INTRODUCTION

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The voyage of our countrymen, Richard Chan-cellor and his companions, to the White Sea in themiddle of the sixteenth century, opened a chapter inthe history of Russia of which there was no realinterruption before Peter’s time, and of which hesupplied the continuation. Professor AlexanderBruckner—one of the highest authorities on all thatrelates to Peter the Great—maintains that thatvoyage ‘secured for the culture of Western European entrance into Russia.’ We may with but littleexaggeration, perhaps without any, attribute to itan importance in its effect on the country not in-ferior to that of the celebrated journey of Peterhimself to Holland and England. Many of thereforms and innovations, with the introduction ofwhich that monarch is commonly credited, hadfollowed almost as a direct consequence of the earliervoyage, and of the continuously more extended in-tercourse between Russia and her western neigh-bours. During the second half of the sixteenthcentury, foreign craftsmen, engineers, miners, artil-lerists, and officers had received employment inRussia. In the same century there were in Moscowenough English, Scotch, Dutch, and German resi-dents to form a large community and populate adistinct quarter—the so-called ‘German suburb.’

To whichever of Peter’s reputed innovations wemay turn, we find that it had been either attempted orsuggested before his time. He engaged foreigners inhis service : Feodore I. had given official employmentto one hundred and fifty Dutchmen and Scotchmen,and Boris Godunof had enlisted two thousand fivehundred foreigners in his army. Peter sent young