Westward of the duchy of Moscow, is that of Smolensko, a part of the
ancient Sarmatia Europea. The duchies of Moscow and Smolensko composed
what is properly called White Russia. Smolensko, which at first belonged
to the great dukes of Russia, was conquered by the great duke of
Lithuania, in the beginning of the fifteenth century, and was retaken
one hundred years afterwards by its old masters. Sigismund III. king of
Poland, got possession of it in 1611. The czar Alexis, father of Peter
I. recovered it again in 1654, since which time it has always
constituted part of the Russian empire. The panegyric of Peter the
Great, pronounced in the academy of sciences at Paris, takes notice,
that before his time the Russians had made no conquests either to the
west or south; but this is evidently a mistake.
_Of the Governments of_ NOVOGOROD _and_ KIOW, _or the_ UKRAINE.
Between Petersburg and Smolensko, lies the province of Novogorod;[8] and
is said to be the country in which the ancient _Slavi_, or Sclavonians,
made their first settlements. But from whence came these _Slavi_, whose
language has spread over all the north-east part of Europe? _Sla_
signifies a chief, and _slave_ one belonging to a chief. All that we
know concerning these ancient _Slaves_ is, that they were a race of
conquerors; that they built the city of Novogorod the Great, at the head
of a navigable river; and that this city was for a long time in
possession of a flourishing trade, and was a potent ally to the Hanse
Towns. Czar Iwan Wassiliawitsch (or John Basilowitz) made a conquest of
it in 1467, and carried away all its riches, which contributed to the
magnificence of the court of Moscow, till then almost unknown.
To the south of the province of Smolensko, we meet with the province of
Kiow, otherwise called the Lesser Russia, Red Russia, or the Ukraine,
through which runs the Dnieper, called by the Greeks the Boristhenes.
The difference of these two names, the one so harsh to pronounce, and
the other so melodious, served to shew us, together with a hundred other
like instances, the rudeness of all the ancient people of the North, in
comparison with the graces of the Greek language. Kiow, the capital
city, formerly Kisow, was built by the emperors of Constantinople, who
made it a colony: here are still to be seen several Greek inscriptions
upwards of twelve hundred years old. This is the only city of any
antiquity in these countries, where men lived so long together without
building walls. Here it was that the great dukes of Russia held their
residence in the eleventh century, before the Tartars brought it under
their subjection.
The inhabitants of the Ukraine, called Cossacks, are a mixture of the
ancient Roxolanians, Sarmatians, and Tartars, blended together. Rome and
Constantinople, though so long the mistress of other nations, are not to
compare in fertility of country with the Ukraine. Nature has there
exerted her utmost efforts for the service of mankind; but they have not
seconded those efforts by industry, living only upon the spontaneous
productions of an uncultivated, but fruitful soil, and the exercise of
rapine. Though fond, to a degree of enthusiasm, of that most valuable of
all blessings, liberty; yet they were always in subjection, either to
the Poles or to the Turks, till the year 1654, when they threw
themselves into the arms of Russia, but with some limitations. At length
they were entirely subdued by Peter the Great.
Other nations are divided into cities and towns; this into ten
regiments. At the head of which is a chief, who used to be elected by a
majority of votes, and is called by the name of Hetman, or Itman. This
captain of the nation was not invested with supreme power. At present
the itman is a person nominated by the czar, from among the great lords
of the court; and is, in fact, no more that the governor of the
province, like governors of the _pays d'etats_ in France, that have
retained some privileges.
At first the inhabitants of this country were all either Pagans or
Mahometans; but, when they entered into the service of Poland, they
were baptized Christians of the Roman communion; and now, that they are
in the service of Russia, they belong to the Greek church.
Amongst these are comprehended the Zaporavian Cossacks, who are much the
same as our Bucaniers, or freebooters, living upon rapine. They are
distinguished from all other people, by never admitting women to live
among them; as the Amazons are said never to have admitted any man. The
women, whom they make use of for propagation, live upon other islands on
the river; they have no marriages amongst them, nor any domestic
economy; they inroll the male children in their militia, and leave the
girls to the care of their mothers. A brother has frequently children by
his sister, and a father by his daughter. They know no other laws than
customs, introduced by necessity: however, they make use of some prayers
from the Greek ritual. Fort St. Elizabeth has been lately built on the
Boristhenes, to keep them in awe. They serve as irregulars in the
Russian armies, and hapless is the fate of those who fall into their
hands.
_Of the Governments of_ BELGOROD, WORONITZ, _and_ NISCHGOROD.
To the north-east of the province of Kiow, between the Boristhenes and
the Tanais, or Don, is the government of Belgorod, which is as large as
that of Kiow. This is one of the most fruitful provinces of Russia, and
furnishes Poland with a prodigious number of that large cattle known by
the name of Ukraine oxen. These two provinces are secured from the
incursions of the petty Tartar tribes, by lines extending from the
Boristhenes to the Tanais, and well furnished with forts and redoubts.
Farther northward we cross the Tanais, and come into the government of
Worownitz, or Veronise, which extends as far as the banks of the Palus
Mæotis. In the neighbourhood of the capital of this province, which is
called, by the Russians, Woronestch, at the mouth of the river of the
same name, which falls into the Don, Peter the Great built his first
fleet; an undertaking which was at that time entirely new to the
inhabitants of these vast dominions. From thence we come to the
government of Nischgorod, abounding with grain, and is watered by the
river Wolga.