le can flog him at any time, and as brutally as he pleases; he can choose any female that his unbridled lust may desire; he can transport his serf under any pretext to Siberia; he can sell his serf, or tax his labour to the uttermost, as it may suit his convenience or rapacity; and woe to a serf who presumes to murmur against the oppression of his lord. Such a frightful and artificial state of society cannot possibly exist in the present state of Europe without endangering the whole structure of the Russian empire, the more so, that a regular democratic element exists among the Cossacks and other semi-civilized hordes nominally subjected to Russia. The historical reminiscences given in previous chapters, testify that the Cossacks have never been completely reduced under the Muscovite sway. Centuries of Russian domination has utterly failed in assimilating the Cossack to the Russian; and Cossack hostility to Russia, like the sacred fire of the ancient Persians, has never been extinguished. Thus, at the very commencement of the Russian supremacy in the Ukraine, we behold Stenko Razin — an obscure Cossack, previously unknown, even by name, to his tribe — exciting a formidable insurrection against Russia. Throughout the desperate war waged by Stenko Razin, he did not receive the slightest aid, or even countenance, from any foreign power, yet his self-energy alone enabled him to rally 200,000 men round the standard of revolt. He vanquished Russian army after army; subjugated the kingdom of Astrakan; checked Russian influence in 212 DESCIilPTION OF Persia; marclied upon Moscow itself; and, in brief, made Russia tremble to her very foundation. Nay, had not Stenko Razin been betrayed into the hands of his enemies, he would, most assuredly have overthrown the Romanow dynasty, and seated himself on the Muscovite throne. A century after this, we behold the Cossack, Pugatchef, at the head of innumerable barbarous hordes, who gave him constant proofs of their devotion even under the most unfavourable circumstances. Five times repulsed, yet five times he renewed the contest. During the terrific struggle he routed several well organised Russian armies, conquered Kasan, and the whole country between the Ural Mountains and the Volga, and threatened Moscow itself with destruction! What, then, is to be done? Why, to attack Russia by press and insurrections, and to raise against her those very barbarian hordes with which she threatens Western Europe; to re-establish the independence of Poland; to restore to Sweden and Germany their former provinces; to liberate the Russian serfs; to excite an insurrection in the military colonies, where rebellion has already twice broken out; to give to the Cossacks, to the Mahometans, to the Mato Russes, to the Kirghise, to the Circassians, and the other large tribes now under Russian domination, kings, who may protect their own nationalities, establish regular governments, and erect their countries into separate states. It is deserving of note, that Colonel Dorigni, a foreign refugee in the Russian service, proposed to the French cabinet during the seven years' war, to raise 300,000 Kherghes and Tcheramess against Russia, and he was confident of the success of such a raising. Napoleon, gigantic genius as he was, yet knew not where to strike a real blow on Russia. If instead of sending his armies into Russia, he had but adopted the line of policy here suggested, with proper care and activity he would easily have humbled Russia. Russia was then, as I have proved it now to be, weaker internally than any other European state, in which such rebellions as those above referred to have never been known, and, indeed, are impossible. In fact, a conspiracy of some Russian colonels can, at any time, shake the whole Russian empire; especially in the military colonies.
It may be remarked that the weakness of any government is always in proportion to the number of spies employed by that government; and in no country are they so numerous as in Russia. However, the secret police, so formidable in Russia, have failed in checking the frequent conspiracies against the government — conspiracies that may yet prove successful. I will but add, that every attack on Russia from the Pacific, or from the regions of the White, jCaspian, Black, and Baltic seas, is fraught with danger to her.