great staples of the
South and silver and gold as the basis of our currency,
while, at the same time, the riches of the Eastern commerce will flow in through the golden gate of California.
Any amount of debt which this war can create will press
lightly upon such a country as this will be, almost in the
immediate future.
Nor are any of the predictions so freely made, at home
and abroad, in regard to future divisions of our country,
likely to be fulfilled.
No one of the great geographical divisions of the land
is complete in itself. Each is a necessary part of one
great whole.
The mineral region, the great agricultural basins, the
coast-lines for commerce on the two oceans, fronting Europe and Asia, the long lines of hill-country for manufactures; in the East the Alleghanies, stretching from Canada




THE ARMIES OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, AND AMERICA.  545
to central Alabama, and, in the far West, the Rocky
Mountains and the Nevada, all bear a due proportion to
each other, and stand so related to each other as to be
bound inseparably together to form one grand national
whole, in which each part, like members of a living body,
will be necessary to all the rest.
The manufacturers of the country will purchase the staples of the South and the South-west. Commerce will
make the exchanges, the agricultural regions will supply
the food, and the mines will furnish the silver and the
gold as the money basis of the whole; and, bound together
as we shall be by railways and canals, and all the interlacing bonds of kindred and business and social relations,
warned by the experience of this rebellion, and having
learned the value of a great nationality, we shall remain
henceforth " one and inseparable."
35




546      ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND AMERICA:
CHAPTE  XXXIX.
SUMMARY OF THE RELATIONS OF ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND AMERICA,
TO THE WORLD AND TO EACH OTHER.
FROM what has been already stated, it is not difficult to
see in what direction the great forces of the world are to
be exerted in the future, and the bearing which the four
powers named above will have upon the' progress of civilization.
France is the great military power of Western Europe.
With Louis Napoleon and his political and military associates, this is the one ruling idea; the chief, if not the
sole object of every wile of state-craft, as well as every
movement in war. The extending and consolidating the
Papal power is with them a means to an end. The common religious sentiment and the ties of race are being
used to combine the Catholic nations into one grand organization, with its head at Paris; a vast military power, supported by the prestige and authority of the Romish Church,
and strong enough, as is hoped, to give civil and ecclesiastical law to Europe, and perhaps, also, to this Western
world.
France desires manufactures and colonies, not for the
benefit of the people, but to create a wealth which may
support the army, the navy, and the splendor of the imperial government. The people, like the slaves on a plantation, are regarded simply as machines for the production
of wealth which the government may use.




THEIR RELATIONS TO THE WORLD, ETC.    547
The Emperor adorns his capital with regal magnificence;
he constructs such fortifications and dock-yards as those
at Cherbourg; he creates navies and armies; he concentrates, in short, all the wealth of the empire in the hands
of the rulers whom he directs, but he does little or nothing for the education, the comfort, the general progress of
the people. One fact, already stated, is a whole volume
of history for France. tHer population has increased only
thirty-seven per cent. in sixty years. Sixty years ago she
had more than twenty-seven millions of inhabitants; she
has about thirty-nine millions now. This shows conclusively how heavily the government policy presses upon the
laboring classes, and how little hope the empire can have
of keeping pace in growth with either Russia or America,
and hence the need of seeking combinations of power
which she can herself direct.
The empire is, in no sense, of or for the people. The
elections are simply a farce and an imposition. The Emperor and his officers are the State; they are France, the
only France with which the world without has any relations. The government has really no popular element in
it; the bayonets alone vote, and in accordance with the
orders given.
The government virtually owns say thirty millions of
laborers, whose earnings, excepting only common food and
clothing, it consumes in navies, armies, and in imperial
pomp.
Such, politically, is France: a military despotism, seeking to dominate both over Europe and America. The
leaders of the Papal Church are, equally with the Emperor, intent upon the military aggrandizement of France;
but with them this military power is not an end, but a
means to extend, in both hemispheres, the exclusive dominion of the Romish Church. Thus the Jesuits use the
military strength of the empire to advance the Church,
and Louis Napoleon, on his part, sustains the Church,
and excites her ambition, and extends her influence, in
order that he may use it all to create, consolidate, and




548     ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND AMERICA:
secure a military empire that shall, if possible, rule the
world. Unless France is again revolutionized, she will
very soon embody the three forms of despotism which
have cursed the world: the ecclesiastical, the political, and
the military.
Should Louis Napoleon succeed in so allying all the
Papal States of Europe to France that he could wield the
military power of all combined, and then this force should
be controlled by Jesuit statesmen, it would, Qf course, be
used everywhere to repress free institutions, whether religious or political; it would become, in both hemispheres,
the most formidable foe of freedom and human progress
that has arisen in modern times.
The Papal Church is bound by her nature her principles, and all her past history, to the monarchical form of
government-to the theory that the people have no right
of choice in rulers, nor authority to shape the laws by
which they are governed; her spirit is that of a despotism
from which the people can have no appeal, and in this she
can not change, for that would annihilate the Papacy, and
sink it to the level of a mere religious denomination. The
Romish Church must and will, from its very nature, compel obedience to itself as the only true Church, to the full
extent of her power, and, therefore, the most alarming
feature in the immediate future of Europe is the rapid
growth of the military power of France, the swift yet
steady increase of her political influence, and the old persecuting power of the dark ages, now become a part of
the empire's life, growing with its growth and strengthening with its strength.
No conspiracy so formidable as this has been formed
for many centuries against popular civil rights and religious freedom. Its ramifications already extend to every
nation, but the two chief objects at which it proposes to
strike are, Russia and the Greek Church in the East, and
the American Republic, with its free institutions and its
Protestant faith.
The French occupation of Mexico, and the letter of the




THEIR RELATIONS TO THE WORLD, ETC.    549
Pope to Jeff. Davis, are inspired by the same spirit, a desire for the overthrow of this Republic.
The traitor President has the sympathies both of the
Emperor and the Pope, because they hope that, through
him  and their own efforts, this free Republic and the
Protestant faith will be destroyed together. Such is the
France of to-day, aiming at the universal supremacy of
the military empire and the Roman Catholic Church; a
double-headed despotism, ready to tread down the people
of every land, occupying Mexico already as a point from
whence to make its spring at the United States.
It is only necessary to refer to the quotations already
made, setting forth the condition of the laborers of England, to show that Great Britain, though boasting of a free
constitution and chartered liberties, has, in the practical
working of her policy, ground her people down with a
more crushing despotism than that of France, and that,
according to the showing of her own witnesses, there are
very few countries in Europe where the condition of the
laborers, as a whole, is as wretched as in England.
Only about one million in England have the privilege
of voting, or have any direct influence upon the laws or
the government; a'nd this fact, with the other already
stated on the authority of Mr. Kay, that in England fifteen thousand persons own all the land, is quite sufficient
to prove that the English system, whatever it may be in
theory, in its practical working forces the laborers down
to very near the level of the slave, and shuts up completely the path of progress and the door of hope. As
France uses her laborers as so much machinery for war
and to aggrandize the government, the empire, so England employs her people to create wealth for the titled
landholding few. England, then, is a despotism of wealth
and rank; the government is a combination of capital and
the titled and privileged few, to whose support the earnings of the laboring millions must contribute all except
what is needed to support a life only a grade above that
of the slave.




550      ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND AMERICA:
The France and the England with which the world has
to deal, whose diplomatic craft, whose armies and navies
the world must meet, are alike the representatives and
watchful defenders of despotism, seeking alike to establish
or maintain everywhere governments in which the people
have no controlling share-governments founded upon the
theory that no rights whatever inhere in the people, that
the laboring classes have no rights except such as the
government chooses to bestow. To this theory the soul of
the Holy Alliance, England, has constantly given assent
by her acts, and, therefore, France and England both are
the deadly foe of republican or democratic freedom, and
represent and defend the old despotic forms of government
that in all ages have cursed and trodden down the people.
England is a despotism of the aristocracy, a tyranny of
title and capital, which, in its workshops of Mammon, is
grinding up the people as surely as the material upon
which the machinery works, the mills and the agricultural systems producing poverty and degradation as regularly as they do the cotton fabrics of Lancashire or the
cutlery of Sheffield.
These powers belong to a period now closing and passing away, and they seek to retard, by all means, the
progress of that new era of popular freedom which is
dawning upon the nations. For this purpose they will
probably unite their strength hereafter as they have hitherto done, for it is difficult to see how England can safely
separate from or oppose France in any of her ambitious
schemes. The Papal element is strong, and growing
daily stronger, in Great Britain, and it is at least very
doubtful whether England could this day be induced to
rally to the defense of the Protestant faith, against any
attack which France might choose to make. The hazard
is too great, and her enthusiasm for truth too small.
Precisely as she left France to work her will in Mexico,
and even encouraged her, knowing perfectly her designs,
so will she do hereafter, if her own interests can be promoted thereby. The England which would make war to




THEIlR RELATIONS TO THE WORLD, ETC.    551
defend a religious principle we may well fear is gone forever. The England of to-day is paralyzed by the spell of
France, and chilled by Mammon selfishness. These are the
two great powers which now present themselves on the
theater of nations as the special antagonists of Russia and
America, the champions of political and ecclesiastical despotism, massing their banded strength against Russia and
the Greek Church on the one hand, against this Protestant American Republic on the other.
It is perfectly evident, therefore, that, as Europe now
stands, the only hope for her of arresting or resisting this
new combination which France is forming-and of which
England is almost certain to become a part, unless prevented by popular revolution-must rest on Russia.
The Protestant portion of Germany is in a state of
chaos: we may hope that it may yet be organized and find
a fitting leader, raised up as Luther was of God; but, as
things now are, Russia alone has power, if any thing
human has, to save the people of Europe from this new
conspiracy against civil and religious freedom.
Russia has committed herself openly, fully, deliberately,
to the cause of popular progress. Her new policy in freeing, elevating, and educating her people, and in making
the laborers landowners, is very far in advance of any
thing done or proposed by England or France. Her theory
is not a democratic one, but it is, that the government
should be administered so as to promote the highest welfare of the people, instead of using the people as machines
or plantation slaves, merely to add to the pomp and
splendor of an empire or an aristocracy.
Strange as it may at first thought appear, it is nevertheless true, that Russia is the true point of support for
liberal opinions or popular progress in Europe. She, in
the Greek Church, can present to Europe and the East a
religious organization powerful enough to compete with
the Papacy; and that Church has a spiritual life, a liberality, a spirit of toleration, of which the Church of Rome
knows nothing. The cordial friendship between Russia




552      ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA AND AMERICA:
and America will incline the national Church to affiliate
hereafter with at least our American form of Protestantism, and the Protestant faith may, in its coming struggle
with Rome, find that support in Russia which England,
entangled as she is, and largely Catholic as she is already,
may be unable or unwilling to give.
Russia alone has the military and naval strength to
resist the attack of France and her allies. The battle of
our iron-clads effected for Russia precisely what it did for
us. It delivered her from the fear of the great navies of
France and England. Thanks to the genius of Ericsson,
and our American artillery, Russia can construct mail-clad
batteries that no ocean-going ship can resist. She has a
fleet of these already, and she can defy the utmost effort
of France and England combined, and her late reply to
France, on the Polish question, is proof that she knows
her strength.
She alone of all Europe can give freedom to the downtrodden East; she alone can re-establish on the historic
plains of the old Greek Empire a nation with popular
rights and religious freedom; and mankind will have
reason to rejoice when the national banner of the Greek
Church shall take the place of the Crescent on the towers
of St. Sophia. Who can foresee the changes which will
be wrought in Europe, and especially upon all the branches
of the Sclavonic race, now that the imperial and religious
head of that race has planted himself on the side of the
people, the advocate and defender of popular progress.
There are many who are deeply prejudiced against Russia
because of her course in Poland; but even there, when she
is fully understood, she will be justified, at least in her
general course, by even the friends of freedom. First, the
insurrection in Poland was a rebellion of the nobility, and
not of the people; it was, like our own rebellion, an attempt of the aristocracy to secure and extend their power
over the laboring classes. Second, it is now asserted, by
good authority, that this outbreak received its inspiration
from  Paris, and was an attempt, on the part of Louis




THEIR RELATIONS TO THE WORLD, ETC.     553
Napoleon and his Jesuits, to obtain a foothold within the
Russian dominions, from whence Russia and the Greek
Church might be attacked when the opportunity should
offer. It was a covert attempt to flank Russia by a French
Catholic outpost, as he is flanking the United States by
the occupation of Mexico.
The Russian Minister did not hesitate to inform the
French Emperor that the Polish insurrection was fomented
in his own capital; and Russia knew, and America ought
to know, that she was called to meet, in Poland, not an
uprising of the people, but an insidious effort of France and
the Catholic leaders to wrest from her a portion of her dominions, and strike a blow also at her national Church.
Russia is now the grandest spectacle in the old world.
She stands the center of a hundred millions of people, and
head of that Church which for a thousand years had its
chief seat at Constantinople, and made it the second city
of the East; and while France and the Latin nations and
the Papacy are together preparing to create an overwhelming despotism, and England seems caught in the
toils of the conspiracy, Russia confronts them with her
gigantic power and nobler aspirations, and, standing in
that light of freedom with which she is scattering her own
darkness away, she turns to a new era and a nobler life.
Russia has professedly undertaken an experiment which
has not been tried since the time of the Jewish theocracy.
She declares that she will use the powers of the government and the influence of a national Church -to instruct,
to elevate, to enrich, and bless the masses of the people.
The Czar assumes the position of Father and Priest of his
people, and proposes to govern for their benefit; and therefore he invests them all with the proper rights of citizenship, and offers to aid them in every effort at improvement
by the advice and influence and treasure of the government
itself. Doubtless there will be many mistakes and shortcomings in the carrying out of this plan, but it is the
noblest announcement of the true Christian theory of government which Europe has heard in modern times.




554     ENGLAND, FRANCE, RUSSIA, AND AMERICA:
In all ages, and everywhere except in Judea and here,
the people have been used to aggrandize the monarch, the
nobility, and the Church. Russia proposes now to reverse
this, and use both Church and State power to ennoble and
bless the people at large.
The progress of her experiment will be watched with
intense interest by every friend of the Gospel and of human progress. She presents at all points an illustrious
antagonism to the movement which now controls all
Western Europe.
She has cut herself loose from the traditions and policy
of the past, and proposes henceforth to act upon the principle that governments are instituted for the good of the
citizens. This new policy has brought Russia, so far as
general purpose is concerned, into close sympathy with
the United States, as no other European power can be until
Germany is reconstructed, and God sends her a leader.
The national purpose in this Republic, also, is to use
the powers of the State and of religion to promote the
welfare of the people, to spread intelligence among the
laboring masses, and to multiply their comforts.
In our republican State we propose to accomplish this
object by civil institutions created by and dependent upon
the people themselves, and by Churches having no connection with the State, receiving from it no support of any
kind, being merely voluntary religious associations, depending for support upon the free-will offerings of the people.
This is the American form of Christian civilization, while
Russia proposes to attain the same enid by a government
both patriarchal and kingly in its character, while at the
same time the Church is an integral part of the State and
the Czar is its imperial head.
These two forms of government, so different and yet
aiming at the same result, present the two great experiments of modern times for the elevation of the working
masses of the nation, and it remains to be seen which will
achieve the most signal success. The tendency of the one
will, of course, be toward despotism and oppression of the




THEIR RELATIONS TO THE WORLD, ETC.     555
people, such as characterizes every other monarchy; that
of our free government is toward lawlessness, an undue
assertion of individual right, or, in times of great peril
like the present, toward a military despotism; but if these
two experiments in popular progress are faithfully carried
out, they will help to settle the great problem of Christian
civilization, whether a strong central government and a
national Church, faithfully administered for the good of
the citizens, will promote the general welfare and secure
the general progress equally with those democratic forms,
both in the State and the Church, which have been adopted
here. However this may be, Russia and America now
stand before the world as the leaders of the two great
forms of popular progress, and both are confronted and
threatened by the civil and ecclesiastical despotisms of
Western Europe. Their interests are identical, their fields
of action so remote from each other as to render unlikely
any future collision, their enemies are the same, and it is
not improbable that they may yet unite to free themselves
and the nations, on land and on the sea, from the arrogant assumptions of France, England, and the Papacy.




556             THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
CHAPTER XL.
THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
THE subjects treated of in the preceding chapters lead
naturally to the consideration of what is called " The
Monroe Doctrine," and to inquire whether that announcement of the American government was intended only to
serve an occasion, or whether that declaration sets forth a
policy upon which our national safety, and even our existence as a Republic, depends.
It is necessary to the full understanding of this matter,
that one should consider the causes which induced our
government thus to declare its intentions.
The history of Europe presents many examples of combinations among different nations to repress the growing
power or ambition of some monarch or kingdom that
threatened the peace or liberty of the rest, but no regular
system for such a purpose was formed and agreed upon
until the Congress of Vienna. The career of Napoleon
had shown Europe the necessity of some kind of union
among the powers for mutual protection against any future Bonaparte that might arise; and after his overthrow
and at the Congress of Vienna, the so-called Holy Alliance was formed, by which Europe was placed under the
joint supervision and control of five "Great Powers,"
Great Britain, France, Austria, Russia, and Prussia. By
the decisions of these the nations were to be bound. They
constituted themselves the guardians and trustees of




THE MONROE DOCTRINE.            557
Europe, and had, of course, ample power to enforce their
opinions upon all the rest.
Moreover, any three of these, or any two, if Great Britain or France were one, could act in any case for the
whole. England, for private reasons, -did not become, in
form, a party to this arrangement, but she shared in all
the negotiations of the Congress, approved of the system
as adopted, and has ever maintained and relied upon it
since-a cordial, active partner of the Alliance, though
without signing her name to the paper. These self-constituted guardians of Europe assumed the right to interfere
with the concerns of any State whose government or policy
did not please them, and compel it, by force of arms, if
necessary, to shape all its concerns according to their
judgment of the case. They were the European Supreme
Court of Nations, and their armies and their navies were
always ready to execute their decrees.
A cardinal principle of these kingly custodians of Europe was, to maintain everywhere, so far as possible, one
only form of government, an absolute monarchy, hereditary, and supported by due military power. If a constitutional government were already in existence, strong enough
to resist, such as England was, it was-to be endured while
it must be; but it was a primal object with these Holy
Allies to repress and put down everywhere all popular
institutions and power, to deny entirely any right in the
people to choose their own rulers, or to frame their own
laws and institutions. It was a part of the contract between these five powers to establish and support, wherever
they had the power, a form of government directly opposed,
both in essential principles and in every form and feature,
to the free institutions of our own Republic. They were
bound to put us down whenever the occasion should offer,
and the intervening ocean alone has saved us from intervention and destruction while we were yet in our infancy.
But the absolute rulers of Western Europe and the
Jesuits have never ceased to hope that this Republic
might yet be destroyed. Many have been the schemes to




558             THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
render us subservient to their designs before the use of
steam on the sea had brought us within the reach of their
arms. The first Napoleon sold us Louisiana in order that
we mnight become a maritime rival of England. Subsequently, England, under Canning, approved of our Monroe
Doctrine, in order to exclude France from the American
continent, and now England unites with France, both to
occupy Mexico and destroy the Republic, in the very spirit
of the Holy Alliance, and because she wishes to crush a
rival. Bonaparte overthrew the government of Spain, and
her American colonies, freed from her yoke, declared their
independence. There was also a popular movement in
Spain, and the Cortez demanded a constitution for the
people. The Holy Alliance interfered, put down the popular party, and restored absolute authority to Ferdinand.
The independence which the South American States had
just declared, then received the attention of the Allies, and
a scheme was formed, first for reconquering South America for Spain, and then to determine whether any thing
could be devised for checking the young Republic of the
North. This was the time selected by Mr. Monroe to
announce the policy which stands connected with his name
as the "Monroe Doctrine."  This doctrine was presented
in his message of December, 1823, in the following words:
"In the wars of the European powers, in matters relating to themselves, we have never taken any part, nor does
it comport with our policy so to do. It is only when our
rights are invaded, or seriously menaced, that we resent
injuries, or make preparations for our defense. With the
movements in this hemisphere we are of necessity more
immediately connected, and by causes which must be obvious to all enlightened and impartial observers. The
political system of the Allied Powers is essentially different in this respect from that of America. This difference
proceeds from that which exists in their respective governments. And to the defense of our own, which has
been achieved with so much expense of blood and treasure,




THE MONROE DOCTRINE.             559
and matured by the wisdom of their most enlightened citizens, and under which we have enjoyed most unexampled
felicity, this whole nation is devoted. We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations subsisting
between the United States and these powers, to declare,
that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as
dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing
colonies or dependencies of any European power we have
not interfered, and shall not interfere. But with the governments who have declared their independence, and maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great
consideration, and on just principles, acknowledged, we
could not view any interposition, for the purposes of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their
destiny, by any European power, in any other light than
as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward
the United States. In the war between these governments
and Spain, we declared our neutrality at the time of their
recognition, and to this we have adhered, and shall continue to adhere, provided no change shall occur which, in
the judgment of the competent authorities of this government, shall make a corresponding change on the part of
the United States indispensable to their security."
" The deep interest which we take in their independence,
which we have acknowledged, and in their enjoyment of
all the rights incident thereto, especially in the very important one of instituting their own governments, has been
declared, and is known to the world. Separated as we'
are from Europe by the great Atlantic Ocean, we can have
no concern in the wars of the European governments, nor
in the causes which produce them. The balance of power
between them, into whichever scale it may turn in its various
vibrations, can not affect us. It is the interest of the United
States to preserve the most friendly relations with every
power, and on conditions fair, equal, and applicable to all.
But in regard to our neighbors our situation is different.




560             THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
It is impossible for the European governments to interfere
in their concerns, especially in those alluded to,"-[of
instituting their own governments] —" which are vital, without
affecting us; indeed, the motive which might induce such
interference in the present state of the war between the
parties, if war it may be called, would appear to be equally
applicable to us. It is gratifying to know that some of the
powers with whom we enjoy a very friendly intercourse,
and to whom these views have been communicated, have
appeared to acquiesce in them." —Message of Dec. 7, 1824.
These messages, as well as the general political history
of that time, show in the clearest light the character and
designs of that European movement against which the
protest was directed. Its avowed object was to bring the
American continent under the control of the allied monarchs of Europe, to trample out all popular rights, put
down all popular governments, and restore the reign of
absolutism over all this Western world.
Mr. Monroe and his associate statesmen knew well that
the coming blow was to be aimed at the very life of this
Republic, and, indeed, at republican institutions on both
the American continents, and with a courage, boldness, and
firmness which might have been profitably imitated in our
later dealings with Europe, and especially with France,
they declared that they were resolved to resist all attempts
to impose the European system upon part of America, and,
if necessary, they would do this by force of arms.
A writer in the NEW ENGLANDER for October, 1863, in a
very clear and able article upon " The Monroe Doctrine,"
thus sums up its principles:
" 1. That the American continents, (leaving out the islands), are henceforth not to be considered subject to any
future colonization by any European nation.
"2. That we shall consider any attempt on the part of
the European powers to extend their political system to
any portion of this hemisphere as'dangerous to our




THE MONROE DOCTRINE.             561
peace and safety,' and of course to be counteracted or
provided against as we shall deem advisable in any case.
"' 3. That for any European power to interfere with any
American government for the purpose of oppressing or
dictating to them unjustly, or of controlling their destiny
by force or threats, would be viewed by us as' the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United
States,' which we should be called upon to notice by protest or remonstrance, or in such way as we should think
our honor and interest required."
In this conspiracy against free institutions on this continent, Russia was then engaged, as earnestly engaged as
the rest, having offered to assist Ferdinand in recovering
his colonies; but Russia, under Alexander and under Nicholas, was not the liberal Russia which she is to-day. The
whole aspect of Europe has changed; the Crimnean war
taught her that her deadliest foes were among the Allied
Powers; she saw clearly that her true interests are quite
independent of absolutism and of Western Europe; that
her aims are identical with those of the Western Republic,'and that the enemies of America are equally her own.
The Papacy strikes alike at Protestantism and the Greek
Church, and those who hate and fear our free America are
equally hostile to a liberal Russia,'throbbing and expanding with a new popular life.
France and England, when they had resolved, for purposes of their own, to make an attack on Russia, gave to
their plan, at first, the aspect of a joint movement of four
of the great regulators of Europe, to check the ambition
of one of their own associates in the Holy Alliance; but,
so soon as they saw that they could not thus produce a
war, they abandoned Austria and Prussia, and made the
attack alone, for reasons which have been presented in the
previous chapters of this work; and now these same powers, in connection with Spain, have undertaken anew the
very scheme against which Mr. Monroe, supported by
the whole country, protested so earnestly and firmly in
36




662              THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
1823, and by their manly courage averted, for a time, the
danger.
When this Southern conspiracy first disclosed itself in
Europe, it was carefully nourished and strengthened; and
when the outbreak of the rebellion gave the occasion,
every crowned and titled foe of popular rights prepared
for what they believed would be the final overthrow of
free institutions, and the restoration of the Western continent to European control, England taking the grand initiatory step, which made all the rest easy, by recognizing
the traitors as lawful belligerents and on an equality with
the regular government.
As has been already stated, commercial ambition on the
part of England, the purpose so coolly selfish of crippling
her American rival, and with France a desire to aggrandize the Papacy and the Latin races, enter largely into this
new attempt to subjugate America, and these greatly increase our danger. This rebellion, of itself, could not have
lived through a twelvemonth unaided from abroad, and
this its leaders have confessed; and it has been cherished
and aided by France and England, simply as their instrument to carry out their own designs. Through the Confederates, England and France cunningly wage a secure
war upon the United States, the arms, powder, supplies
of all sorts, being furnished to the traitors with as much
good-will as if they were for their own armies, and the
traitor ships are sent forth as if they belonged to their
own navies; and, to crown all, France seizes Mexico
as a point of support for the Confederacy, and as a spot
to which can be rallied every foe of the United States,
for an assault upon us whenever the favorable hour shall
come.
The secessionists in Europe are already rallying to the
support of that tool of France and the Pope, called the
Emperor of Mexico, and receiving titles of nobility at his
hands, and the fearful, cautious steps by which this war
has been prolonged, and the want of any firm remonstrances to the course of France, have brought us at this




TEE MONROE DOCTRINE.             563
time (March, 1864) within a step of the position where the
Southern rebels will be supported by a consolidated government in Mexico, backed by the sympathies and the
arms of France.
A policy which has nothing positive, which lacks every
element of courage and boldness, which commits itself to
the drift of circumstances, has brought the nation face to
face with this deadly peril, and it now remains to be seen
whether the American people will rouse themselves in
season and demand from our rulers the swift crushing of
our home-traitors by the energetic use of every war-power,
by treating them as traitors in justice to the loyal, and
then reassert the principles set forth by Mr. Monroe, in
the same spirit of comprehensive statesmanship and calm
courage with which they were asserted at first.
The country has not now one moment to lose. This
Congress should annihilate slavery; the rebellion should
be crushed by our blows in the spring and early summer,
if there is force enough in the whole North to do it; the
property of the South, real and personal, should be placed
forever beyond the reach of a traitor; and, at the same
time, let the proper admonition be given to Maximilian,
France, and Europe.
Thus only, as is believed, can our Republic be saved, and
all America be secured against European control, and preserved as the grand theater for thle expanding life of free
institutions.
Let Maximilian once be established firmly on our border, and when we have broken the armies of the South,
the chief conspirators, with all whom they can influence,
will rally in Mexico to renew the war.
The manner and spirit with which Louis Napoleon entered Mexico are well set forth by the writer in the NEW
ENGLANDER, already referred to, Rev. Dr. Joshua Leavitt.
He says:
"Our government is generally regarded in Europe as a
mere aggregation of individuals, to and from which men




564             THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
may come and go at pleasure, without incurring any moral
obligation or violating any moral principle.
"It is upon this ground that we are to explain what
appeared to Americans so shameless in the conduct of the
French Emperor, when, in his letter to General Forey, he
directed him to treat any government he might find in
Mexico as merely provisional. The government of President Juarez is unquestionably the constitutional government of Mexico, and it has been supported by the great
body of the people as such —the malcontent priests and
their followers, and a few factious chiefs, only excepted.
But it originated solely in the voice of the people, and
neither had nor asked any other sanction than the popular
will; and, therefore, Europe pronounces it only provisional,
and hence liable to be replaced by another of equal authority by any faction which could get possession of the
capital, so as to wield for a moment the forms of government at the accustomed seat of government. Another
point gained by this subtilty is to give color to the pretext by which Mexico is held to be bound by the acts of
the transient usurper, Miramon; for if Juarez's government
is only provisional, Miramon's had as much authority as
his. And, on no better ground than this, the Three Great
Powers, Great Britain, France, and Spain, formed a coalition to invade Mexico, just as it was recovering from the
disorders of a long revolution, in order to coerce the payment of Miramnon's bonds, for which the scoundrel bankers
had paid the plundering brigand only at the rate of four
or five cents on the dollar. And, by the same rule, if Jeff.
Davis had been smart enough to seize Washington City in
1861, and inaugurate himself as President of the United
States, they might by and by be making war against us
to compel the payment of his loans, for his government
would have been provisional, and Europe decides in the
case of Mexico that a constitutional government, sanctioned alone by the will of the people, is'only provisional.'
"If there had been any doubt as to the real intent of




THE MONROE DOCTRINE.            565
the language employed in the diplomatic correspondence
of the Allied Powers and in the Emperor's letter, it is
all now dispelled by the action of the French commander
since he got possession of the city of Mexico. He knew
the object of the expedition, and what his master meant
by his orders. He has treated the constitutional government of Mexico as no valid government, as a merely provisional arrangement, a locum tenens, until military power
could come in and grant to the people a government conformed to the fundamental ideas of Europe. He first
appoints, by his own authority, a commission of three
persons, one a renegade Mexican, the instigator of the
invasion, Almonte; the second, the Archbishop, a servant
of the sovereign of Rome, to give the sanction of the
Pope to the proceeding; the third, Salas, the most unprincipled of all the chiefs who have aided to keep Mexico in
a turmoil for a generation. These three convene a Council
of Notables, selected by themselves, who proceed at once
to declare Mexico an Empire, and designate the Archduke
Maximilian, of Austria, for Emperor, with the provision
that, if he declines, the Emperor of France shall designate
a person to be their monarch. Here we have the true
intent of the ambiguous phraseology which was used
throughout by the Allied Powers, of their intention to
secure to unfortunate Mexico the blessings of a stable
government. They meant a frame of government not
originating with the people in the exercise of their own
inherent rights, and which they were always at liberty to
change for good cause, but one granted to the people by
some authority above them. It is a legitimate outgo of
the political system of Europe, as adjusted by the Congress
of Vienna."
The invasion of Mexico was made under the merest
shadow of a pretext, a vail so thin as not to cover one
feature of its real purpose from any discerning eye. To
enforce the payment of Miramon's worthless bonds was a
monstrous atrocity; but to make this a pretense under




566             THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
which to subjugate a whole country, overthrow its institutions, and impose upon it, by force of arms, a foreign despot, is a still deeper crime against God and humanity.
Americans will make a very perilous mistake if they fail
to regard this armed occupation of a sister Republic as
any thing less than one important part of the scheme for
the hoped-for subjugation of the United States. The invasion of Mexico and the rebellion are the two grand features of this French and English plot; and, while England
has devoted her energies more particularly to protecting
and aiding our home-conspirators, France has been equally
busy with her allotted share in the attempt to dismember
the Republic, and reconquer America. It is a blow at our
national life, and in defense of that life we are bound to
use all honorable means which may be at our disposal. It
is aimed by the monarchies of Western Europe against
free institutions on this continent; it is aimed by the Papacy against our Protestant faith; it is aimed at our commerce with Asia through excluding us from the Isthmus
and Central America, and with the ultimate intention of
wresting from us our possessions on the Pacific, and our
whole mineral territory, which Louis Napoleon has surveyed and mapped out already. So far back as 1847, the
French Emperor unfolded his plan for the occupation of
the Isthmus of Panama and Central America, and for a
ship-canal between the oceans, for the purpose of planting
a European power in the center of the continent to check
our southward progress and control the American route to
India. England, having changed her views since the time
of Canning, and fearing the rapid growth of the Republic,
adopted his, and hence her operations in Central America,
and also her approval of the attack on Mexico. Whatever
may be the external aspect or attitude of these two powers, their purposes remain unchanged; they are perfectly
agreed as to their American policy, and, until the relations
of Europe are materially changed, we can count with
certainty upon their covert or open hostility. To permit
France, under such circumstances, to obtain a firm foot



THE MONROE DOCTRINE.            567
hold on our Southern border, would be nothing less than
national suicide.
In warning Americans against the establishment or the
strengthening of the Papal power on this continent, one
explanation should be made. No true American will object to a Church of the Catholic form- in this country-a
Church which should be one among others, one of the
religious denominations merely, and on a level with the
rest. With the religious belief of any man, or with his
mode of worship, Americans propose not to interfere. But
it is quite another thing to stretch over this continent, and
over this Republic, the power of that politico-ecclesiastical
despotism called the Papacy, of which Louis Napoleon is
one head and the Pope the other-of which the Jesuits
are the inspiring soul, and French and other Latin armies
and navies are to be the executive powers. Could Europe
and America, as France and the Jesuits design, be brought
under the control of the Papacy again, it would bring
upon the world a more fearful despotism, a bitterer curse
than it felt under Hildebrand and the Innocents. Let
Americans consider this subject in its relations to our
Pacific States, and our commerce with Asia. The Isthmus
will soon be the great transit-point over which the Asiatic
trade of the Americas and a part of Europe must go, and.
every rule of national safety demands that this route
should be under the control of an American power..
With Mexico, Central America, and Cuba permanently
in the hands of European powers, they could doom us to
a second-rate position in spite of our every effort. They
could control, to suit themselves, the commerce of the
world, and absorb its wealth. Besides, the nations of
Europe have their own home-routes to Asia.
France is preparing, in union with England, to cross
Suez with the ship-canal now nearly finished. Russia is
extending her lines from the Black Sea, by the Caspian
and the Aral, while she also proposes to divert a part of
the trade of Asia up the Amoor, and cross the continent
by railroad and water to Moscow. Surely, then, this




568             THE MONROE DOCTRINE.
American route belongs to Americans; and to permit any
European power to hold our own keys of Asia would be to
sink from the position of a power among nations.
Let England and France confine themselves within their
appropriate limits, and then, in the natural course of
events, by peaceful growth and fair contract, we shall obtain, in due time, whatever we require. Their officious,
arrogant, and hostile interference will not be endured,
unless we are either blind to our most important interests
or have lost the spirit of our fathers.
The sun is not more certain to rise than that France, in
possession of Mexico and Central America, would, with
the help of England, exclude us from the routes of the
Isthmus, and this would first destroy our participation in
the commerce of the East, and then, with the Pacific
ports of Mexico and Central America in the hands of a
hostile power, what could save California, connected with
us only by the Cape or two thousand miles of railway?
Viewed from any point, the movement of France involves
the question of life or death for this Republic.
Let us thank God that just in the hour of our need and
peril he has provided for us the means of defense. Before
the war we should have seen no method by which such an
attack as Europe now threatens could have been resisted,
in the face of their overwhelming navies. They could
have sealed up our whole coast, burned our cities, and
landed any number of troops safely under cover of their
fleets.
But the revolution which we have wrought in naval
warfare, by our Monitors and improved artillery, has
changed all this. Our harbors can not now be entered,
our cities can not be burned, no fleet can maintain its position here for the landing of troops, or for blockading our
coast. No vessels that can cross the ocean can withstand
batteries and ships that we can prepare for home defense,
and these ships on the coast of Mexico, and such an army
as we can easily place there, would soon solve the question of European occupation; and then, when Europe



THE MONROE DOCTRINE.             569
has been taught that these Americas are the rightful and
exclusive domain of Americans, the theater for an American civilization, which will brook no foreign dictation,
the United States, as the leader of a grand alliance of
American States, may present to all nations the type and
model of a Christian Republic, while Russia, let us hope,
will exhibit to Europe and the East, a Christian monarchy
and a national Church administered so as to bless, instruct,
and elevate the people.
If so, America and Russia will be the two great powers
of the future.




'570                   CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER XLI.
CONCLUSION.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ERA UPON WHICH WE ARE ENTERING: THE ERA
OF POPULAR POWER AND POPULAR PROGRESS-THE FORCES WHICH WORK
IN HARMIONY WITH THIE SPIRIT OF THE NEW AGE-THE POWERS THAT
STILL CLING TO AND STRIVE TO RETAIN AND STRENGTHEN THE DESPOTISMIS WHICH ARE PASSING AWAY-PROBABLE RESULTS.
ALTHOUGH the whole movement of society may be regarded as a progress from a definite starting point toward
a definite end, yet this movement is so marked off into
divisions, stages in the grand march, that we are able to
see where one great system  ends and another begins.
There is hardly room for doubt that the nations are just
now standing at the close of a political era, just at the
beginning of one of those revolutions in which old institutions,  having lived beyond their time, either silently
crumble or are shattered by violence and swept away, and
the world enters upon the life of a new age; and the spirit
of that age embodies itself in new forms of social, political, and perhaps religious life.
At. such periods the powers which have ruled the world
through an age, and which have controlled and divided
among them  its authority, its honors, and emoluments,
struggle desperately to maintain their position. The wealth,
the power, the rank, the religious institutions, in short the
external forces of society, are at first all at their disposal,
and these for a time are used to force back the coming
age, to trample out the light of new truth, to perpetuate
the old abuses, and retain the vanishing past.




CONCLUSION.                 571
In such a struggle the era of the old military despotisms
closed; Rome, the last of these, fell and crumbled away,
and the feudal system was built upon its ruins. Nationalities then almost disappeared. The European populations were a loosely joined conglomerate of baronial tribes
nearly independent of each other, a structure of society
which presented no basis on which to rear a civilization.
This era was followed by what may be called the period
of national consolidation; the age in which the monarchies
of modern Europe assumed their present forms, and the
power of the crown swallowed up that of the great nobles,
and the separated tribes-for they were little more-became
a united nation, the population crystalized upon the throne.
Thus was laid the foundation upon which modern civilization has been raised. This system is distinguished by the
mingled despotism of capital and classes, the never-ending
attempt to subject the laborers, nominally free, to the
dependence, the degradation, the ignorance, and the poverty of slavery, without its name.
The spirit of the Gospel, and especially since the Reformation, has exerted against this whole system a counterworking force, by separating the individual man, declaring
his worth, setting forth and demanding his rights, instructing and elevating him, until these monarchies and aristocracies no longer suit the spirit of the age. They belong to
the past, their limit of life is nearly reached, and we are
just about entering upon a new era, in which popular
institutions must take the place of thrones, and despotism
must give place to freedom. Here, and elsewhere, this is
the meaning of the world's struggle, and Europe will
probably be the theater of a conflict as fierce and desperate as that which is raging here; but through this agony
of nations, the era of the people will be born.
Since the first chapters of this book were written, the
decided progress which has been made in putting down
the rebellion, and the character of our recent military
operations in Virginia and Georgia, have produced a
profound impression in Europe. Not only has it been




572                  CONCLUSION.
rendered certain that our free institutions are to triumph
over a slaveholding despotism, though so powerfully sustained by European sympathy and aid, but the powers of
the old world are amazed at the strength and resources
of our Republic, at the gigantic character of our military
operations, and the courage, skill, and matchless endurance of our soldiers.
Our bitterest enemies, who at first assailed us both with
reproaches and sneers, are compelled to admit that all the
previous history of war shows no parallel to this American
fighting; and, much as they are disposed to lavish all
their praise upon the armies of the South, they can not
conceal the fact that the soldiers of the free North are
steadily pressing them back, and are showing on every
battle-field a decided superiority.
The ennobling power of freedom is manifested, also, in
the delivered slaves. Touched by this transforming spell
of liberty, they have risen, at a single step, from brutehood to a manhood which compels our admiration. By
common consent they are heroes; respected by their fellowsoldiers and trusted by their commanders, they form a very
important part of our national army even now, and it is
easy to see that this enfranchised race will be invaluable
in defending America from foreign aggression.
These things have caused already a marked change in
the sentiments of Europe, and a new impulse has been
given to the hopes and the power of the people. The
friends of liberal institutions, encouraged by our success,
are devoting themselves with new energy to their work,
and some among the ranks of power are, like Mr. Gladstone, keen-sighted enough to discern the coming change,
and are preparing themselves to be leaders in a revolution
which they are convinced must come, either by sudden
violence or peaceful reform.
In England, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden, and Denmark, the popular power is making swift progress, and our
final success will be a signal for important movements,




CONCLUSION.                 573
which may endc in the overthrow of the present institutions of Western Europe.
There is, however, little reason to hope that such a
change can be speedily made, or without such bloody convulsions as usually occur at the close of an era-the earthquakes that heave and shatter the foundations and the
structures of society. Our own rebellion shows with what
desperation privileged classes will defend their wealth
wrung from unrequited labor, their social rank, and their
political power; and the thrones and aristocracies, the
rulers and owners of Western Europe will, in like manner,
fill their lands with all the horrors of modern war, sooner
than yield to the just demands of the people. The spirit
of the English aristocracy, in regard to the progress of
popular freedom here, indicates the intensity of passion
and hate with which they will oppose a similar movement
at home; and the leaders of the Papacy, dazzled with the
new prospects which are opening before them through the
policy of France, will be as eager for blood as they have
been in the ages past. In Europe, moreover, the liberal
movement will be made at a great disadvantage compared
with our own. With us, in the North, the life and power
of our great conflict are derived from the religious sentiment of the country. It is supported by the cordial sympathies, the teachings and prayers, of the evangelical
Churches; it receives* its impulse from the faith of the
people.
But in Europe the popular revolution must proceed,
for the most part, against the established Churches and
the prevailing religious sentiment; and, as in the former
French revolution, the tendency will, almost from necessity, be not only against the present ecclesiastical despotisms, but against Christianity itself.
Here, as the old structures, social and political, pass
away, the vigorous religious sentiment forms, speedily and
safely, new ones that fit the spirit of the new era; but in
Europe we have reason to fear that society may be reduced




574                  CONCLUSION.
to chaos, thrones, aristocracies, and hierarchies crushed
together, with no religious power to shape a new creation.
Should this be so, then the example and united power of
Russia and America may, under God, prove the salvation
of the nations, presenting, as they will, two stable forms
of government, both based upon and animated by the
spirit of a true Christianity, and both using alike political
and religious power to bless, instruct, and elevate the
people.
These two great powers will work in harmony with the
spirit of the new age upon which we have entered, and,
consequently, will be in alliance with each other; the
one seeking the regeneration of the East, the other the
helper and protector of these Western worlds.
England clings, with as much desperation as the slaveholders here, to systems that are passing away, and
dreams as vainly of binding the nations to her mills and
workshops as they did of ruling the world by their cotton. Lord Palmerston, eighty years old, and struggling
to force back the future, is a fit representative of the
present England.  Great Britain, as it would seem, is
committed to a struggle against popular progress, and she
must bide the issue.
France is preparing to head the last onset of the Papacy
against religious liberty and the civil rights of man. Satan
is striving to rally the people of Europe under an antiChristian banner, and thus it appears as if the elements of
a world-wide battle were being prepared and arranged,
and as if the shock could not be long delayed. In this
coming conflict, it is clear that the general interests of
Russia and America will be identical, whether they are
formally allied or not; and some of the results may, perhaps, be foreseen without any pretension to prophetic
vision, or even uncommon intelligence.
It is evident that the events of our war have essentially
changed the relative power of the great nations. The
naval supremacy of England and France is gone, to return
no more. It is impossible for them, henceforth, to regain




CONCLUSION.                 575
their former ascendency over the United States or Russia.
Our own navy is, in efficiency for home defense, far more
than the equal of that of England or France. Neither
power can attack us with any reasonable hope of success,
and the new American floating-battery and the new artillery have rendered Russia invulnerable. France and England are effectually shut out from her harbors and her
territory. They are equally excluded from ours.
Among the results of a general war, which seems inevitable, are the occupation of Constantinople by Russia, and
the expelling of every European power from this Western
continent. England can scarcely escape being drawn into
the wake of France, and sinking, in consequence, into a
second-rate power, France, meanwhile, controlling the consolidated Latin races and the Papal Church. What the
ultimate result of this tripartite division of Christendom
may be, can only be determined when the scroll of human
destiny is somewhat more unrolled, and when the prophetic record shall become more clear. It is, however,
settled already, that the two powers which have hitherto
played a subordinate part in the world's affairs, will be the
chief and most powerful actors in the new period now
commencing, while it is also clear that Western Europe,
under the lead of France, will be capable of waging a
most formidable battle against Protestantism in the West
and the Greek Church in the East.
How the Protestant faith is to be defended in Europe,
with France and the Papacy controlling all but Russia,
does not now appear. No Protestant leader appears among
the European nations in the visions of the future. The
England, whose power was wielded by Cromwell in defense
of religious freedom, and whose voice was heard through
Milton, is gone. The England of to-day is too selfish, or
too weak, to appear, any-where, the assertor or defender of
the right.
She follows France, copartner in a causeless, heartless
attack on Russia; she proposes to tread down China, as
she has done India; she escorts Louis Napoleon over the




576                 CONCLUsION.
ocean to Mexico, and bids him God-speed in the most
criminal invasion of modern times; she throws all her influence in favor of the slaveholding rebels of our own
country, and coolly leaves Denmark to her fate.
Such a government, of course, is incapable of playing
any great or noble part in the stormy future; and where
the Protestants of Europe are to look for a leader, a central power around which to gather for organization and
defense, none now can tell. If England, as she now is,
could obtain the control of Europe, she would make of it
one empire of Mammon, in which selfishness, unchecked
by one great moral. or religious principle, or one generous
impulse, would shape all her policy. If she could succeed
in what she aims at now, she would become one vast commercial despotism, the money tyrant of the earth, making
spoil of all human industry to enrich her nobles and to
make her merchants princes. Perhaps it would be better
for the people to be ruled by the Papacy, than to be
ground up as England's laborers are, even now, in the mills
of Mammon. The hope of our own country is in holding
firmly to the faith of our fathers in endeavoring to make,
by the blessing of God, a true Christian faith the life of
our national institutions. Even while these closing pages
were being written another grand step has been taken in
our progress toward Christian freedom, another glorious
triumph has been won for the right in the repeal of the
"Fugitive-slave Law," and God and man have both been
honored. We are taking no backward step. Every month
we commend ourselves more and more strongly to the
people of Europe.
Let Americans hope and pray, and add earnest labor to
the prayer, that our afflicted land, more dear to us now
than ever, because of this sorrowful baptism of blood and
tears, may present herself, in the new era, a new-born
Christian power, consecrated to Christ and Christian free-,dom, an instrument chosen by our Lord for the elevation
of our whole humanity.