The Hillsdale standard. [volume] (Hillsdale, Mich.) 1851-1909, 1852-01-13
The Power Of Russia.

We take from an Eastern paper the statement
below Of the military power Of Russia Of her
territory, population. and resources. At the
present juncture il will prove interesting TO our
readers. An EngIshmau perhaps would dsrids
the statement as exaggerated or false. We
have ourselves seen contradictory accounts Of
vastly different nature in London journsls-
some Of them finished up with the statement
that the Russian Government was bankrupt
Very little il publicly known of its real condi
ton While ovr readers will agree with Us that
the Gear must be an ugly customer they will
undoubtedly feel that there is blnf' in this
ststemen,-ihat the Wall ST.. gentleman who
wrote it, needs not always TO hold two bullets
and bragger to win: EHaf
The Czar is, immeasurably, the most pow
erful and most intrepid despot upon the face OF
the globe. In force OF intellect and rchuess OF
experience, there is not one OF all the rules Of
the world that can be compared with him for .
moment. The vigor and success Of HE ed
ministration since he mounted his hrone, TWEEN
~ six years ago. has but few parallels in mod
ern history. He fourd the empire convulsed
with internal evils and vereing TO destruction.
but by long course Of combined severity and
amelioraiion. Of concurrent conquest and con-
solida,ion, he has placed his dominions upon a
rock, or rather converted them into rock
which no earthly power can shake. His ter
ritcry now covers one seventh OF the earth's
surface, and his subjects number one third Of
the human race, His militia, well equipped
and respectfully disciplined. are eighteen mill
ions in number. almost equal 10 The entire white
populaton of the Uuted States. His regular
army, officered and disciplined as no other ar
my 10 the world. and possessing 10 man the
iercest courage and indem,abe foriitude.
numbers over seven hundred thousand OF
which two hundred thousand are the husst
cavalry in the world. His feet numbers ITS
vessels, OF which so are ships Of the line. and
besides these are al o gun-boars; all are manned
with 60 900 men and carry 1000 guns.
The position Of russia is perfectly imprs gna-
BILE. The rigors Of his climate. as Napoleon
too we'll tested, are a safeguard TO her. more
effeciual tn an walls Of ad amant She is Hank
ed withall by Prussia and auctria, who are now
bound more firmly to her than heks Of steel.--
She cannot be approached by any naval power
who llfoRdJ'ar rasihors the Rey 10 inap sea:a aoS
ifspproached, if no aggi essive operations can be
nianed for aay time, inasmcch as the sea
is closed with ice six months every year.
Neither would any demonstration upon her
by way Of Black Sea. stand any chance Of sue
cess. The day ths: Tirkey should break her
long standing engagement with Russia. 10 let
no a, ned vessel pass the Dardanciles, the
shores Of the Bosphorus would bristIe with
Russian cannon; and ingress Into the Black
Sea by any Eoglish or American feet, ho~ev-
ev numerous. would become absolute i'm
possibility. But surprising that an entrance
was forced d;-what would il avail! Could they
cope successfully with the immense Black Ses
fleet Of Rnssia, containing thirty line -of-battle
chips, and msnned by thirty sl,ousand seaman!
Could they reach the commercial shipping OF
Russia, protected under Sevas topol, one Of the
worldi But surprising that they could, aud
that the Black Ses was swept by them as Van
Tromp swept the Channel with the broom at
his masthead, Russia would be as far from
submission as ever. But single sinew would
be broken. The seat of her strength would
still continue untouched, and her energies on
the land would remain IS Tremendous as ever.
Even while the naval battles were being fought,
she might throw an armed host over the Balkan,
and crush Hungary at blow. Who does not
remember hapess Poland, with her twenty
milliousi We gave her banners. arms, money.
prayeis-and she put forth an effort that thrill
ed the world with admiration. Russia advsnc-
ed upon her with the firm tread of giant; we
heard one wild piercing shrek. and Poland
was no more. Aud Russia 10 Gar stronger now
than twenty years ago. Her martial srreog,h.
her financial credit. her resources Of every eve
ry description, are FAR greater. IL was this
nights power which filed the lion heart Of
Napoleon with apprehension for the future of
Europe.
Yes Russia is strong, and she knows her
strength. Sbe 10 a. resolute as she is Power
When she has her purposes set IL requires
something more than a mere protest to divert
her. She takes na counsel but Of her own
imberious will She formed years ago her
defensive alliance with Turkey in spite Of all
the united efforts Of England and Francs-sn
alliance which pledged the Porte for all time
to refuse the passage OF the Dardaneles TO the
ships Of war Of any nation with whom she was
1t war. There Is not a FREQ people in the
world that has not reason to hate Russia with
perfect hatred. neither is there civilized IA
lion that can successfully withstand her on or
h.v so;l