Chap. I.-Description of Sweden, and its history till the Accession of Eric XII. - Chap. III. From the Accession of Charles IX. to the Death of Charles XII. UNIVERSAL HISTORY. RUSSIA. THE CHAP. I. Description of Russia. HE extensive empire of Russia is bounded on the east by Asia; on the west by the Neiper, the gulf of Riga, and Finland, Sweden, and Swedish Lapland; on the north by the Frozen Ocean; and on the south by the Don and a line drawn from the Neiper to the mouth of the Don. It extends from 47 to 72 degrees of north latitude, and from 23 to 65 of eastern longitude; and is about one thousand five hundred miles in length, and eleven hundred in breadth. These are the ancient and proper limits of Russia; but by means of conquest and discovery an immense extent of territory has been added to this empire; insomuch that when it is mid-day in the western, it is almost mid-night in the eastern parts. In fact, this great northern monarchy infinitely exceeds the limits of the largest and most celebrated empires of antiquity, even when in the zenith of their power and glory. In this extensive country, the soil and climate are extremely various; corn seldom arrives at maturity beyond sixty degrees of latitude; and VOL. XXII. scarcely B scarcely any species of fruit is produced beyond seventy; but in the middle provinces of the empire, the soil is fruitful, the woods abound with game, the plains are stocked with cattle, and the rivers teem with a variety of excellent fish. In the more southern parts the climate is hot; and where the soil is of a sufficient depth, flowers and fruits arrive at great perfection, the earth is covered with verdure, and nature indicates a happy and pleasing fertility. In the more northern districts, the cold in winter is intolerably severe, and the days are short; but in summer, the weather is proportionably warm, and the days are pleasant. During the winter season, in the latitude of Archangel, the sun rises about half past ten in the morning, and sets at half past one in the afternoon; at Petersburgh, the capital of the empire, he rises about a quarter before ten, and sets about a quarter after two. In summer, this order is entirely reversed; and at the solstice, in these respective latitudes, the length of the shortest day becomes the length of the night, and the length of the longest night the length of the day. Under the same parallels of latitude, the eastern countries are more intensely cold in winter, and hot in summer, than the western. Vegetation is also more quick, and fruits sooner arrive at perfection; but after three or four months, which constitute the summer, the icy hand of winter is again visible, the lingering verdure of the ground is destroyed, the rivers are chained to their beds, and only a wide continuous landscape of snow can be seen. During this dreary season of the year, when the stars, the twilight, or the aurora-borealis, supply the place of the short-lived day, many are frozen frozen to death by the extremity of the cold. The Russians, however, by means of sledges, travel with so much expedition upon the snow, that the beef of Archangel is frequently eaten at Petersburgh, though these cities are distant at least one thousand miles from each other, Notwithstanding the encouragement which was given to agriculture by the late empress Catharine the second, that science is still imperfectly understood in most parts of Russia: extensive tracts of territory lie waste and neglected, and the general population of the country is by no means proportionate to its limits. The number of the inhabitants of this empire, exclusive of the conquered and annexed provinces, has been calculated to amount to twenty-five millions; but as all accounts of this kind are vague, arbitrary, and uncertain, we shall not hazard an opinion on the subject. Nothing, however, is more evident than that the foreign wars which have extended the limits of the empire, and the grand projects which have aggrandized the names of some of its sovereigns, have been unfavourable to population; and it will probably be several centuries before Russia is as well peopled as the more southern parts of Europe. The Wolga, which is the principal river in this empire, and one of the largest in the world, rises in the forest of Wolcanski, and after a course of more than two thousand miles, empties itself into the Caspian sea. Large snips are navigated up this river as far as Iwer, a town not more than forty miles from its source; and the Wolga is sometimes so swelled by the melting of ice and snow, as to occasion dreadful inundations and many fatal disasters. It is, however, extremely B 2 extremely beneficial to the country through which it flows, fertilizes the soil, and in all its long and circuitous course has not a single cataract or obstruction to navigation. The city of Moscow, by means of this river, preserves a communication, not only with the southern parts of Russia, but also with Persia, Georgia, Tartary, and the several countries which border on the Caspian sea. The next river that claims our attention is the Don, or Tanais, which rising near Tula in the Iwana Ossero, or St. John's lake, divides Europe from Asia, and runs from north to south till its conflux with the Sosna; it then pursues an eastern course, and after many windings resumes its first direction, and falls into the sea of Asoph. The distance between this river and the Wolga is in some places not more than eight English miles, and Peter the third undertook to form a communication between them; but an irruption of the Tartars defeated this noble project, which was never afterwards resumed. The Neiper, or Boristhenes, is also a considerable river, which rises in the forest of Wolkonski, forms several windings through Lithuania, Little Russia, the country of the Zaporo Cossacs, and that of the Nagaian Tartars, and at last discharges its waters into the Euxine or Black sea, near Oczakow. Within the space of sixty wersts, this river contains no less than thirteen water-falls; over which, however, in the spring season, when the floods are out, vessels may be navigated. Besides these capital rivers, this empire contains many others of less importance; and most of them abound with a variety of fish, render the |
