RUSSIA. 



fea ; but when on fhore, each receives his ordinary provifion, 

 as in the land fervice. To a fhip of ioo guns the crew is 

 ufually reckoned at iooo men. 



Ruffia had formerly no more than two dock-yards, tliofe 

 of Peterlburg and Archangel, to which have been added 

 thofe of Kherfon, Croniladt, and Taurida. At Peterlburg 

 and Cronftadt the men of war are conftru&ed of oak, tranf- 

 ported thither at a great expence from Kazan. Al Arch- 

 angel the {hips are built of the wood of the larch-tree. 



Revenues of the Ruffian Empire. — Mr. Coxe eftimates the 

 national revenue of Ruffia at 41,830,910 rubles, _ which is 

 below the juft amount. Mr. Tooke profefles to give a more 

 accurate rtatement : and he begins with enumerating the 

 fources from which the national revenue is derived. The 

 firfl of thefe fources is the " head-money," paid only by 

 male heads, including babes and old men, and fuppofing 

 12,000,000 of taxable pcrfous, and averaging them at 72 

 kopeeks each, the amount will be very confiderable. The 

 fecond fource is the " tax upon the capital of merchants," or, 

 as it is fometimes called, the per centage. Every one pays 

 yearly one per cent., in return for which he and his children 

 are exempt from the poll-tax. The third fource of revenue 

 is the " domain lands," the income of which is very various. 



4. The " fea-duties," which are liable to great fluctuations. 



5. The {« land-tolls." 6. The duties on " law-proceedings," 

 commonly called " pofchlin," to which may be referred the 

 paffport money. 7. " Stampcd-paper," which brings in a 

 confiderable fum^cr annum. 8. The duty on the " fale of 

 immoveable property," including not only houfes and lands 

 but alfo vafials ; fixed by the late emprefs in 1787 at five per 

 cent. 9. The " kabaks," or tipling-houfes, or the fale of 

 corn fpirits. 10. The " falt-trade." 11. The "mines." 

 12. The « mint." 13. " Natural products." 14. The (hare 

 of " excife and recognition duties" in towns. 15. The 

 " polls." 16. All kinds of " rent" for places, fhops, mills, 

 parcels of ground, bee-hives in forefts, bathing-houfes, fifh- 

 eries, public inns, &c. 17. " Recruit money" from mer- 

 chants, from which foreign merchants are exempt. iS. Va- 

 rious " pecuniary penalties." The amount of the receipts 

 from the feveral towns is upwards of 46,000,000 of rubles, 

 which it has been thought may be rated at 48,000,000. 



Coins, Meafures, and Weights of the Ruffian Empire. — We 

 are informed by Mr. Tooke (ubi infra), that previous to the 

 10th century neither foreign nor domeltic coin was known 

 in Ruffia ; but that inftead of it, fmalr pieces of marten and 

 fquirrel fkins, ilamped, were the only currency. From that 

 period frequent mention is made in the chronicles of Grecian 

 and other forts of money. It is faid by fome perfons, that 

 the firfl coins were introduced by the Tartars into Ruffia, 

 and that the Ruffian word for money, " denghi," is derived 

 from the Tartarian term " tanga," which fignifies a token ; 

 but, when coins were impreiied with the aims of Mofcow, 

 •viz. a St. George and his fpear, the name " kopeeka" arofe 

 from kopa;, or kopeitzo, a fpear. Towards the middle of 

 the 1 6th century, though coins had been ftruck in feveral 

 places before, the tzar Ivan Vaffillievitch inftituted the firlt 

 regular coinage, fet up a mint at Mofcow, and caufed three 

 rubles to be ftruck out of one " grivenka," denoting pro- 

 bably a certain weight of iilver. However, at this time, and 

 long afterwards, the ruble was only an imaginary coin. The 

 firft actual rubles were ilruck during the reign of tzar 

 Alexey Mikhailovitch, in the year 1654, though hiftory 

 makes mention of the ruble about the year 131 7. The firlt 

 ruble of 1654 is ftill extant, and it is ealily difcernible to 

 have been previoufly a Spanifli crofs-dollar ; Ruffian rubles 

 having been recoined from dollars. A foreign dollar then 

 palled for 50 kopeeks. But afterwards, in confequence of 



the war with Poland, the coin fuffered a diminution ; and 

 for fome time, kopeeks and altines were ftruck of copper. 

 The intrinfic value, however, of the ruble remained unaltered 

 at 100 kopeeks. Various alterations were made in the coin- 

 age by Peter I. By an edict: of 1724, he ordered that no 

 more filver kopeeks fhould be coined, and in lieu of them 

 he caufed to be ftruck one and two-kopeek pieces of copper, 

 having on one fide the St. George, and on the other within 

 the initial of the emperor's name n, the value of the coin. 

 All minis were abohlhed except thofe at Mofcow ; and in 

 procefs of time a mint was fet up at St. Peteriburg, which is 

 at prefent the only one where gold and filver coins are ftruck. 

 Although the mint of Mofcow ftill exifts, it is confined to 

 the coinage of copper money. At this time Ruffia has one 

 mint for filver and fix for copper coin. 



After the battle of Pultava, Peter caufed to be coined 

 pieces called fun-rubles, now very fcarce, having on the re- 

 verfe a fun in the centre, and in the area the initial in 

 Rufs n. Berides the ruble, there were coined at the fame 

 time half and quarter-rubles (poltiniki and polpoltiniki, or 

 poltins and polpoltins), bearing his likenefs and the imperial 

 eagle. The grieven, or tenth part of a ruble, had 10 dots, 

 with the infenption " Grievemk" on one fide, and the eagle 

 on the other. The altins, or three kopeeks (copecks), had 

 on one fide the eagle, and on the other the date of the year 

 and the word " Altinik." Thefe were all the filver coins 

 under Peter I. The emprefs Elizabeth for a ihort time 

 caufed five-kopeek pieces to be coined, which have long 

 fince ceafed. The gold coins in Ruffia have been always 

 ftruck in larger forts than thofe of filver. Neverthelefs moil 

 of the gold coins, of ancient times, ftill fubfifting, confift 

 of very fmall forts. There are fome that are called " golden 

 kopeeks." A Ruffian ducat was formerly equal to two 

 rubles filver, whence probably arofe the denomination of 

 golden ruble, as well as the quarter-ruble, now fhewn as 

 curiofities. Under Peter I. the gold coins were either two- 

 ruble pieces, with the apoftle Andrew on the reverfe, which 

 are very rare ; or ducats witli a Latin inferiptibn. On one 

 fide is the buft of Peter with a crown of laurels, on the 

 other the Ruffian imperial eagle, with the St. George on 

 its breaft. Both fides have round them " Petrus Alexii 

 I. D. G. Ruff. Imp. M. Dux Mofcoviae 1716-." The em- 

 prefs Elizabeth firft caufed imperials, half-imperial*, golden 

 rubles, and half-rubles, to be ftruck. At the acceffisn of 

 Peter I. the copper coins were half-kopeeks (denufchka or 

 denga), kopeeks, and five-kopeek pieces. On the firft, 

 ftands on one fide " Denga," and on the other 1706. The 

 kopeeks have on one fide the St. George, and on the other 

 " Kopeika." The five-kopeek pieces have undergone feve- 

 ral alterations. The copper five-kopeek pieces that had 

 been ftruck by Elizabeth were fixed by Peter III. at 10, 

 but Catharine 1 1, reduced them again to five kopeeks. For 

 the accommodation of the provinces of Efthonia and Li» 

 vonia, the emprefs Elizabeth, in 1757, caufed to be ftruck 

 the livonefes of whole, half, and quarter pieces ; the whole 

 piece being in value 96 kopeeks ; but the coinage of thefe 

 foon ceafed. 



In Ruffia, aocounts are kept in rubles of 100 kopeeks or 

 copecks. The ruble is divided into 10 grievens, 33] al- 

 tins, or 50 grofchen ; and the kopeek or copeck is divided 

 into 2 denufchkas, or 4 polufchkas. The coins now in cir- 

 culation are, of gold, the imperial, and half-imperial of 10 

 and 5 rubles ; double and fingle ducats, which were for- 

 merly worth 4^ rubles and 2 \ rubles ; but their value was 

 raifed, in 1764, that of the double ducat to 5 rubles 60 co- 

 pecks, and the fingle to 2 rubles 80 copecks. The filver 

 coins are, rubles of iro copecks ; poltins, or half-rubles, of 



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