SHUVALOFF, COUNT PETER. 



rapidly as Ignatieff, he nevertheless obtained 

 the highest military honors in a shorter space 

 of time than is possible in any other country. 

 In 1862 he was colonel, in 1864 major-general, 

 in 1865 lieutenant-general, and in 1871 cavalry 

 general. In spite of his military titles, how- 

 ever, he never held a command. His whole 

 energies were devoted to the police, the civil 

 service, and to diplomacy. He was for a time 

 military attache to the Russian Embassy in 

 Paris, was recalled in 1862 as director of the 

 first chancery in the Ministry of the Interior, 

 and in 1865 became Governor-General of the 

 Baltic Provinces. His prominence in Russian 

 affairs, however, dates from the year 1866. He 

 happened to be in St. Petersburg when an at- 

 tempt was made to assassinate the Czar. The 

 chief of the secret service, Prince Dolgorukoff, 

 had had intimation of the attempt ; he could 

 not prevent it, and, what was still worse, he 

 could not fathom the mystery which surround- 

 ed the person of the would-be murderer, nor 

 his motives. He was removed, and Shuvaloff, 

 who had once before cleared up a difficult 

 criminal mystery, was appointed chief of the 

 S3cret service in his place. The official name 

 of this office is the third division of the secret 

 chancery of the Emperor. The official who 

 holds this position is more powerful than al- 

 most any of the ministers. Owing to the re- 

 quirements of the office, to preserve the peace 

 of the empire, and to watch over the safety of 

 the Czar, his powers are virtually unlimited. 

 Shuvaloff had hardly been in office 24 hours 

 when he discovered the name of the offender, 

 and ascertained that he was not a Pole, as was 

 generally supposed, but a Russian Nihilist. 

 The secret societies which aim at the complete 

 social and political revolution of Russia were 

 completely exposed. For eight years Count 

 Shuvaloff held this office, and under his ad- 

 ministration a security prevailed throughout 

 Russia, which had not been known before. lie 

 was finally forced to resign this office on ac- 

 count of his health, which he found suffered 

 under exhausting cares. In 1873 he was ap- 

 pointed on a special mission to London, where 

 great excitement prevailed in consequence of 

 the advance of tha Russians in Central Asia. 

 He succeeded in allaying the fears of England, 

 by promising in the name of his Government 

 that the Russian troops would not advance 

 bayond the right bank of the Oxus, and even 

 succeeded in bringing about an alliance between 

 the two courts by the marriage of Prince 

 Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh, to the only daughter 

 of the Czar. In October, 1874, he was ap- 

 pointed the successor of Brunnow, who retired 

 from the service on account of his advanced 

 age. During the present complications in the 

 East he has been less successful, owing chiefly 

 to the fact that the Tory Cabinet of Disraeli 

 sympathizes witli the Turks. All that he could 

 do under the circumstances was to prevent 

 England from proceeding to open hostility 

 against Russia. 



SMITH, ASA D. 



G93 



SKOBELEFF, MICHAEL DIMITRITEVITCH, 

 was born in 1845. Although he is one of the 

 youngest generals in the Russian army, he has 

 become by his daring exploits also one of the 

 most popular. He became an officer in the 

 Russian army in 1863, and has served almost 

 exclusively in Central Asia, where he distin- 

 guished himself by his indomitable energy, and 

 his disregard of all danger, being always the 

 first to attack, and always at the head of his 

 troops. In 1873 he took part in the campaign 

 against Khiva, and when the city was stormed 

 he was again the first to enter it. In the cam- 

 paign in Khokan in 1875, which resulted in 

 the annexation of the country, he was again 

 one of the most active and enterprising leaders, 

 and the appointment as general followed as a 

 reward for his services on this occasion. In 

 1876 he was appointed military governor and 

 cotnmander-in-chief of the troops in Ferghana, 

 the name of the Russian province embracing 

 Khokan, and retained this position until 

 March, 1877, when he was ordered to join the 

 staff of the Grand-duke Nicholas. During the 

 campaign of 1877 his name has been frequently 

 mentioned. At Simnitza, he was as usual the 

 first to cross the river. At Plevna, on July 

 30th, it was due mainly to his efforts that the 

 retreat of Prince Shachovski was not attended 

 with more disastrous results. His capture of 

 Lovatz, on September 3d, was described as a 

 most brilliant affair, and was the first victory 

 for the Russians after a long series of reverses. 

 At Plevna, on September llth and 12th, he 

 again acted a prominent part, succeeding in 

 taking two of the four redoubts, and was only 

 forced to abandon them through a lack of sup- 

 port. The correspondent of the London Timt. 

 in describing this battle, says : " He himself led 

 the assault on horseback right up to the glacis 

 of the redoubts. His horse (the seventh he 

 has had killed in this campaign) was blown to 

 pieces under him by a shell which burst right 

 under his belly, but he escaped unhurt, and led 

 the way into the redoubt on foot, sword in 

 hand." For his conduct on this day, he was 

 created a lieutenant-general. 



SMITH, ASA DOOOE, died at Hanover, N. 

 H., August 16th. He was born at Amherst 

 N. H., September 21. 1804. He graduated 

 from Dartmouth College in 1830, became 

 Principal of the Limerick Academy in Maine, 

 where he remained one year, and after com- 

 pleting a course in theology at the Andover 

 Seminary, he was installed pastor of the Four- 

 teenth Street Presbyterian Church of New 

 York City, where he remained for twenty-nine 

 years. He became President of Dartmouth Col- 

 lege in 1863, which position he continued to 

 hold until 1876. In 1849 the honorary dcjrrec 

 of D. D. was conferred upon him by Williams 

 College, and in 1864 he received the degrttof 

 LL. D. from the University of New York. 

 He published several works, among them: 

 " Letters to a Young Student," " Memoir of 

 Mrs. Louisa Adam Leavitt" (1848), the " Life 



