Russian Documents in the British Museum

Russian Documents in the British MuseumAuthor(s): Vladimir BurtsevSource: The Slavonic Review, Vol. 4, No. 12 (Mar., 1926), pp. 669-685Published by: the Modern Humanities Research Association and University College London, School ofSlavonic and East European StudiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4202001 .

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RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.

HISTORIAN'S interested in the history of Russia and of Anglo- Russian relations have in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum a very rich collection of documents at their disposal, a collection which probably has not yet been fully perused.

I do not know whether all the manuscripts have been described in detail in the Catalogues of the Museum, or whether, as often occurs in such large libraries, many still remain uncatalogued. But even now the Manuscript Department places excellent printed catalogues at the disposal of the public, giving a detailed enumeration and sometimes even a complete description of the documents. Guided by these catalogues, students wvorking in the Museum may easily find what documents the Manuscript Department possesses upon the questions which interest them.

It seems that neither Russian nor English scholars have as yet exhausted these treasures, and, though much has been published, there is still a great deal left for further research.

It must be mentioned that workers in the Manuscript Department are also enabled to make full use of the rich collection of Russian printed books and magazines, easily the best out of Russia and of great intrinsic value. They find at their disposal in the Department of Printed Books a collection of the most important publications in Russian and other languages upon all branches of Russian history.

A detailed description of those Russian books that were kept in the Printed Books Department of the Museum was made by me in the Istorichesky Vestnik (Historical Review), I895, No. i. It may be mentioned here that the Library houses the historical magazines Russkaya Starina, Istorichesky Vestnik, Russky Archiv, from their first number to their end; valuable publications of the Russian Academies and of historical, geo- graphical and other societies; nearly all Russian literary and general reviews and magazines; while the Newspaper Room has copies of the best English daily papers for many decades.



670 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

Thus a student desirous of carrying on work in the Manuscript Department has at his disposal a vast amount of reference books in the Printed Books Department.

The manuscripts concerning Russia are, of course, chiefly those linked with the history of England, but there are many connected also with Italy, France, Spain, Germany, etc., of great value to students of these respective countries desiring to work out historical inter-relations with Russia.

Among the manuscripts are to be found diaries, private correspondence, secret diplomatic correspondence, official reports, passports, accounts, drawings, portraits, documents of all descriptions which have been found among the papers of deceased statesmen and politicians and having some historical interest. There is scarcely a prominent Russian personage of the last few centuries concerning whom important information cannot be found in the Manuscript Department.

That collection is an excellent supplement to another notable treasure-house-the Public Record Office. The Museum possesses copies of many documents whose originals are among the Records, or even their drafts, which are far more valuable. However, many original manuscripts, as will be seen below, some of them of outstanding historical value, are to be found in the British Museum.

Trading and diplomatic relations between Russia and England began in the middle of the i6th century, during the reign of Tsar Ivan the Terrible, after the famous expedition of Willoughby and Chancellor. There followed the Russian embassies of Nepea, Pisemsky, Mikulin and others, and the English missions and travels of Jenkinson, Bowes, Fletcher, Horsey, and other enterprising men. The earlier Mu-seum documents concerning Russia, dating from this time, are mostly documents bearing upon trade. Parts of them have been studied by Russian historians. Thus the majority of the letters of Queen Elizabeth to Ivan and his letters to her and to Queen Mary have been published by Yuri Tolstoy (The first fifty years of relations between Russia and England); by K. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, in Vol. 38 of the Sbornik Imperatorsk. Russk. Istorich. Obshchestva; by H. Hamel, member of the Imperial Academy (" The English in Russia," two articles supplementing Vol. 8 of the Papers of the Imperial Academy of Science, i865); by Mr. Storozhenko, in those of the Moscow Historical Society, I870, and others. In England the history of the earlier relations with Russia is recorded in Hakluyt's Collection of English Discoveries, republished



RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS IN BRITISH MUSEUM. 67I

many times, and in the editions of the Hakluyt Society in London.

It seems, however, that not all the documents have been published. Those unpublished are chiefly various reports of English merchants from Russia and the correspondence upon the affairs of the Russian Company. I have not as yet found any traces that the following documents have been published:-

" Notes on the benefyte that may growe to England by Traffyke to Russia through a firme Amite betwene bothe the Princes," 8 May, I575. (Harley, 296, ff. i89-i93.)

" An instruction concerning trade with Russia," given by the Governors of the Levant Company, WiVm. Garrard and Rowland Hayward, to one of their agents, I8 April, I567. (Nero, B. XI., ff. 32I-328.) This document is interesting if compared with another, the grant of privileges by the Tsar Fedor Ivanovich, given I7 years later, in I584, to Rowland Howard " with comrades" for trading in Russia. (Nero, B. VIII. f. 4.)

Reports of Thomas Barnester and Mr. Duckett from Vologda to the Council concerning new favours from the Tsar to the Company, 25 June, I569. (Nero, B. XI., f. 333.)

Various requests of Russian Ambassadors concerning trade. (lb., f. 3.)

Copy of a treaty of alliance between Queen Elizabeth and the Emperor of Russia, May, I570. (lb., f. 345.)

" The order of burial observed by the Ambassadors of Muscovia sent into England in the tyme of Queen Elisabeth." (Harley, 296, f. I95.)

There are other documents dealing with the Russian Com- pany-letters, minutes, complaints, memoranda.

The well-known instruction given by Queen Elizabeth to Daniel Silvester exists in several copies in different collections in the Manuscript Department. That of the Cotton collection (Nero, B. XI.) is of special interest: it appears to be the original draft, with two cancelled paragraphs, missing in the text published by Tolstoy.

But even those manuscripts which have been already published still possess, in many cases, further interest. Thus, Manuscript Otho E. III. contains, on folios 49-50, an English translation of the first letter of Tsar Ivan IV. to King Edward VI. in I554. The original, with an appended German translation, has apparently been lost, in view of which the above copy is of special historical interest: the more so as Hakluyt, in his Collection published in I599, printed this copy with considerable




liberties, including in the Tsar's title the name of territories he did not yet possess at the time, a fact which misled the Russian historian, Karamzin. Hakluyt's mistake was discovered by Hamel, who published the letter in its original wording, adding some lost parts from another copy in the Lansdowne Collection. This oldest copy is preserved in a book in which at the time were entered all the letters-patent and privileges of the Russia Company or the Company of Merchants- Adventurers, as it was sometimes called, and contains copies of privileges granted by the Kings and Queens of England, beginning with Henry VIII. The book has been damaged by fire, and only the central part has been preserved.

Besides this most rare specimen, there is another contemporary English translation of the German text of the same letter of I554 in Volume Add. 61I3, f. I75-I76. This volume belonged also to the famous collector, Robert Cotton, who owned all the collections-Nero, Otho, Vespasian, etc., named after the Roman Emperors, and his collection was acquired by the British Museum. This translation, however, differs somewhat from the original translation in Otho E. III.

There is another most interesting letter of Ivan the Terrible, composed in I567 when dispatching the merchants Tverdikov and Pogorelov to England for various purchases, among them of precious stones. This letter is written in German; the Russian text has not been preserved. The upper part of the letter, with most of the Tsar's title, has also been lost, and the letter begins with the words: " Obdorski Condinski und aller Siebirischen Lande..." It is written on vellum and is rather well preserved. At the bottom on the left is the great wax seal with the double-headed eagle, surrounded by the Tsar's title in three rows. The other side bears the Russian inscription: " Elisabeth by the Grace of God Queen of the lands of England, France, Hibernia and others," and an English inscription apparently of a later date: "The Emperour of Moscovia to the QS Matic". This letter has been published by Hamel and Tolstoy, and the former considers it the oldest original Russian document in England (Nero, B. VIII., f. i.).

The letter of Tsar Fedor Ivanovich to Queen Elizabeth granting privileges to Rowland Howard " and comrades," 1587, referred to above, is an original. It is written on a large piece of vellum, in a rather small but legible hand. The initial letter and its attendant vignette are handsomely illuminated in three colours. The text is slightly damaged on the folds. The



RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS IN BRITISH MUSEUM. 673

contents of this letter are similar to those of the one granted to the same Howard " with comrades" in I584 and published by Bestuzhev-Ryumin, but it offers some variations. (Nero, B. VIII., f. 4.)

Besides the Russian manuscripts, there are documents in other languages which are of great interest to Russian historians. Among such documents of the time of the Terrible Tsar, we may point out two Latin letters written by the Emperor Ferdinand I. to Queen Elizabeth in 1560 and I56I concerning the attempts of the Tsar of AMuscovy upon the Teutonic Order in Livonia. (Nero, B. IX., f. 96.)

There is an interesting letter of the False Demetrius in Latin, addressed to the King of England, in which he recommends a certain Oliver Lisset, dated 28 December, I6o5, preserved among royal and noble autographs. (Vesp., F. III.)

There are relatively fewr documents of the reigns of the first Tsars of the Romanov dynasty. In Cotton's collection there is an original letter of Tsar Michael Fedorovich to King James I. of i August, I6I7, upon the embassy of Stepan Ivanovich Volynskv. (Nero, V. XI., f. 320.)

Extracts from printed sources are also not devoid of interest. To such papers belong the description of the reception of the Tsar's envoys in London: " The Great Duke and Governor of Toulsky Peter, the Son of Simon surnamed Prosoroffskee, the L. Governor of Coarmesky John the Son of Offonassey surnamed Zelebousky and Juan Stefano Chancellor." The description of this embassy dispatched by Tsar Alexis to King Charles II. was published in the Mlercurius Publicus on 8 January, i662 (Add. 6308, f. 71). The same collection contains an extract from a copy of this paper of 8 May of the same year, describing the reception of the Tsar's envoys on their arrival at Stockholm to sign peace with Sweden.

The circular letter of Ephraim Pagitt, incumbent of the Parish church of St. Edmond's in London, dated I638, and addressed to the heads of all the Orthodox autocephalous churches, among them to " The Most Reverende ffather in God and right honourable Lord Theodore Archbishop of Moscho and all Russia and Oecumenicall Patriarch," is interesting for the history of the relations of the Anglican and Orthodox Churches. Pagitt, as is seen from the Dictionary of National Biography, was a contemporary of Archbishops Abbot and Laud of Canterbury, and of the famous Patriarch of Constantinople, Cyril Loukaris, who for his Protestant sympathies was subse-

U tu




quently condemned by the Council of Jerusalem. Pagitt, witlh a view to elucidating the opinion of the Orthodox hierarchy -upon controversial questions between Protestants and the Catholic Church, sent a questionary of 25 paragraphs concerning the Pope's authority, his infallibilitv, purgatory, the veneratioin of images, clerical marriages, shaving the beard, etc. He appended to this the text of the Anglican liturgy. (Harley S25, f. 28.)

In the Harleian Collection, founded byT Robert Harley, first Earl of Oxford, in I700, are several important manuscripts in Old Russian. Among them wve note:-

(i) History of the siege of the Troitza-Serguievskaya Lavra by Abrahami Palitzin (Harley 35I9). It wvould be desirable to compare this manuscript with the editions of I822 and i896.

(2) A manuscript of I47 folios dealing with Saints Zozima and Savvatiy and the foundation of the Solovetsk MAonastery. This manuscript, which is in very good condition, is bound together with one of the homilies of St. John Chrysostom and eight small sheets with drawings of outstretched hands, with -inscriptions and figures on eact.

(3) A collection of manuscripts 'which belonged to a certain foreigner, Roman Willimovich. It contains copies of the Ukaz of Tsar Alexis concerning foreign trade; forms of various trade agreements; fables; a copy " of a judicial case between the bream and the gremille," which may be a satire upon the times; a number of questions and answers upon matters of faith; and, lastly, a correspondence between Roman Willimovich and his Russian teacher, Peter Ignatyevich. Was not this Roman Willimovich the renowned R. V. Bruce, one of the Generals and Statesmen of Peter the Great? Many things in this volume .appear to confirm this surmise. (Harley 6356.)

Still greater interest is presented by: (a) A copy of Nestor's Chronography. An inscription on the

cover tells us that its text was published by A. Schlozer with a German translation, and also by Louis Paris in French in I834. We have as yet been unable to discover whether these translators availed themselves of the Cotton manuscript, and it would be interesting, to compare it with other known texts. (Vitel., f. Io.)

(b) It would also be desirable to compare the fine manuscript of the " Stoglav " or record of the Council of Moscow in I55I, preserved in the Museum, with other published texts. Such a comparison might show variations always interesting in the case of documents of such immense historical value. (Add. 28507.)



IRUSSIAN\- DOCUM \ENTS IN BRITISH MUSEUM11. 67j

The authentic diaries of the traveller, Dr. Engelbert KImpfer, wvho journeyed in i683 through Russia on his wvay to Persia, India and Japan, are probably very interesting, though very illegible. This noted traveller made sketches of towns; and the album of his drawings, also acquired by the British -Museum (Add. 5232), gives views of the Nikolsky and Simonov Monasteries, of Kolomna, Pereyaslavl, Murom, and sketches of the Oka, the Volga and other rivers. Among Kampfer's notes and diaries are found papers and pamphlets in Russian gathered on the vay, and in their number a broadside on w-hich are written in the smallest but legible hand the chief prayers, the Creed and all the Psalms. (Sloane 29IO.)

In Sloane 3063, ff. I2-I5, is to be found an old copy of the letter of the Tsars Ivan and Peter to the Regent Tsarevzna Sophia bearing a complaint against Prince Ivan Hovansky.

The manuscripts of the reign of Peter the Great include several letters of the Tsar bearing his signature, and one letter /entirely wvritten by him. Here is the list; it is, however, possible that there are others

(I) The original letter of Peter to Queen Anne, 30 November, 1705, from Grodno, asking her mediation with the Swedes upon the question of an exchange of prisoners of wvar (Harley 70I6, f. 59). The letter is written on a large sheet of vellum with an illuminated initial letter and ornamentation around the text. It is signed " Of your Majestie the loving brother Peter" and countersigned by Chancellor Golovkin and P. Shafirov. On the reverse side is a large wvax seal with a paper cover bearing the double-headed eagle, surrounded with the words " Peter Alexeyevich, Autocrat and Ruler of all Russia." It has also the inscription " To the Great Lady Anne by the Grace of God Queen of England, Scotland, France, Ireland and other countries."

The same volume contains a Latin copy of the same letter (ff i- 5 -)6).

(2) An autograph letter of Peter the Great to Mr. Noy, ship- builder in Petersburg, instructing him to repair a ship as soon as it arrved from England. It was written in Kolomna on i6 -May, I722. The letter ends wvith a postscript in which the Tsar sends his compliments to all his " fellowv ship-builders and the rest'" (Add. 50I5, f. I2). From first to last the letter is wvritten in the Tsar's own sprawling, very illegible hand- w\vriting. It is exhibited in a case with other royal autographs.

(T\ T-o letters of Peter the Great to the English Admiral U f 2_



676 THE SLAVONIC REVIEW".

Norris. The first was dated from the ship " Ingermanland" on 22 June, 1715. The Emperor informs the Admiral, whose squadron had reached the Baltic Sea, that the Imperial Secretary, Ostermann, has been sent to Reval to make to the Admiral certain representations from the Tsar. The letter is written in a distinct clerical hand on a thick sheet of paper, and is only- signed by Peter. It is accompanied by English and French translations. (Add. 28I54, f. I33.)

The seco-nd letter is still more interesting. It was sent from the same ship-" Ingermanland "-on 7 June, I719. Perturbed bv rumours of the dispatch of a British squadron to the Baltic, Peter writes to Admiral Norris, asking him as to his intentions. The Tsar demands an immediate written answer, and gives warning that silence will be considered by him as a sign of hostility " and evil intentions against us," which would compel the Tsar to " take necessary measures " for his safety " according to military reasons." The Tsar ends by declaring his own peaceful intentions, pointing out that he has no hostile aims against any other country, except " intended operations against the Crown of Sweden," and that only in order to "force the said Crown to conclude a reasonable peace." The reverse side of the letter bears a note " His Czarian Majt. Letter to Sir John Norris. Recd at Copenhn frm Count Golowin ye ioth Julv 1729. Answvered ye next day." An English translation is appended to the letter, with the remark that the " Ingermanland " was at the time in Hangut. (Add. 28I55.)

There are other interesting documents in the collection of Admiral Norris's papers, such as an autograph letter of Count Gabriel Golovkin of 28 June, I7I9, addressed to the Admiral, with a copy of Peter the Great's declaration to the Dutch and British Governments as to goods allowed to be imported; here, too, is a copy of a manifesto to the inhabitants of Swedish territories. Another volume of the same papers contains a number of documents concerning trade with Russia, a Memo- randum of the Moscow Company, a Report of the Board of Trade on the Project of a Treaty of Commerce with Muscovy, etc.

(4) Two letters from the Tsar to Brigadier Balk with autograph signatures of Peter. One of these gives an order to hand over part of the artillery supplies to the King of Poland; the other to supply funds to the courier sent by Peter from Thorn to Kdnigsberg on 26 December, 171I. These letters are small quarto sheets, with small wax seals bearing the Imperial eagle. (Egerton 24.)




(5) The Tsar's instruction to Admiral Golovin to sail to the isle of " Magaskar" and there hand to the King a letter, originally attached, but unfortunately not preserved, " by all means to persuade this King to journey to Russia " and " by all means to obtain from him: whether he wishes to have commerce with us." One sheet of the instruction has been preserved; it contains six paragraphs with four autograph corrections by Peter, the last initialled by him. (Add. 2I523.)

(6) A Latin translation of a letter of Peter I. to the Sultan of Turkey of 24 July, I7I0, in the collection of papers concerning the Spanish succession. (Add. I6477, f. II2.)

One also meets with letters of noted diplomatists of Peter's time, Count Golovkin, Shafirov and Prince Kurakin; also of the Tsar's physician, Areshkin, who played a prominent part in transactions with foreigners. These letters are chiefly connected with the Swedish War. (Stowe, 226, 230, 232.)

An English description of a dinner at the Tsar's Court deserves notice (Sloane, 4164, f. 40); also the Marquis of Carmarthen's " proposals "... . " for His Imperial Majesty the Great Czar of Muscovy of what may be proper for him to doe whilst in England ... in order to establish a good Navy in Muscovy." (Add. 28092.)

A manuscript text-book for navigation belongs also to the same time. (Sloane, 3227.)

However important all these may be, the most interesting documents for a student of the period of Peter the Great are those of Sir Charles Whitworth, an eminent diplomatist and very cultured man. Sir Charles represented England in Ratisbon, 1702-I703. In I704 he was appointed British Minister to Vienna, and in the next year was transferred to Moscow. He remained there until 1710, after which, having obtained leave, he returned to England. In the spring of 17II, Whitworth was again sent to Russia, this time with the title of Ambassador. He was, however, delayed on the journey, as it was intended to entrust him with another mission. At last, in February, 1712, Whitworth reached Karlsbad, where Peter was at the time with his army, and made the journey to Petersburg in the company of the Tsar. In I7I3 Whitworth finally left Russia. He enjoved the uninterrupted friendship of the Tsar, wvho appreciated the intelligence and abilities of the English diplomatist. Whitworth succeeded in settling the diplomatic incident which arose when Matveyev, the Russian Ambassador, had been insulted in London. The infuriated Tsar demanded the



678 THE SLAVON'IC, REVIEW.

e-xecution of the culprits, but Whitworth at length gained his consent to receive an extraordinary embassy-, which presented. apologies with assurances that the culprits had received dutie punishment.

Wk'hile abroad, Whitworth kept up an extensive correspondence wi-ith eminent personages, and his letters are to be found in various collections, The principal are

Admiral Norris's papers, mentioned above. (Add. 28I55j0 Sir John Ellis's papers. (Add. 28902-289i6.) The Strafford papers. This is chiefly the diplomatic

correspondence of Thomas Wentworth, Lord Raby, Earl of Strafford, himself a prominent diplomatist of the beginning of the iSth century-. The 25 Volumes of his correspondence (Add. 3II28-3I152) contain a number of WNhitworth's letters written in Russia between I705 and II0.

But the most complete collection are the papers of Whitworth himself, which became available for students only in I906. These consist -of 5o volumes of correspondence, which remained in the possession of the descendants of Whitworth, being kept at the Earl of Delawarr's estate, Buckhurst, Sussex, until the Museum acquired them. They contain drafts of Whitworth's. reports to successive Secretaries of State-Robert Harley (Earl of Oxford), Charles Spencer (Earl of Sunderland), Henry Boyle (Baron Carlton), James Douglas (Duke of Oueensberry) and Henry St. John (Viscount Bolingbroke); also letters to the Duke of Marlborough and others, as well as their replies. This correspondence bears mainly upon questions of politics; among other things, great attention is given to the M\latveyev incident and the ceremonial with which the Embassy was to be received by the Tsar. Questions of trade also occupy a prominent place, and there are numerous memoranda, notes and reports: \Vthitworth's diaries of his journey from MIoscow to London in. i-i0; Peter's Uk-az in Livonia; a survey of the territory between Lakes Beloe and Onega for the purpose of making a canal; an lkaz of the Senate upon Whitworth's complaints concerning the vexations suffered by English merchants, etc.

Practically the whole of this collection (Add. 37348-37397) still awaits its student. The " Summary account of the state of Russia as it was in the spring of y7'0" has alone been ptublished. Althouglh the Russian Historical Society published in its papers (Vols. 39,g,50 and 5I) Whitworth's official reports




to the Secretaries of State according to the original documents kept at the Record Office, W;Vhitworth's own papers demand examination, as they probably contain much other matter of great interest not to be found elsewhere.

The Museum is particularly rich in manuscripts of the i8th century. It possesses the archives of prominent English families and statesmen, and is constantly enriched by new acquisitions. In some cases family muniments are bequeathed to the Museum; in others thev are purchased and presented by persons taking a public-spirited interest in the MIuseum.

The papers of Thomas Pelham-Holles, later Duke of New- castle, is but one example of the international importance these archives possess. This clever statesman occupied Ministerial posts from I7I7 to I766, and for thirty years directed foreign policy, at first in the capacity of Secretary of State for the Southern Department, and from I746 till I754 as Secretary of State for the Northern Department, which dealt with matters affecting Northern Europe and Russia.

The Newcastle papers, bound in 307 volumes, embracing the po-riod from I697 to I768, contain, besides private correspondence, also copies of official reports. Apparently, English statesmen w ere accustomed to keep copies of official correspondence in their private collections, while the originals remained in their respective Departments and in due time were transmitted to the State Records. We have reason to be grateful for these methods as, owving to this, valuable correspondence is sometimes preserved in duplicate.

Another interesting collection is that of the Earls of Hardwicke and other members of the Yorke family. This collection is of particular interest for Russian historians, since it has been supplemented by the collection of Sir Robert Keith, Minister Plenipotentiarv in St. Petersburg from I760 to I762 during the time preceding the accession of the Empress Catherine II., who asked for Keith's recall.

The collection of another diplomatist, Sir Robert Gunning, also a British representative in Petersburg (I77I-I775), is not devoid of interest, international and intercontinental. He conducted mediatory negotiations between Russia and Turkey, and nearly obtained Russia's assent to the dispatch of an Army Corps of 20,000 men strang to North America.

The collection of Sir Andrew Mitchell, British representative in Berlin (I756-I77I), is a very rich one. This prominent diplomatist and personal friend of King Frederick the Great, whom



68o THE SLAVONIC REVIEW.

he even accompanied to the battlefield, carried on a lively correspondence with his own Government and with British representatives at other Courts, the Russian included.

All these Ambassadors' archives are especially interesting owing to the fact that, in sending copies of their official reports to the Foreign Department and to their colleagues in neighbouring countries, the envoys very often supplemented them by explanations or private letters shedding light upon the local circumstances of different political events.

In studying the i8th century, English and Russian historians must consult two interesting collections of MSS. One of them belongs to the Bentham family; the other to the well-known writer, Archdeacon William Coxe. Sir Samuel Bentham and W. Coxe, independently of each other, visited Russia at the end of the i8th century during the reign of Catherine II. Bentham made a sojourn of ten years in Russia and later mnade a second visit to that country. Coxe's stay was relatively short, but his mission being for the special purpose of gathering materials for a description of Russia, his journey is of particular interest.

Bentham's papers are contained in 28 volumes. They repre- sent the family correspondence of Samuel Benthiam and his famous brother Jeremy, jurist and philanthropist, who also stayed for a time with him in Russia.

At the age of twenty-five, Samuel Bentham, desirous of improving his knowledge of technical sciences, in particular of studying shipbuilding, decided to leave England on a long journey to different countries. He went to Holland, to the same shipyards as Peter the Great. Then he travelled to France, Germany, Kurland, and lastly Russia. He arrived in Petersburg with a number of letters of recommendation to Englishmen living in Russia and to many prominent Russians. He was warmly welcomed and given every opportunity to study the country. He' was soon on friendly terms with many notable men, such as Prince Potcmkin, and decided not only to make a lengthy sojourn in Russia, but cven to cnter the Russian service. Being a man endowed with keen intelligence and acute power of observation, he studied Russia thoroughly. He took an active part in the Russo-Turkish War, rendered important services to the Russian Army, and was rewarded by promotion to the rank of Colonel. His career in Russia was assured, and a broad field was opened to his activities. During his stay in Russia, Bentham actively corresponded with his father and



RUSSIAN DOCUMENTS IN BRITISH MUSEUM. 68i

brother, who lived in London. He continuously imparts the results of his observations, and his letters are almost like a diary. He described what he heard and saw of social life, and impartially recorded his conversations whether with men of mark or with simple folk. His letters, therefore, are of outstanding interest for the study of this epoch. One must, however, bear in mind that, being a sincere and fervent patriot, Bentham gives his Russian impressions from the point of view of British interests.

Bentham did not restrict his correspondence to his own writings, but also sent to London various interesting documents, translating them sometimes into English or French.

In 1826-i827, at the beginning of the reign of Nicholas I., the brothers Bentham made an attempt to renew their connection with Russia. Following his father's example, Samuel's son went to Russia. Both Samuel and Jeremy charged him with various commissions. He was given letters of introduction -to prominent Russians, and, in addition, Jeremy entrusted him with a memorandum upon Russian tribunals. This is written in the name of Bentham junior for presentation to the Russian Government. A fair draft has been preserved, which is entirely written in the hand of Jeremy Bentham. We know but little of the results, but this document presents great interest owing to the personality of so eminent a jurist and thinker as Jeremy Bentham, as well as to its contents. Jeremy Bentham enjoyed great popularity in Russia, and his writings were eagerly studied in literary, social and even administrative circles of the time. There are many interesting letters, as yet urnpub- lished, which prominent Russians-Mordvinov, Chichagov and others-wrote to the English philosopher.

Archdeacon William Coxe's papers are also noteworthy. Coxe was one of those happy wvriters wvho easily gain a reputation during their lifetime and are not soon forgotten after death. He was born in '745; after completing his studies at Cambridge, he was ordained deacon of the Church of England, but preferred the post of tutor of the son of the Duke of Marlborough to service in the Church. Two years later he became secretary to Lord HBerbert, Earl of Pembroke (who subsequently married Catherine Semenovna, daughter of the Russian Ambassador, Count Semen Romanovich Vorontzov). Coxe accompanied Lord Herbert to Switzerland in 1775-76, and wrote an excellent description of that country, which ran into four editions. This book created Coxe's literary reputation, and when in 1778 he



682 THE SLAVONTIC REVIEW.

accompanied Lord Herbert on a new journey, this time to. Russia and the Scandinavian countries, Russian society, being made aware that Coxe intended to write a book upon Russia, was delighted to welcome him. This circumstance in some degree reversed the respective r6les, and at times Lord Herbert owed his entrance into Russian houses to his secretary. Coxe described his journey in his principal work, Travels into Poland Russia, Sweden and Denmark, the first edition of which was published in I784. Besides that, Coxe published a rather detailed Account of the Russian Discoveries between Asia and America (London, I780), and a small pamphlet, Account of the Prisons and Hospitals in Russia, Sweden and Denmark (London,. I78I).

Coxe's writings were translated into various European. languages, but not into Russian. However, two articles in Russian historical magazines deal with Coxe and his works. The first is due to the pen of Mrs. N. Belozersky (Russkaya Starina, I877, Vols. i8 and I9). It, gives an account of Coxe's writings and includes a summary of his book on Russia. Another, signed V. Viktorov, was written in I898 by the writer of the present article (Istorichesky Vestnik, Vol. 74). It supplements the data given by Mrs. Belozersky, and for the first time draws attention. to Coxe's Papers in the British Museum. Both articles emphasised the fact that Coxe's descriptions are not merely ordinary notes of a tourist who had travelled through Russia during six auitumn and winter months, but are valuable as historical material owing to the author's exceptional veracity and caution. As is mentioned in my article of I898, Coxe's books and papers preserve as in a phonograph the speeches of many interesting personalities of the time whom he met in Russia in I778-79. Since among them we find the Empress, Potemkin, Count Sievers, Princess Dashkov, Count Alexis Orlov, the Academicians Pallas and Miller, and many others, the significance of this collection becomes evident. Coxe's personal acquaintance with prominent personages of the time gives us the possibility of guessing the spokesmen from whom he obtained information, and these, strictly speaking, were the prime authors of his works on Russia. Thus, Russian historical data were apparently received from the historian Miller; and maybe this cautious member of the Imperial Academy, not daring to state his own views upon the false Demetrius, imparted them to Coxe and furnished him with the corresponding proofs. It is also evident that Coxe's information concerning Russian




geography, industry and discovery in the Far East was due to Pallas, the renowned scientist, who also supplied Samuel Bentham with valuable information. Lastly, the interesting data upon Russian prisons were given to Coxe by the Empress herself and by Count Sievers at her orders. However, this in no wise diminishes the importance of Coxe. He knew ho'w to question, and his questions caused his interlocutors to think. Mrs. Belozersky indicates the influence which Coxe's questions and perhaps his book on prisons may have had upon the Plan for the Statute for Prisons, written by the Empress herself in I787.

Coxe did not restrict himself to a limited circle, but sought out interesting people in every class of Russian society, owing to which he was able to verify the information already gained by him from various sources and confirm it. He collected all sorts of materials, and his papers, preserved in 206 volumes in the British Museum, contain innumerable copies of the diplomatic correspondence illustrating the history of British relations with other countries in the i8th century. Four volumes deal specially with Russia. We find here Coxe's diaries, in which he entered his conversations; articles upon Princess Tarakanov, Count Bobrinsky, the Emperor Ivan VI., the Grand Duke Paul; manuscripts of Pallas, Miller and others; Coxe's questions as to prisons with the answers of the Empress and Count Sievers, and numerous letters and notes from different persons. A part of these materials was published by Coxe in different editions of his writings. But the cautious writer thought it wiser not to publish everything simultaneously. Every subsequent edition of his Travels was enlarged, not only by materials obtained after the publication of the former edition,l but also by prior data which he had not dared publish earlier. It is evident that not all the material collected by Coxe has been entered by him in the fifth and sixth editions of his Travels, the completest of all. For instance, he abstained from publishing some of the it questions and answers " upon prisons. Only about one-third of them (8 out of 2I) appear, and all the answers of Count Sievers are left out.

It is interesting to note that Coxe intended to publish " An Account of the State of Europe." Four volumes of this work had been printed, but for some reason remained unpublished. One specimen of these printed volumes is preserved in the Manuscript Department of the Museum. This unfinished work

1 The second edition of the T'ravels gives additional data obtained by Coxe during his second journev to Russia in 1786.



684 THE SLAVONIIC REV'IEW.

does not include a special chapter dealing with Russia, but that country is much spoken of, in connection with the description of neighbouring lands.

However interesting they may be, the importance of Coxe's papers for the study of Russian history must not be exaggerated. We have seen that, out of the 206 volumes, only four deal directly with Russia. Separate documents concerning this country may be found in other volumes, though Coxe appears to have used in his later editions the greater part of his materials; and, if he overlooked some, it was probably because he considered them unimportant. It is, therefore, only idata of a secondary interest which are likely to be found byT a student who has the patience to look through the 206 volumes of Coxe's papers.

The Manuscript Department has another interesting document of the same time. This is the Memoirs of Princess. Dashkov, which are considered among the most interesting monuments of Russian historical literature. The British Museum possesses the original document, portions of whiclh are written in the Princess's own handwriting. The story of this document is a curious one. During her travels, Princess Dashkov met the Wilmot family in London and became deeply attached to one of the daughters. She insisted upon AMartha W17ilmot accom- panying her back to Russia. M-iss Wilmot's stay in Russia was of several years' duration, and it was for her that Princess Dashkov started writing her memoirs. She iT-rote, while Miss Wilmot took a copy for herself, the authoress interpolating entire passages in this copy written under her direct super- vision. The first copy of the Memoirs, chiefly autograph, was lost; there remained only the London copy, besides another in Russia discovered in the Vorontzov Collection long after the Princess's death. Miss Wilmot's intention of publishing the Memoirs was frustrated by the Counts Vorontzov, brothers of the deceased Princess; so it was only in 1840 that she succeeded in publishing them in English. The edition was a beautiful one, and met with great success in England. Some I7 or i8 years later, the Memoirs were translated from English into French, Russian and German. In the meantime, the French original remained inaccessible. More editions appeared, three in Russian and one in French. It was only in i88i that the original French text of the Memoirs was published in a special Russian historical magazine, not intended for the general public. Thus the original French text has not as yet been fully utilised; but its



RUSSIAN DOCUMEN7TS IN BRITISH MUSEUM. 685

supplements, such as the letters of Catherine the Second, are still published after the translation from the English issued in 1840. The volume of the Princess Dashkov's Papers in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum, besides the original French text of the Empress's letters, contains many drafts wvritten in Princess Dashkov's hand.

Though the Aianuscript Department contains many docu- mlents of the Napoleonic era, we shall merely mention the collection of General Sir Robert Wilson, British Military Attache to the Russian Army during the wars with Napoleon. Wilson published several works dealing with the campaigns from i8o6 to I8I4, as well as on politics. It is well known that these works of Kutuzov's personal enemy only succeeded in emphasising the intelligence and foresight of the great Russian general, a fact which was noted by Mr. A. Popov in his brilliant essays in Ritsskaya Starina.

Valuable and rare portraits of Russian celebrities, maps, sketches, etc., are found among the manuscripts. But, in addition to all this, the Department of Prints has a special collection of Russian portraits, and those of Peter I., Catherine II. and others are most interesting. Students of the history of Russian and foreign portraiture will find here material both rare and valuable, much even that is quite unique.

The British MIuseum continues to collect manuscripts up to the most recent times. Russian scholars will find documents as far as the time of the first Duma.

Of course, the great work of cataloguing requires time; but periodically the Administration of the Museum publishes a new catalogue including all the new acquisitions-new treasures opened to the general public.

Any Records remaining within the Russia of to-day are inaccessible to those who would wish to interpret the present by the light of the past; therefore, the unique collection contained in the British Museum is of immense importance to Russians and to students of Russian history.

It remains only to add that the admirable organisation of the Manuscript Department and of the Reading Room greatly adds to the comfort of the students, while it would be impossible to render a sufficient tribute of gratitude and praise to the attention and courtesy shown to visitors by the whole staff of the AM1useum.

VLADIMIR BURTSEV.

