Bering's great northern expedition. 63 



The political situation in the empire favored the adop- 

 tion of Bering's plans. The Duchess of Courland, Anna 

 Ivanovna, had just (1730) ascended the throne. With her 

 the foreigners and Peter's reform party again came into 

 power, and with much more zeal than skill, they sought 

 to continue Peter's work. Anna aimed to shine in Eu- 

 rope as the ruler of a great power, and in Eussia as a 

 West European queen. Europe was to be awed by Eus- 

 sian greatness, and Eussia by European wisdom. In one 

 of his high-flown speeches Czar Peter had given assurance 

 that science would forsake its abodes in West Europe, 

 and in the fullness of time cast a halo of immortal glory 

 around the name of Eussia. 



It was necessary to speed this time. Anna and her co- 

 adjutors had an insatiable desire for the splendor and 

 exterior luster of culture. Like upstarts in wealth they 

 sought to surround themselves with some of that glory 

 which only gray-haired honor can bestow. One of the 

 surest ways to this glory was through the equipment of 

 scientific expeditions. They had at their disposal an 

 academy of science, a fleet, and the resources of a mighty 

 empire. The sacrifice of a few thousand human lives 

 troubled them but little, and they exerted themselves to 

 make the enterprise as large and sensational as possible. 

 Bering's above-mentioned proposition was taken as a 

 foundation for these plans, but when, after the lapse of 

 two years, his proposition left the various departments of 

 the government — the Senate, the Academy, and the 

 Admiralty — it had assumed such proportions that he 

 found great difficulty in recognizing it. 



