[126] There are fourteen rank distinctions, called “chins,” in Russia; they are acquired through service only, independently of birth. Vasíli Nikítich Tatíshchev. (1686-1750.) Tatíshchev was one of the most distinguished and intelligent friends of the reforms of Peter the Great. Having studied first at Moscow and then in Germany, he was attached to the Berg-und-Manufaktur-Kolleg (Department of Mining and Manufactures). The president of the institution pointed out to Peter the Great the necessity for a geography of the empire, and this task was entrusted to Tatíshchev. In the course of his work, the latter was induced to make a thorough study of old historical documents, of which he discovered a large number. Several of the chronicles he mentions and had access to have not been preserved, and later historians have to rely on the statements made by Tatíshchev for some important historical information. In 1720 he was sent to Siberia for the purpose of prospecting for copper and silver and establishing various plants. Then began a laborious career, in a large variety of capacities, among them that of Governor of Astrakhán. The years 1724-26 he passed in Sweden, where he cultivated the acquaintance of Swedish scholars and made a study of foreign sources of Russian history. Thus Tatíshchev had ample opportunities for becoming the first historiographer of Russia. His _History of Russia_, which was published in the reign of Catherine the Great, shows an intimate knowledge of the philosophical systems of Descartes and Tomasius, and the political systems of Christian Wolff, Puffendorf and Hugo Grotius, as well as Machiavelli and Locke. He was opposed to a political supremacy of the Church even more decidedly than Prokopóvich, the author of the _Spiritual Reglement_ (see p. 211). It is an interesting fact that when Tatíshchev found no sympathy for his _History_ in St. Petersburg, he corresponded with a friend in England for the purpose of having it published in English by the Royal Society at London, but there could not be found an Englishman who was competent to undertake the translation. Of his other works, his _Spiritual Testament and Instruction to my Son Evgráf_, though replete with liberal views, is the last in the long chain of _Instructions_ in which the older period abounds, such as the _Instruction_ of Vladímir Monomákh (p. 50), and the _Domostróy_ of Sylvester (p. 126). It has been translated into English: _The Testament of B. Tatischef_, translated from the Russian manuscript by J. Martinof, Paris, 1860. FROM THE “RUSSIAN HISTORY”