HISTORY OF MARINE ARCHITECTURE.

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tactics, called forth not the reverence, but the fear of the less warlike natives,and pursuing precisely the same line of conduct which their Saxon neighboursadopted in Britain, they introduced themselves not as foes, but as allies and friends.Adhering strictly to the same specious behaviour, they submitted to serve astheir auxiliaries in various wars which they became.engaged in with the barba-rous hordes which inhabited the interior. By these means and pretexts, theyacquired, without much difficulty, a perfect knowlege of the country. Buttheir possession of it was not decisively secured till after they had experiencedmany of those reverses of fortune which rarely fail to occur in the conquest ofnations deemed nearly impotent. Sometimes were they driven back withirresistible fury by those whom they nearly regarded in the humble light oftheir vassals, and almost instantly as if deriving fresh courage from theirdefeat, did they reinstate themselves in all the plenitude of conquest. “ Atlength,” according to Mr. Gibbon, “ Ruric, a Scandinavian chief, became thefather of a dynasty, which reigned above seven hundred years. His brothersextended his influence, the example of service and usurpation was imitated byhis companions in the southern provinces of Russia, and their establishments,by the usual methods of war and assassination, were cemented into the fabricof powerful monarchy.

“ As long,” continues the same author, “ as the descendants of Ruric wereconsidered as aliens and conquerors, they ruled by the sword of the Varan-gians, distributed estates and subjects to their faithful captains, and suppliedtheir numbers with fresh streams of adventurers from the Baltic coast. Butwhen the Scandinavian chiefs had struck a deep and permanent root into thesoil, they mingled with the Russians in blood, religion, and language, and thefirst Waladimir had the merit of delivering his country from these mercenaries.They had seated him on the throne, his riches were insufficient to satisfy theirdemands, but they listened to his pleasing advice, that they should seek not amore grateful, but a more wealthy master, that they should embark for Greece,,where, instead of the skins of squirrels, silk and gold w 7 ould be the recompenceof their service. At the same time, the Russian prince admonished his Byzan-tine ally to disperse and employ, to recompence and restrain these impetuouschildren of the north. Cotemporary writers have recorded the introduction,name, and character of the Varangians, each day they rose in confidence andesteem, the whole body was assembled at Constantinople to perform theduty of guards, and their strength was recruited by a numerous band of their

countrymen.