RUSSIA. 



turbed and abated, either by the recolle&ion of the blood 

 which one half of her conquefts coft, or the maxims that 

 were followed in obtaining poffeflion of the other." 



Refearc'vs refpefting the extent and dimenfions of coun- 

 \ mid be of far greater value than can at prefent be 

 allowed them, if the internal ftrength of empires increafed 

 in equal ratio with their extenfion, or the real happi 

 of their inhabitants with both. Ruflia affords the molt 

 convincing proof that this is not the cafe. No European 

 nation ever ruled over countries of fuch vaft extent as the 

 Ruffian ; and vet there have been, and itili are in Europe, 

 feveral nations exceeding the Ruffian in population, or at 

 lead in power and well-being. The ftatements of the 

 magnitude of the Ruffian empire lofe greatly of their 

 interell by differing fo widely from each other. Le Clcrc 

 gives to the Ruffian empire a fuperncial content of 949,375 

 bagucs, and cenfures the hiftoriaii l'Evcque for having 

 erred in his ftatement by at leaft 424,375 leagues. The 

 German geographers have not f> great a difcrepancy in their 

 account as the French. In the mean time, between thofe 

 who fet it down at the lead, arid thofe who affign to it 

 the greateft number, there is a prodigious interval, an 

 interval which Germany and France together could not 

 fill up. We mean Franre before the revolution. Three 

 hundred thoufand iquare geographic miles compofc the 

 leall, three hundred and thirty thoufand the greateft ex- 

 tenfion which German authors have affigned to the Ruffian 

 empire. 



Of thofe tribes called Kozaks or Coffacks, which arc of 

 Ruffian origin, we have given a brief account under the 

 article Cossacks. Of the three Slavonian nations, pro- 

 perly fo called, that are inhabitants of the Ruffian empire, 

 next to the principal nation, the Poles are the moll nume- 

 rous. Thefe, it is faid, at the fame time with the Ruflian 

 Slavi, and on the fame occafion, came from the Danube to 

 the Viftula. Their Hate, now nearly extinft, was probably 

 founded in the ninth century ; and they fprung from the 

 fame ltock. with the Ruffians. According to the prefent 

 ftate of the Ruffian empire, the Poles form a very con- 

 fiderable part of the aggregate population. They may be 

 found, in an immenfe multitude, in the governments of Po- 

 lotflc, Mohilef, Minfk, Brazlau, Vofnefenflc, Podolia, Vol- 

 hynia, Vilna, and Slonimfk ; and in fmaller numbers, as co- 

 Ioniils, in the circle of Selenghinlk, on the Irtifch, and in 

 various other parts of the empire. The third Slavonian 

 nation within tiie borders of Rulfia is compofed of the 

 people called Servians or Series. 1 See Servians.) Be- 

 tides thofe tribes which we have already enumerated, there 

 are two others in the Ruffian empire, who are luppoled to 

 he related to the Slavi : thefe are the Lithuanians ami the 

 Lettifli. (See Li and LetTI .) For an ic- 



count of the Kalmucks, Mandfhures, Mortgoles, and Tartars, 

 as compofing primitive docks of the nations dwelling 111 

 Rulfia; fee thefe feveral articles reflectively. In tie R.u 

 empire there are alfo fome nations whofe origin is utl 

 uncertain. Mr. Tooke reduces them to two claffes, one 

 comprifing the Samoyed'nm, and the other tie eal rn Sibe- 

 rian nations. (See SaMOYEDBS and SIBERIA.) Oi 

 European nations, fome bodies of which are difpi 

 through the Ruffian empire, the moll numerous are the 

 German. In the governments of Riga, Revel, and Cour- 

 land, they form the moll confiderable, the: -h not tin 



numerous, part oi the inhabitants. The Germai 



in the government of Riga amount, accord: 

 enumeration, to 30,000, and thofe in that oi Revel 

 to 15,000; and in Courland they are thought to lie dill 

 more numerous. In Mofcow and St. Petersburg 

 by thoufands ; in the latter alone they arc known to be 

 Vol. XXX. 



upwards of 17,000. As colonifts, properly fo called, 

 many thoufand German families came, in 17^3, into the 

 governments of St. Peterlburg, Saratof, V n letch, and 

 Tcheraigof, as fettlers, the number of whom, Gnce the year 

 17S3, is much increafed by new fettlementi . -rn- 



i of Ekaterinodaf, and in the province of Taurida. 

 Ail thefe, and the multitude of fuch as live 1. 1 bout 



the empire, taken together, may, as Mr. Tooke 

 probably far exceed 100,000. 0< the other I 

 nations, there are only detached ci lecially 1:1 the 



large town's. In the governments of Vyborg and Revel, 

 and in fome of the iflands of the- Baltic, th Swedes, 



hut not amounting to a very confiderable number. The 

 iflands Vorms and Rugen, in the Baltic, aie partly in- 

 habited by Danes, but they are moll numerous in Mofcow 

 and St. Peterlburg, and fome of th.- large towns. In mod of 

 the fea-ports there are Englifhmen, who make no long ftay, 

 but return to their native country as loon as their affairs 

 permit. French and Italians are alfo difperfed over the 

 whole empire. In Little Ruflia, at Nefhin, in the govern- 

 ment of Tchernigof, in that of Ekaterinodaf, and in 

 Taurida, the Greeks form fome rcfpeclable colonies. In 

 government of Ekaterinodaf there arc alio Albanians, 

 Moldavians, Valakhians, and Arnauts, though their number 

 is not great. The Ottoman Turks are, in a great degree, 

 difperfed ; but they are found together in fmall numbers 

 at Orenburg, in the former Otchakof lleppe, and in fome 

 other places. In the diftricts of Aflrachan and Orenburg 

 there are many Periians, and on the Kamma there is a 

 colony of Perfians and Arabs. The Armenians are nume- 

 rous in the towns of Orenburg, Kitzliar, Mofdok, St. 

 Peterlburg, and Mofcow ; but in the governments of Cau- 

 cafus and Ekaterinoflaf they compofe a colony confiding of 

 fome thoufands. The town Nachitfchevan, on the Don, 

 is almoll wholly inhabited by them. In Allrachan and 

 Kitzliar are fcttlements of Indians. The Jews are nume- 

 rous in fome of the provinces, particularly thofe of Poland, 

 now annexed to the Ruflian empire, and in Taurida, where 

 they are partly fixed as ancient inhabitants. Gyplies are 

 found drolling in large companies in the provinces both of 

 Great and Little Ruliia. Upon the whole, Mr. Tooke 

 obferves, that the inhabitants of the Ruflian empire form 

 at leaft 80 dillinft nations, differing effcntially in lineage, 

 and alfo in manners and language. 



Climate, Weather, and natural Qualities of the Soil of Ruf- 

 fia. — As to the foil as well as the climate, there is a great 

 "diverfity in the different provinces of the Ruflian empire. 

 Some trafts of land in Great and Little Ruflia, in the pro- 

 vinces bordering on the Baltic, and many others, are kept in 

 COlldant cultivation and tillage. In other didri&s, e.g. in 

 Little Ruflia, about the Don, &c. the land is only culti- 

 vated occafionally ; and again in other parts of the empire, 

 lands fit for agriculture are left wholly unemployed, for want 

 of labourers. The quality of the foil is very different in 

 ; in Livonia ami Efthoaia, good fields yield 

 6, 10, and 1 2-fold, and, in fome cafes, 16, or more than 

 20-fold ; but in different ground about 3. The harveds 



1 i old; but towards Tomfk, 



1 ihumufh, and in the whole 1 the Ohy 



and lie- Tom, many fields afford an Inl 'C to 30- 



fold ; and at Krafnoiarlk a crop has not been kmm n to t.nl : 

 of v.; 1 hey reap S, of I. I 20-fold. 



I Little Rulfia, on tie- Don, and in manj oilier places, the 



foil is itly fertile, without manure. This is alfo the 



1. ,it part of Sib xia, . ■ ;;. on the Samara ; on the 



ntio, of the Bafllkirs; here and there 111 the 



the Kamma, in thi government ol [fetlk; 



on the Oby near Barnaul, at Krafnoiarlk, and on the Selenga. 

 5 B A" 



