The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1853-06-21

seems to have O. ,ntemplated the acquisition of
Livonia, towhj Oh Russia pretended to have some
antiquated G. aim. His successes against the
Swedes put !lim in possession Of port on that
northern SC a; and when the victory Of Pultowa
had reliev ed him from all apprehension of the
military power of Charles the Twelfth. and es-
tablishe the reputation of his own army, he
turned. towards Turkey, whose power was even
then supposed to be lettering, whose Christian
subjects were believed to be ripe for revolt, and
on whose ruins it was not doubted that the
Csar of Russia, the conqueror of the Swedish
Charles, could exalt his own power. The
disastrous campaign of I'LL dispelled for
time the delusion as to the weakness and
speedy dissolution of the Ottoman Empire,
as well as the belief in the discomfort
of the Christian subjects of that power !;
and the treaty of Falkeen, "a village on the
river Pruth) in July I'LL, which saved the
Emperor, the Empress, and the Russian army,
then surrounded and enfeebled, and stipulated
the surrender of Taganrog and Asoph to Tur-
key, annihilated the commercial projects OF
Peter on that sea. But stability Of purpose
was one Of the elements OF his power. and the
intention to establish an Oriental commerce
never deserted him. Neither his successes in
the North, nor his defeat in Turkey, diverted
or deferred him from pursuing the scheme.
Having failed to turn one extremity OF the
Caucasus, he directed his attention to the
other, and abandoned the Sea of Asoph to oc-
into <ho Gocv>ion
In I'LL, the Gear sent Prince Bekeritch on
an embassy to the Khan Of Khiva. with an
escort of several thousand men, with secret
directions 10 seize, in the country of the Prince
to whose court he was accredited, the gold
mines which it was enormously supposed to
contain This expedition was unsuccessful
for the inhabitants, on a preconcerted signal,
fell upon the Russian troops and cut them off,
except few who remained slaves for life.
The following year Peter sent an embassy to
Persia. the object of which was the improve
ment of his commercial relations with that
country and the establishment of trade with
India. An arrangement was entered into by
which the whole of the silk exported from
Persia was to be sent to Russia, but the attempt
to open communication with India was I'M
successful though forty years before this time,
a Russian agent had penetrated to the court Of
Arungzebe and in the early part of the reign
of Peter, Russian traders were settled in India.
"A war between Russia and Persia took place
in iI722, and the Gear entered Persia with an
army Of about fifty thousand men. the infantry
crossing the Caspian in four hundred and
forty-two vessels, while the cavalry pro-
ceeded by land. Having taken possession of
some of the Persian territory on the Caspian,
Peter returned to Moscow in triumph. Turkey
was prevented from taking up arms in aid of
Persia by the Intervention of Austria and
France in favor Of the Gear. Before the ter
mination of the negotiations which followed
Peter the Great died, in January 1725.
The successors Of Peter have uniformly fol-
lowed the course he SO early marked out for
the extension and ACKNOWLEDGMENT of his en-
pire. At the accession Of Peter, in 1859, the
population of the empire was fifteen million;
at the accession of Catharine the Second in
1862. it was twenty-five million; at her death.
in 1896, thirty-six million; at the death Of
Alexander and accession of Nicholas, in 1925,
it was ffty-six million; and cat the present
time, as we have stated. it is about sixty-five
million. The acquisitions of Russia of terri
tory from Sweden are greater than what
remains of that kingdom; from Poland
the territory acquired by Russia is nearly equal
in extent to the Austrian empire; the Russian
acquisitions from Turkey in Europe. are of
~. 4
elusive of the Rhenish provinces; from Turkey,
in Asia, they are nearly equal in dimensions to
the whole of the minor states of Germany; from
Persia. her acquisitions are equal in extent to
England; in Tartary, her acquisitions have an
area not inferior to that Of Turkey, Greece,
Italy, and Spain.
The Russian frontier has been advanced to-
wards Berlin, Vienna and Paris 700 miles; to-
wards Constantinople. 500 miles; towards Stock
holm, $50 miles, and towards Teheran and
India, 1000 miles; and the territory added to
the empire since 1872, when Catharine H. was
on the throne, is greater in extent and impor-
lance than the whole empire which Russia had
in Europe before that time. The power and re-
sources of Russia, however lie in the countries
to the west Of the Volga, not in the wilds of ST.
IBERIA.
Our next advices from Europe will perhaps
enable us to form more definite opinion as to
the fate which awaits Turkey and Persia.
VETERAN Corps OF THE WAR OF 1S12.-We
have watched the proceedings of the Legisla-
ture with increasing solicitudc during the extra
session. to ascertain what action had been
taken to promote the enactment of the bill re-
ported to the Assembly by the Hon. Mr. Hen
dee. making provision for the INDECENT, desti-
tute and. in some instances, sick old soldiers of
the war Of 1872; but down to the present hour
we have not been able to discover that any
member has had the boldness to advocate and
sustain measure SO totally disconnected with
speculation. schemes Of selfaggrandzement or
pecuniary advancement. This will undoubt-
,dIy account for tho daIov manifested -, 4ba