ALEXANDER I., PAULOWITSCH. 



101 



be divided into three periods : The first was peaceful 

 and entirety devoted to the execution of the schemes 

 of Peter the Great and Catharine II., respecting 

 the internal administration. The second, extending 

 from 1805 to 1814, was a time of war with France,, 

 Sweden, the Porte, and Persia, and developed the 

 resources and the national feeling of the people. In 

 the third period, he used the experience acquired in 

 the two preceding, to carry into effect the declara- 

 tion of Peter the Great, made 100 years before, in 

 1714, after a victory over the Swedish fleet, near the 

 Aland islands : " Nature has but one Russia, and 

 It shall have no rival." A. was distinguished for 

 moderation, activity, and attention to business, per- 

 sonally superintending the multiplied concerns of 

 his vast empire, while his simple and amiable man- 

 ners gained him the love and confidence of his sub- 

 jects. He understood and was zealous in promoting 

 the welfare of his people. Great attention was 

 paid, during his reign, to education and intellectual 

 culture, and many improvements were introduced 

 into the internal administration of the empire ; e. g. 

 the establishment of the senate by the ukase of 

 1802, of the imperial council and the ministry of 

 eight divisions by the ukase of 1810, of the provin- 

 cial administration in the governments, c. The 

 shackles which hung on the industry of the nation 

 were removed, and its commerce increased. A. 

 has likewise advanced the military establishments of 

 Russia to a high degree of perfection ; he has de- 

 veloped in his people the sentiments of union, 

 courage, and patriotism ; and, lastly, he has raised 

 Russia to a high rank in the political system of 

 Europe, and has made its importance felt even in 

 Asia. It must be also acknowledged that, during 

 his reign, taste and intelligence began to be diffused 

 among the higher classes, as well as eminent and 

 even liberal statesmen to be formed, though it is in 

 this, as in so many other things, difficult to distin- 

 guish what is owing to the prince, and what to the 

 spirit of the age. Among the most intimate associ- 

 ates of the emperor were general Jermoloff, after- 

 wards Wolchonsky, Araktschejeff, and Diebitsch. In 

 the earlier part of his reign, some Greeks stood high 

 in his favour, as did the French ambassador, count 

 Caulaincourt, from 1807 to 1812. Among the 

 merits of A . are to be reckoned his exertions for the 

 improvement of the Sclavonian nations, and the cul- 

 tivation of their language and literature. He found- 

 ed or new-modelled seven universities, at Dorpat, 

 Kazan, Cluirkow, Moscow, Wilna, Warsaw, and St 

 Petersburg ; 204 academies, many seminaries for 

 tin- education of instructors, and above 2000 common 

 schools, partly after the system of Lancaster. He 

 did much for the distribution of the Bible, by the 

 aid whicli he rendered to the Bible societies (abolish- 

 ed in 1826). He granted important privileges, by a 

 ukase of 1817, to Jews becoming Christians. He 

 appropriated large sums for the printing of impor- 

 tant works, as the Voyage of Krusenstern, the 

 History of Russia by Karamsin, &c. He esteemed 

 and rewarded literary merit, both in and out of 

 Russia. He purchased rare and valuable collec- 

 tions. In 1818, he invited two orientalists, Demange 

 and Charmoy, from Paris to Petersburg, to advance 

 the study of the Arabic, Armenian, Persian, and 

 Turkish languages. He attended particularly to the 

 education ofyoung men of talent, whom he sent to 

 travel through foreign countries. He endeavoured, 

 at the same time, by moderate measures, to relieve 

 his subjects from the tyranny of their lords, the 

 nobles, the boyars, starosts, &c. Servitude was 

 abolished in 1816, in Esthonia, Livonia, and Cour- 

 land ; and A. declared, tliat he would no longer 

 transfer with the crown-lands the boors who culti- 



vated them. He forbade the advertising of human 

 beings for sale, and gave leave to a number of boors, 

 a part of the bondmen of the late chancellor Roman- 

 aoff, to ransom themselves from their master. He 

 endeavoured, with much earnestness, to give to his 

 people a good system of law, but the civil code of 

 Russia still requires many improvements. The law 

 school, opened in 1807, ceased in 1810. The cus- 

 tom of slitting the nose and branding, hitherto con- 

 nected with whipping with the knout, was abolished 

 by A. in 1817. He likewise abolished, in 1801, the 

 secret court, as it was called, before which political 

 criminals, chiefly, were brought, and compelled, by 

 hunger and thirst (not, however, by instruments of 

 torture), to confess. He checked the abuse of 

 power in the hands of governors, by preventive 

 laws. The privilege of the nobles, that their estates 

 could not be confiscated as a punishment for their 

 crimes, was extended by A. to all his subjects. He 

 also rendered efficient aid to manufactures and com- 

 merce in his empire, by the introduction of a better 

 tariff, the improvement of the finances and currency 

 of the country, after the establishment of a sinking 

 fund ; the erection of the bank of the imperial 

 chamber, May 19, 1817 ; by providing continually 

 for the construction of roads and canals ; by making 

 Odessa a free port, and granting it other privileges, 

 in 1817. The condition of manufactures in Russia 

 has greatly improved since 1804, when it became 

 known from the report of the minister of the interior. 

 The greatest progress lias been made in manufac- 

 tures in wool. The whole foreign policy of Russia ; 

 the voyages round the world, under the patronage of 

 her government ; the embassy to Persia, in 1817, to 

 which was attached a Frenchman, Gardanne, who 

 was acquainted with all the plans of Napoleon re- 

 specting India and Persia ; the mission to Cochin 

 China and Khiwa ; the relations of Russia with the 

 United States, Brazil, and Spain; the treaties of 

 commerce and navigation with the Porte ; the set- 

 tlements on the western coast of North America, all 

 prove the enlightened commercial policy of the 

 Russian cabinet. The travels of A. in foreign 

 countries, even his short stay in England, his inter- 

 course with well-informed and sensible men, but 

 principally, his frequent journeys through the pro- 

 vinces of his empire, afforded the materials of his 

 numerous projects for the benefit of his country. 

 On this his attention was continually fixed.* The 

 peace of Tilsit, in 1807, makes an epoch in the 

 Russian military system. It not only opened the 

 way to the conquest of Finland, in 1809, and of two 

 of the mouths of the Danube, in 1812, but afforded 

 A. time to remove the defects of the military system 

 hitherto in use. The armies of Russia, during the 

 war with Napoleon, were remarkable for their 

 equipment and discipline. The active interest which 

 A. took in the proper ordering of all the branches oi 

 the administration, is the reason why t lie nation was 

 attached to him with lull confidence, which he ex- 

 perienced in time of danger. A. never showed a 

 timid, unenterprising spirit. His decision frustrated 

 the plans of Napoleon at Moscow. He gave his 

 word to his people, that he would never negotiate 

 with Napoleon, as long as an armed enemy was in 

 the country. The activity which prevailed in the, 

 military department of the Russian administration is 

 proved by the army which appeared, in 1813, in 

 Germany, and that which was kept ready, in 1815, 

 to march against France, comprising 300,000 men 

 and 2,000 pieces of cannon. The peaceful character 

 of A.'s policy is remarkable. His personal friend- 

 ship for the king of Prussia, Frederick William III., 

 which was confirmed at the tomb of Frederick II., in 

 1805, led to important consequences. The queen. 



