le marc à près de cinquante livres, comme nous the marc at near of the marc at nearly fifty fifty livres, livres, faisons aujourd'hui, et comme nous ne ferons peut do to-day, and as we not shall-do may do at the present moment, though perhaps we may not do être pas demain; mais c'est être très riche chez be * to-morrow; but it is to-be very rich so a short time hence; but the sovereign who can accomplish at-the-home-of soi que de pouvoir faire de grandes choses. things. oneself that of to-be-able to-do of great * Ce It It n'est pas la rareté de l'argent, mais celle des hommes the rarity of the silver, but that of-the men scarcity of money, not is et des talens, qui rend un empire foible. and of-the talents, which renders an empire weak. and of talents, which renders an empire feeble. meu La nation Russe n'est pas nombreuse, quoique les The nation Russian not is * The Russian nation is not Peter him-same, in subjecting-to-police his states, has unhapPeter himself, while he civilized his states, reusement contribué à leur dépopulation. pily contributed to their depopulation. pily contributed to their depopulation. unhap. De fré Of fre Fre quentes recrues dans des guerres long-temps mal un quent recruitings in of-the wars long time quent recruiting during wars which were long disheureuses; des nations, transplantées des bords de sumées dans les travaux, détruites par les maladies; in the works, destroyed by the sicknesses; hausted by labour, and destroyed by sumed disease; les trois-quarts des enfans mourant en Moscovie de the three quarters of-the children dying in Muscovy of three-fourths of the children of the Russian empire dying of la petite-vérole, plus dangereuse en ces climats the small-pox, more dangerous in these climates the small-pox, which is more dangerous in that climate qu'ailleurs ; enfin, les tristes suites d'un gouverne govern than elsewhere; lastly, the sad sequels of a than elsewhere; lastly, the melancholy consequences of a government long-temps sauvage, et barbare même dans sa ment long time savage, ment long savage, police, sont cause que cause that even and barbarous cette grande partie du this great police, are improved state, are the causes that this large continent a encore de vastes déserts. vast deserts. continent has still of continent has still vast deserts within its limits. part of-the portion of the On compte One counts It is reckoned à présent en Russie cinq cent mille familles de at present in Russia five hundred thousand families that Russia now contains five hundred thousand noble of gentilshommes, deux cent mille de gens de loi, un two hundred thousand of people of law, a two hundred thousand lawyers, gentlemen, families, peu plus de cinq millions de bourgeois et de paysans little more of five millions of burghers and of peasants rather more than five millions of citizens and peasants payant une espèce de taille, six cent mille hommes paying a who pay a sort of poll-tax, six hundred thousand men dans les provinces conquises sur la Suède: les Coin the provinces conquered upon the in the provinces conquered from millions d'hommes, c'est-à-dire, un peu plus des that is to say, millions of souls, deux-tiers two-third-parts two-thirds des a little more of-the rather more than habitans de la France. of-the inhabitants of the France. of the population of France. Le Czar Pierre, en changeant les mœurs, les changing the manners, the The Czar Peter, while he changed the manners, the The Czar Peter, in lois, la milice, la face de son pays, vouloit aussi laws, the soldiery, the face of his country, † willed also laws, the army, and the face of his country, wished also être grand par le commerce, qui fait à la fois la to-be great by the commerce, which makes at the time the to become great by commerce, which confers at richesse d'un état et les wealth of a state and the wealth on a state and entier. avantages du advantages once monde Il entreprit de rendre la Russie le centre entire. He undertook of to-render the Russia the centre world. He undertook to render Russia the centre du négoce de l'Asie et de l'Europe. of-the trade of the Asia and of the Europe. of the trade of Asia and of Europe. Il vouloit He † willed He wished joindre, par des canaux dont il dressa le plan, to-join, by of-the canals of-which he drew-up the plan, to join the Dwina, the Wolga, and the Tanais by canals, la Duina, le Volga, le Tanaïs, the Dwina, the Wolga, the Tanais, plans of which he drew et s'ouvrir des and to-himself to-open of-the himself, and to open chemins nouveaux de la Mer Baltique au Pont ways new from the Sea Baltic to-the PontusBaltic to the Black new means of communication from the Euxin et à la Mer Caspienne, et de et de Euxinus and to the Sea ces deux Caspian, and from these two Caspian, and from these nine Le port d'Archangel, fermé par les glaces neuf The port of Archangel, shut by the ices The port of Archangel, closed during nine months of mois de l'année, et dont l'abord exigeoit un circuit months of the year, and of-which the approach † exacted a circuit the year by frost, and the approach to which required a long long et dangereux, ne lui paroissoit pas assez long and dangerous, not to-him and dangerous circuit, did not commode. Il avoit dès commodious. convenient. enough + appeared appear to him sufficiently l'an mille sept seven He + had from-the-time-of the year thousand From the year seventeen hundred, he entercents le dessein de bâtir sur la Mer Baltique un hundreds the design of to-build upon the Sea tained the design of building a port on the Baltic, Baltic a port, qui deviendroit le magasin du nord, et une port, which would-become the magazine of-the north, and a which might become the emporium of the north, and а ville qui seroit la capitale de son empire. city which would-be the capital of his empire. city which should be the capital of his empire. Il cherchoit déjà un passage par les mers du passage by the seas of-the to explore a north-eastern He + sought already a He had already begun nord-est à la Chine, et les north-east to the passage to China, and the manufactures de Paris manufactures of Paris manufactures of Paris et de Pékin devoient embellir sa nouvelle ville. and of Pekin + ought to-embellish his and of Pekin were destined to embellish his new new city. city. qu'il which it falloit combler, devoit conduire de Mos was-necessary to-heap-up, which it was necessary to fill up, cou à sa nouvelle ville. ought to-conduct from Mos- La plupart de ses projets ont été exécutés par ses mains; et deux impératrices, have been executed by his hands; and two were executed by himself; and two empresses, empresses, qui lui ont succédé l'une après l'autre, ont encore who to-him have succeeded the one after the other, have still who succeeded him one after the other, Il a voyagé dans ses états autant que ses guerres wars He has travelled in his states as-much as his travelled about his empire as much as the wars He l'ont pu him have been-able permettre; mais il a voyagé to-permit; but he has travelled in which he was engaged would permit ; but he travelled en législateur et en physicien, legislator and in studier-of-physical-science, and a man of science, examinant in examining as a legislator every where Un verste est de 750 pas. |