Travels Into Poland, Russia, Sweden, and DenmarkVolume III, Chapter IV — William Coxe, M.A. F.R.S., 1790

All footnotes appear in the original. Wikipedia links provide additional information. We note page numbers in the original.

260

Journey from Petersburgh to Riga — history of Livonia — Narva —  Dorpt — Riga — Anecdotes of General Brown.

MAY 8, 1785. On quitting St. Petersburgh, we pursued our journey through part of Ingria, Esthonia, and Livonia, provinces conquered from the swedes by Peter the Great. As the ground was in many parts covered with snow, and as we travelled night and day, we could not sufficiently observe the productions of the country; and as the incidents of the journey were in no wise remarkable, I shall chiefly confine my account to the history of Esthonia and Livonia, and to a short description of Narva, Dorpt, and Riga, the only places through which we passed, in any degree worthy of notice.

As Esthonia and Livonia, bordering upon Russia, Sweden, and Poland, and reciprocally claimed and possessed by those three powers, were, during a period of more than two centuries, a constant source and a perpetual scene of the most bloody wars, it may not be unnecessary to state briefly their history, and to trace the causes which rendered them objects of such contention to those three powers.

In 1158, some merchants of Bremen, bound to Wisby, in the 261 isle of Gothland 1, being drove by stress of weather, landed at the mouth of the Duna, and trafficked with the natives. Drawing considerable advantage from this trade, the merchants returned in great numbers, and gradually established a settlement. A German monk of the Augustine order, who accompanied the new colonists, acquired the language of the country, converted several of the natives to Christianity, and persuaded them to be baptized.

According to the custom of that barbarous era, an order of knighthood, first called the Knights of Christ, and afterwards with more propriety the Knights of the Sword, was instituted for the propagation of Christianity by fire and sword. Those military missionaries, equally fanatic and sanguinary, gradually overran the country, and reducing the ancient inhabitants, rendered them at the same time Christians and slaves.

In 1231, these knights, being incorporated in the Teutonic order, stiled themselves Knights and Lords of the Cross, and purchased Esthonia, in 1521, from the king of Denmark. Walter Plettenberg their chief, or general of the order, having obtained from the grand master of the Teutonic order the chief jurisdiction of Livonia, was considered as independent, and admitted soon afterwards by Charles the Fifth among the princes of the empire.

The knights continued in possession of Esthonia and Livonia, until the weakness and impolitic conduct of their masters, and 262 civil dissensions, incited the ambition of the neighbouring powers, and involved the country in a series of bloody wars.<;p>

In 1556, the archbishop of Riga being imprisoned by Walter Furstenberg, the general of the order, implored the assistance of his uncle Sigismond Augustus king of Poland. Sigismond immediately armed in favour of his nephew, invaded Livonia, and compelled Walter Furstenberg not only to restore the archbishop to liberty, but to conclude a treaty, by which he acknowledged himself and the province of Livonia dependent on the crown of Poland.

But Ivan Vassilievitch, whose ancestors had formerly possessed Dorpt, and other towns in Livonia and Esthonia, laid claim to these provinces, and entering Livonia with a formidable army, resolved to annex them to the Russian empire.

In this imminent danger, the city of Revel, and the inhabitants of Esthonia, threw themselves under the protection of the king of sweden, who, in taking possession of that province, claimed Livonia as an annexed dependency. At the same time the Russians, entering Livonia, met with little resistance, took Furstenberg, the grand master, prisoner, and overran the greatest part of the country, in 1559.

Gothard Ketler, who was appointed grand master in the place of Furstenberg, finding it impossible to resist the Russian arms, hastily concluded a treaty with Sigismond Augustus, ceded Livonia to the crown of Poland, on condition of reserving to himself and heirs male the duchies of Courland and Semigallia as 263 fiefs of Poland. At the conclusion of this treaty, Livonia, the CHAP. object of contention, thus ceded to Poland, was partly possessed by the Poles, partly by the swedes, and partly overrun by the Russian arms.

In this situation of affairs, Ivan Vassilievitch conferred on Magnus prince of Denmark, who, in the capacity of bishop of Pilten in Courland, had some pretensions to Livonia, the nominal sovereignty of that province. Having already related 2 the account of that transaction, together with the erection and extinction of the short-lived kingdom of Livonia, I shall only add, that Ivan Vassilievitch, being worsted by Stephen Bathori, king of Poland, in several engagements, was glad to purchase a peace, by ceding, in 1582, to the crown of Poland, all that part of Livonia which he had occupied : but the king of Sweden continued in possession of Esthonia; and, by the fourth article of the peace of Oliva, obtained possession of all Livonia. These important provinces of Livonia and Esthonia containing all the north district between the gulf of Finland, the Narova, the Peipus lake, and the Duna, and stretching to the boundaries of the present government of Polotsk, were wrested from the swedes by Peter the Great, and confirmed to the Russians by the peace of Rystadt, in 1721.

The reformation was first introduced into Livonia and Esthonia in 1522, and was soon embraced by all ranks of people. The Lutheran religion is the most prevalent; but all other sects are tolerated.

264

Narva and its suburbs, according to a geographical division, are situated partly in Ingria, and partly in Esthonia, as the river Narova divides those two provinces; but in the division of governments established by the present empress, it is comprised in Ingria, or the government of st. Petersburgh.

Narva is near 100 miles from Petersburgh, and stands on the Narova, 24 miles from the point where that river issues from the lake Peipus, and eight miles from its mouth, where it falls into the gulf of Finland. The houses are built of brick stuccoed white, and it has more the appearance of a German than of a Russian town.

In the suburbs, called Ivangorod, or John's Town, the colossal remains of an ancient fortress, built by Ivan Vassilievitch the Great, impend in a picturesque manner over the steep banks of the Narova.

The principal exports from Narva are hemp, flax, timber, and corn; the imports, salt, tobacco, wine, salted herrings, spices, tea, sugar, and other grocery wares.

I did not omit visiting the two falls of the river Narova, which have been too pompously described by several travellers, and which must appear trifling and uninteresting to any one who has seen the fall of the Rhine at Schasshaufen, of the Dahl, near Gefle, in Sweden, and the stupendous cataracts of Trolhaetta. The breadth of the river is about 200 feet, and the perpendicular 265 height of the falls scarcely exceeds twenty feet. The steep and chalky banks of the river, its rapid and turbid stream, and a rocky island which separates the two falls, form a rugged and picturesque scenery, which is heightened by the foam and roaring of the cataract.

Near Narva is the spot celebrated for the victory which Charles the Twelfth, in the nineteenth year of his age, gained over the Russian army in 1700. Authors prone to exaggeration, and willing to render more marvellous the exploits of the Swedish hero, have diminished the Swedish army to 3,000, and increased the Russians to 100,000. The fact seems to be, that Charles headed, on that memorable day, at least 9,000 men, and that the Russians did not exceed 32,000 3 . And it is no wonder that the veteran troops of Sweden, led on by their undaunted monarch, should triumph over a raw undisciplined army, commanded by generals at variance with each other. six thousand Russians, including those who were drowned in attempting to pass the Narova, fell in this engagement; but the consequences were still more fatal to the Russian arms, as the whole artillery was lost, and the greatest part of the infantry surrendered to the conqueror. The number of prisoners was so great, that the officers were only detained; the rest, being disarmed and dismissed, were driven along like a flock of sheep to the distance of a league from Narva.

Peter the Great, instead of being dispirited with this loss, 266 exclaimed, "I expected that the swedes would beat my troops; but in time they will teach us to conquer them." Nor was this prediction long before it was verified. In less than five years from the defeat at Narva, he revenged the dishonour of his arms on that unfortunate day, by taking that town by assault; and gave the following singular proof of his humanity.

The Russian soldiers were beginning to pillage, and to commit all the disorders usual when a town is taken by storm. Peter traversed the streets on horseback, with his drawn sword in his hand, restrained his troops from pillage, killed two who refused to desist, placed guards at the doors of the principal houses and before the churches, and repaired to the Hotel de Ville, where the magistrates and principal citizens had taken refuge, and throwing his sword upon the table, exclaimed, "It is not stained with the blood of the natives, but with that of my own soldiers, whom I killed in order to save your lives 4."

Dorpt, 174 versts, or 116 miles, from Narva, still bears evident marks of the dreadful devastation which it suffered in the wars between the swedes and Russians in the beginning of this century; and particularly in the ruins of its cathedral, which form a picturesque object on an adjacent hill. In addition to these devastations, the town suffered a few years ago from a violent conflagration; but it is now rebuilding, and will rise more beautiful from its ruins, as the empress has contributed with her usual munificence. A wooden bridge over the Empack was likewise 267 burnt down, but has been supplied by a magnificent stone bridge, on which I remarked, and noted down, the following arrogant inscription :

5 Siste impetus hic flumen,
Catharina II. jubet;
Cujus munificentia haec moles
In publicum commodum
Extructa, Livoniaque primo
Lapideo ponte adornata.
1783.

In pursuing our route from Narva to Dorpt, we coasted the lake Peipus, a large but uninteresting piece of water, the banks flat, and the environs mostly sandy.

Dorpt stands in the midst of the most fertile part of Livonia, which has been called, from the abundance of grain it produces, the Granary of the North; and this fertile district continued till we came within a few miles of Riga, which is invested, as Mr. Wraxall justly observes, "on every side with deep barren sands. Its situation in so barren a spot was chosen by commerce, the genius of which still protects and enriches it 6.”

Riga, the capital of Livonia, contains within the fortifications 9,000 inhabitants, and in the suburbs 15,000, exclusive of a garrison of 1,000 soldiers. It derives its consequence from its 268 situation on the Duna, a river which, being navigable from the frontiers of the government of Polotsk, brings the productions of the north-eastern parts of Poland, and the western provinces of Russia, and is sufficiently deep to receive, close to its walls, ships of burthen, which fail to and from the Baltic.

Next to St. Petersburgh it is the most commercial town in the whole Russian empire. The trade is chiefly carried on by foreign merchants, who are resident in the town. The merchants of an English factory established there enjoy the greatest share of the commerce, and live in a very hospitable and splendid manner. The principal exports are corn, hemp, flax, iron, timber, masts, leather, tallow, &c.; its principal imports are salt, cloth, silks, wine, grocery wares, and salted herrings.

The mast trade, so beneficial to this town, is carried on in the following manner : The burghers of Riga fend persons, who are called mast-brokers, into the Russian provinces, in order to mark the trees which are fit for the purpose. The proprietors of the lands sell them standing. They grow mostly on the districts which border on the Dnieper, and are sent up that river to a landing place, and transported about thirty versts to the Duna. They are then formed into floats of from 50 to 200 pieces, and descend the stream to Riga. The tree which produces the largest masts is the scotch fir. Those pieces which are from 18 to 25 inches in diameter are called masts; under those dimensions, spars, or, in England, Norway masts; because Norway exports no trees more than 18 inches in diameter.

269

The English merchants, who contract with government, buy CHAP. these masts from the burghers of Riga; and great skill is required in distinguishing those that are found throughout from those which are in the least internally decayed. They are usually. from 70 to 80 feet in length.

The hemp is brought from the Ukraine and Poland, and employs two years in its passage to Riga. The barks in which it is conveyed, are from 250 to 300 tons burthen; are covered with matting, sloping like a penthouse roof, and have a false bottom. They ascend the Dnieper and the Duna; but can only pass the last-mentioned river in the spring, or about three weeks after the snow begins to melt, on account of the numerous shoals; so that, if they miss that time, they are delayed till autumn.

The hemp exported from Riga is generally more esteemed, and 30 per cent. dearer than that which is exported from Petersburgh 7; the former comes from the Ukraine, the provinces of Mohilef and Polotsk, and the neighbouring parts of Poland;; the other from the governments of Tver and Novogorod.

The Riga hemp is chiefly used for shrouds and stays of men of war; and procured by contract for the English admiralty and East India company.

In cafe of necessity, the Urtica Cannabina, or the hemp-nettle, might be substituted in the place of hemp. It is a native of south-eastern Siberia, on the other side of the Oby, and is chiefly found in the vallies, between rocky mountains, and on the banks 270 of rivers. It comes out early in the spring, and affords good shoots, which are eaten by the natives as vegetables. It flowers in June or July; and in good soils shoots from ten to fifteen feet high. In Siberia the feeds ripen in September, about the time of the first frost. It is perennial, and multiplies by running. The cords made from this species are stronger even than those twisted from hemp. The Mongol Tartars use them for the cords to their bows, and for nets to catch animals in the woods. In some parts of Germany the natives employ them for ropes. This plant is described in Amman's Stirpium Rariorum in Imperio Rutheno Icones et Descriptiones, p. 173. N° 249. plate 25. Urtica foliis profunde laciniatis; also in Gmelin's Flora Siberica. It will be described in the third volume of Pallas' Flora Russica. The common nettle, the urtica urens of Linnaeus, supplies the natives of Kamtschatka 8, and of the Kuril Isles, with cords for their fishing nets.

The inhabitants of Riga carry on also a considerable commerce in salt. They import it from Spain, and send it up the Duna to supply the districts bordering on that river; and by land into Courland, and the neighbouring provinces of Poland.

We paid our respects to General Brown, the governor of Riga, and had the honour of dining with that gallant veteran, who, with a pleasing garrulity natural to old age, related a variety of interesting adventures that had befallen him in the course of a long and active life. He is a native of Ireland, and was born 271 in the beginning of this century. Being a Roman Catholic, he was compelled to seek his fortune in foreign courts, which he would willingly have dedicated to his own. He first entered the Austrian, and finally into the Russian service. He served under Count Munich against the Turks, in the campaigns of 1737, and 1738, and distinguished himself at the siege of Otchakof. Being sent with a corps of troops into Hungary, he was taken prisoner by the Turks, sold as a slave, and transferred to four different masters. At one time he was bound back to back with another prisoner for eight-and-forty hours, and exposed almost naked at the various places where slaves are brought for sale. He had then borne the rank of colonel in the Russian service, but gave out, that he was only a captain, in order to lessen the price of his ransom. Having been accidentally met by a gentleman, to whom he was personally known, he sent information of his situation to the French embassador, who found means to purchase him for 300 ducats. But his Turkish master discovering that he was of higher rank than he had pretended, reclaimed his prisoner, and threatened to use force in order to recover him. The French embassador, however, applied to the Grand Vizir, who decided in his favour : Count Brown recovered his liberty, and returned to Russia, in which service he was gradually promoted, and has been lately appointed governor of Riga, a place of the greatest trust.

The bridge over the Duna, at Riga, is a floating wooden bridge, 40 feet in breadth, and 2,600 in length, and is formed in the 272 following manner: A row of piles is driven in, extending from one shore to the other; each pile is from 25 to 40 feet long, according to the depth of the river, and appears about four feet above the level of the water. To these piles the several parts of the bridge are loosely fastened, by means of iron chains fixed to the transverse beams. The bridge rises and falls with the river; and when heavy laden carriages pass over it, plays under the wheels as if actuated by a spring. This bridge is the fashionable walk, and is an agreeable busy scene, when crowded with people, and lined on each side with ships taking in or unloading their cargoes. In the beginning of winter, when the frost sets in, the bridge is taken to pieces, and removed; the piles remaining in the water, are forced up by the ice, and conveyed to land : the whole is again laid down, on the melting of the ice, in the spring.

The importance of the trade of Riga will appear from the following tables :

273

LIST of the Number of Vessels arrived at RIGA, 1782 and 1783.

	1782.	1783.
Danish	125	145
French	—	8
From St. Petersburgh	43	38
English	94	200
Dutch	6	122
Swedish	298	422
Prussian	153	123
From Ostend	123	66
Portuguese	7	7
American	—	1
From Bremen	16	34
Dantzic	5	10
Lubec	29	26
Rostoc	23	3
Hamburgh	5	5
Pernau	4	6
From Riga	30	38
Total	961	1,254

274

LIST of the Number of Vessels which arrived and sailed from RIGA, in 1784; specifying those which wintered there.

	Wintered.	Arrived.	Departed.
Danish	—	160	160
French	—	10	10
From St. Petersburgh	14	32	36
English	3	175	174
Portuguese	—	4	4
Prussian	2	77	77
Swedish	4	311	311
Dutch	—	170	170
From Ostend	—	33	33
Genoa	—	1	1
Hamburgh	—	12	12
Lubec	4	27	27
Bremen	1	25	24
Dantzic	—	3	3
Rostoc	—	11	11
Pernau and Revel	—	4	4
Riga	15	30	20
Total	43	1,085	1,077

275

VALUE of the Cargoes of the vessels which sailed from RIGA, in 1784.

		Roubles.	Copecs.
For	Denmark	735,335	78	—
	France	270,886	68	—
	the Dominions of the Emperor	51,209	45	—
	England	1,288,284	58	—
	Spain	388,843	1	—
	Portugal	302,213	93	—
	Prussia	84,775	75	—
	Sweden	1,182,907	79	—
	Holland	1,470.320	93	—
	Italy	135,097	8	—
	Hamburgh and Bremen	209,840	7	—
	the Baltic	292,707	39	—
	Total of Exports *	6,392,422	44	—
	Value of the Imports †	1,422,717	87	12
	Excess of Exports ‡	4,969,704	56	12

* In English money, if we estimate a pound sterling at six roubles, £. 1,065,403, omitting the fractions.
† £.237,119.
‡ £.828,284.

276

COIN IMPORTED.

Ducats 448,793	1,207,741	10
New rix-dollars 1,780,744	2,368,389	85 ¼
Old rix-dollars 138,976	1,182,058	84 ¼
Sum total of coin imported *	4,758,189	79 ½

* £.793,031.

---

1	Nachrichter von Liefland, s. R. G. v. 9. p. 263.
2	Book III. Ch. vi
3	see L'Evefque's Hist. de Russie, vol. iv. p. 169.
4	L'Evefque, p. 20
5	Here, O river, stop your impetuous course, Catharine the Second commands; by whose munificence this mound was raised, and Livonia adorned with this first stone bridge.
6	Wraxall's Northern Tour, p. 281.
7	Lately the Ukraine hemp has found its way to Petersburgh.
8	See Cook's last voyage, vol. iii. p. 339. — Pallas Nord. Beytr. vol. iv. p. 117.

▲