unexplored parts of Siberia, gathering results which have been of great importance to later explorers, geologists and ethnographers. Principal among these scientists are Philip John von Strahlenberg, whose great book on Siberia was published in Leipsic in 1730, and John Anton Matérn and Peter Schœnstrœm, his collaborators; John Gustavus Renat, made a prisoner by the Kalmucks, whom he taught the secrets of manufacturing cannon and bombs, and of printing books with movable types; Lorenz Lange, who was secretary of several Russian embassies to the imperial court of China, about which country he has given valuable information; John B. Muller, John Schnitscher and Ambjœrn Molin. Tobolsk was the centre of the Swedish colonies in Siberia, where a peculiar sect grew up among those of deep religious sentiment. A sectarian school, with more than 100 pupils, was established, and the German pietist, Aug. Herrman Francke, for some time supported the movement. Governor Gagarin, who wanted to make himself ruling sovereign of Siberia, arranged a formidable conspiracy. It was discovered, the governor was hanged, and the Swedish captives who were involved in it were sent still further away to Nerschinsk. If Charles XII., up to the date of the terrible battle of Pultowa, has deserved our sympathy, in spite of his faults and mistakes, it is impossible to look upon him in the same charitable light for the rest of his career. The great defeat and the loss of his army he described in letters to his sister, Ulrica Eleonore, and the state council, as small misfortunes, without consequence, which he was soon to repair. Instead of trying his utmost to obtain peace on the best possible conditions for his poor country, and instead of saving his unhappy army from the miseries of captivity, he made plans for new campaigns and demands for a new army. Czar Peter expressed more correct views of the situation. A few hours after the battle of Pultowa he wrote to Admiral Apraxin: “Now rests at last secure our city on the Neva.” And he was right. The period of the political grandeur of Sweden was at an end. Great was the renowned heroism of Charles XII. and his warriors. Still greater, although less renowned, the heroism with which his poor and neglected country suffered the disasters which these glorious deeds brought upon it. The regular troops of the army created by Charles XI. had not been sufficient. New regiments were, one after the other, created by means of increased taxes and repeated enlistments, until it appeared as if the whole male population was to be sent out in the endless wars, to be killed or imprisoned, and the distressed country doomed to inevitable destruction. Plague, hunger and emigration threatened to make away with those spared from military service. Swedes of the nineteenth century have difficulty in apprehending how the country was able to endure such terrible hardships.