678 



KUSSIA. 



merly, tlie Pereires being the favorite bankers 

 of the Emperor. Baron Kothschild was very 

 liberal even for his immense wealth, not to the 

 Jews only, but to all deserving objects. He 

 had built synagogues, orphan asylums, hospices 

 for the relief of widows, schools, etc., and es- 

 tablished foundations for the reward of merit 

 in scholarship, good conduct, etc. ; and, aside 

 from his very large daily charities, he gave 

 every year a large sum for the relief of the poor 

 of Paris. It is said, by those who knew his af- 

 fairs most intimately, that more than one per 

 cent, of his immense revenues, or nearly four 

 hundred thousand dollars, was annually be- 

 stowed in charity. The baron was Consul- 

 General of Austria, and had received the Grand 

 Cross of the Legion of Honor, and most of 

 the other decorations of the Orders of Merit in 

 Europe. 



RUSSIA, an empire in Europe and Asia. 

 Emperor, Alexander II., born April 17 (new 

 style, April 29), 1818; succeeded his father 

 February 18 (March 2), 1855. Heir-apparent, 

 Grand-duke Alexander, born February 26 

 (March 10), 1845 ; married November 9, 1866, 

 to Maria Dagmar, born November 26, 1847, 

 daughter of king Christian IX. of Denmark ; 

 offspring of this union, a son, Nicholas, born 

 May 18, 1868. 



The total area of Russia is about 7,860,000 

 square miles, of which 2,050,313 belong to 

 Europe. The population of the great divisions 

 of the empire is as follows : 



In Europe. Russia proper ........ 61 ? 



Poland ............... 5,100;000 



Finland ............... 1,798,909 



In Asia. Caucasus ................ 4,157,917 



Siberia .................. 4,625,699 



8,783,616 



Total population of the Russian empire, 77,008,443 

 Not included in the statement of the area and 

 population are the acquisitions which Russia 

 has of late made in Central Asia, and which 

 have been organized into the province of Tur- 

 kestan. 



The statistics of the several nationalities of 

 Russia, according to Yon Buschen (" Apercu 

 Statistique des Forces Productives de la Rus- 

 sie," Paris, 1867), are as follows : 



The same writer gives the religious statistics 

 of the empire as follows : 



The public revenue and expenditure, for the 

 year 1866, were as follows (expressed in rubles) : 



In the estimated budget for 1868 (inclusive 

 of Poland), revenue and expenditures are set 

 down as follows : Revenue, 468,131,382 rubles; 

 expenditures, 480,593,518 rubles. Deficit, 

 12,462,136 rubles. The public debt, on Janu- 

 ary 1, 1867, amounted to 1,809,942,693 rubles. 



The budget for 1869 amounts to 482,000,000 

 rubles. In the revenue account appears a sur- 

 plus of 4,000,000 from the budget of 1867 and 

 a surplus of 10,000,000 from the budget of 

 1868, these amounts serving to cover the in- 

 crease of 13,000,000 in the expenditure. 

 Thirty-one million rubles are appropriated 

 from special sources for the construction of 

 railway lines and for harbor works at Riga 

 and Odessa. The Minister of Finance ascribes 



the increase in the revenue to a satisfactory 

 harvest, and to the stimulus given to commerce 

 by the extension of the railway system. 



At the beginning of the year 1866, the num- 

 ber of generals, officers of the staff, and offi- 

 cers, was 30,507 ; that of under-officers and 

 soldiers, 697,137. The latter were divided as 

 follows: Infantry, 538,887; cavalry, 63,440; ar- 

 tillery, 80,172 ; engineers, 14^683-total, 697,137. 



Of irregular troops there are 132 regiments 

 and 24 battalions, with 200 guns. 



The fleet, in 1866, was composed as follows: 



The movement of shipping, in 1866, was as 

 follows : 



