480 R U S 
not destitute of some foundation, and bears strong marks of 
what he has been often taxed with.” 
This paragraph was immediately copied or translated into 
all the public papers, and it was strongly affirmed by many 
that it was the composition of Paul himself. This has since 
been confirmed by the poet Kotzebue, who was employed 
by the emperor of Russia to translate the original into Ger¬ 
man, for the express purpose of its being inserted in the Ham¬ 
burgh Gazette. This was not the only mark of mental de¬ 
rangement displayed by the unhappy monarch. His favours 
and his displeasure were alternately experienced by some of 
his most distinguished courtiers and adherents. Stanislaus, 
the deposed king of Poland, partook by turns of his benefi¬ 
cence and his severity; and at length on the death of that 
monarch, Paul assisted at his funeral, commanded in person 
the guards that attended on the ceremony, and uncovering 
himself with the utmost emotion, saluted the coffin as it 
passed. To the memory of the hoary Suvaroff, who is said to 
have fallen a broken-hearted victim to the distraction of his im¬ 
perial master, he raised a colossal statue of bronze; and on the 
days when he reviewed his troops in the square where the statue 
has been erected, he used to command them to march by in 
open order, and face the statue. Notwithstanding the im¬ 
portant service that had been rendered him by Zuboff, the 
emperor soon became disgusted with him; spoke of him to 
his friends with great asperity ; at length denounced him as 
a defaulter to the imperial treasury of half a million of rubles; 
and convinced of the justice of the allegation, proceeded to 
sequestrate the vast estates which belonged to him and his 
two brothers. Driven to desperation by such conduct, the 
second brother of the favourite one day walked up boldly to 
the emperor upon the parade, and with manly eloquence 
represented the injustice of his measures. Paul received him 
without anger, heard him without interruption, and restored 
the property; but soon after he ordered Plato Zuboff to re¬ 
side on his estate. He formed an adulterous connexion with 
Madame Chevalier, a French actress, through whose influ¬ 
ence Zuboff was again recalled to court, and restored to 
favour. 
At length some of the nobles who had suffered private in¬ 
juries, and who persuaded themselves that they would render 
a most important service to their country, conspired and 
effected Paul’s death in the most determined and barbarous 
manner, while in his new palace of St. Michael, on the 
11th March, 1801. 
The emperor Alexander was in his 24th year when he as¬ 
cended the throne, and from his amiable disposition had ac¬ 
quired the love and respect of all his subjects. The first 
measure which he adopted, his proclamation, and his first 
imperial orders, all tended to encourage and confirm the 
confidence with which the people beheld him ascend the 
throne of his forefathers. He solemly promised to tread in 
the steps of Catharine II.: he allowed every one to dress 
according to their own fancy; exonerated the inhabitants 
of the capital from the trouble and duty of alighting from 
their carriages on the approach of the imperial family ; dis¬ 
missed the court advocate, who was universally and justly 
detested; suppressed the secret inquisition that had become 
the scourge of the country; restored to the senate its former 
authority; set at liberty the state prisoners, and recalled from 
Siberia several of the exiles. 
It is not easy to explain the motives that induced Alex¬ 
ander to forego that vengeance which justice seemed to de¬ 
mand on the heads of his father’s assassins. It has been at¬ 
tributed by one of his panegyrists to a forlorn and melan¬ 
choly conviction that the murderers had been prompted 
solely by a regard for the salvation of the empire. This con¬ 
viction might have induced the young monarch to diminish 
the weight of that punishment which piety and justice 
called on him to inflict, but can scarcely account for his total 
forbearance. 
The emperor Alexander on his accession to the throne, 
appeared desirous to cultivate the friendship of the neigh¬ 
bouring states, and especially that of Great Britain. His late 
father, among other projects, had procured himself to be elect- 
S I A. 
ed grand master of the knights of Malta, and had lain claim 
to the sovereignty of that island. This claim, which had 
nearly produced a rupture between the courts of London and 
St. Petersburgh, Alexander consented to abandon, though he 
expressed a wish to be elected grand master of the order, by 
the free suffrages of the knights. In the mean time a confe¬ 
deracy had been formed among the northern powers of 
Europe, with a view to oppose the British claim to the sove¬ 
reignty of the seas; but by the spirited interference of the Bri¬ 
tish court, especially with the cabinet of St. Petersburgh, the 
good understanding between Britain and the northern states 
was re-established, and the embargo which had been laid on 
British vessels in the Russian ports was taken off. 
On the 19th of June, Alexander caused to be published a 
circular letter, showing his disposition to be on terms of amity 
with the French republic. 
Early in the same month there was signed at St. Peters¬ 
burgh, a treaty of amity, commerce and navigation, between 
Russia and Sweden, to continue for 12 years, by which Swe¬ 
den was allowed to import into Russia, alum, salt herrings, 
and salt, on the payment of one half of the duties then exacted, 
and into Russian Finland the produce of Swedish Finland, 
duty free ; while the importation from Russia into Sweden, 
of hemp, ‘linen, and tallow, was allowed at one half of the 
existing duties, and of linseed at two-thirds. The most 
remarkable part of this treaty was the recognition, by the 
court of St. Petersburgh, of the northern confederacy, which 
the amicable adjustment with Britain appeared to have done 
away. 
The commerce of Russia had now recovered its former 
splendour. The exports from the city of Riga alone for the 
year ending in July, 1801, amounted to 6,770,638 rubles; and 
of these exports, England alone imported to the value of 
2,509,853 rubles. 
On the 25th of March, 1802, was signed at Amiens the 
definite treaty of peace between the belligerent powers of 
Europe, by one material article of which the islands ofMalta, 
Gozo and Comimo, were to be restored to the knights of St. 
John of Jerusalem, under the protection and guarantee of 
France, Great Britain, Austria, Spain, Russia and Prussia; 
and his Sicilian majesty was invited to furnish 2000 men, 
natives of his states, to serve in garrisons at the different for¬ 
tresses of the said islands, for one year after their restitution 
to the knights, or until they should be replaced by a force 
deemed sufficient by the guaranteeing powers. Some time 
after the conclusion of this treaty, disputes arose among 
the contracting powers relative to the sovereignty of Malta, 
which the emperor of Russia insisted should be yielded to 
Naples, otherwise he would not undertake to guarantee the 
order, and would separate from it the priories of Russia. 
The result of these disputes, as is well known, afforded a rea¬ 
son for renewing the contest which so long desolated the 
face of Europe. 
During the short interval of peace that was enjoyed by 
Europe, the emperor of Russia made several prudent regula¬ 
tions in the internal administration of his empire. On the 
12th of September, 1801, a manifesto had been published, 
proclaiming the union of Georgia, or Russian Grufinia, with 
the empire, and on the 1st April, 1802, Alexander sent a 
deputation to establish the new government at Teflis, the 
capital of the province. This deputation was received by the 
natives with enthusiastic joy, especially as they brought back 
the image of St. Nina, which their prince Wachtang at his 
death had left at Moscow. The emperor now offered con¬ 
siderable premiums to persons who should introduce any 
new or advantageous mode of agriculture, or who should 
bring to perfection any old invention, open any new branch 
of commerce, establish any new manufacture, or contrive 
any machine or process that might be useful in the arts. 
Early in the year 1803, the emperor fitted out at his own 
expense, two vessels for a voyage of discovery round the world 
under the command of Captain Krusenstern. These ships 
were provided with every necessary for accomplishing the 
object of the voyage; and several men of eminence for 
science and literature, among whom was Churchman, the 
American 
