account that he had drawn his draught of the great ship which he had orders to build from the surveyor's office, and, according to the regulations of the navy, presented his draught to be examined."

The emperor, this writer adds, collected the results of his experience and reading upon the subject of ship-building, and formed them into a regular treatise on the art. This work, however, has not been published, although it is probably preserved, with the other literary productions of the writer, in the Imperial_Library_at Petersburg. The only work from the hand of Peter the Great which has been printed, is his Journal from 1698 to the peace of Neustadt in 1721. Of this document, which is almost entirely occupied with military transactions, a French translation, by M. Formey, was published at Berlin in 1773, in one volume, quarto.

Peter died in 1725, in the fifty-third year of his age. His history presents us with, perhaps, as remarkable a case of the conquest of difficulties in the pursuit of knowledge as it would be possible to quote. In his noble resolution to educate, not only himself, but his country, he had to contend with obstacles at every step, which nothing could have overcome but that determination to succeed which overcomes all things. Few monarchs have better deserved the epithet of Great, if he is to be appreciated either by the great powers of mind he displayed or the great effects he accomplished. And of these last it is to be remarked that none have passed away; all have been permanent and productive. Compare Peter the Great, in this respect, with many other characters who, during their time, have filled the earth with the noise of their exploits; and how high must he be placed above them! Alexander's mighty empire fell to pieces as soon as his own hand had resigned its sceptre; so did that of Charlemagne; so did that of Bonaparte. These

all, after moving everything, established almost nothing.* But whatever the Russian planted still grows and flourishes, and bears fruit more plentifully every year. The reason is, that while other builders up of empires have trusted, for the support of their institutions, alone or chiefly to the sword, he based his on the moral strength of knowledge and civilization.

Many other names of persons of both sexes yet remain on the records of literature, science, art, and the other departments of intellectual exertion, which might be referred to as illustrating the Pursuit of Knowledge under Difficulties. But the selection of examples we have made, regulated, as it had been, with a view to give as much diversity of interest as possible to the contents of the work, will probably be thought sufficiently extensive for our purpose. The lesson we would teach, as we have already frequently had occasion to remark, is, that in no situation of life, be it what it may, is the work of mental cultivation impossible to him who in good earnest sets about it. What is chiefly wanted to invigorate the mind to the encounter and conquest of the most formidable difficulties which any circumstances can oppose to it, is simply the conviction of this truth; and of that conviction we can bring forward nothing likely to produce a more deep and abiding impression than some of the histories recorded in the preceding pages.

* The Code of Laws, called after his name, is the only permanent monument of his power which Napoleon has left in France. Where he applied his ability to the real advancement of civilization, the traces of his career were not to be effaced by changes of rulers or of opinions.

THE END.