Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 17.djvu/665

Rh NOVGOROD 607 two basins are further connected by the Mariinsk, Tikhvin, and Vyshnii-Volochok canals, while the Alexander -von- Wiirtemberg canal connects the tributaries of the White Sea with those of the Baltic. The chief river is the Volkhoff, which flows from Lake Ilmen into Lake Ladoga. Other navigable rivers are the Syas, also flowing into Lake Ladoga, and the Sheksna and the Mologa, tributaries of the Volga. A brisk traffic is steadily carried by the Nov gorod rivers, as all boats from the Volga to St Petersburg pass through this government, while the goods embarked within the province itself amount to more than 7,000,000 cwts., worth from 6,000,000 to 7,000,000 roubles. The climate is very harsh, the yearly average temperature at Novgorod being only 38 S Fahr. (14 - 5 in January, 62 5 in July). The severe climate, the marshy or stony soil, and the want of graz- ing-grounds render agriculture unprofitable ; though it is carried on everywhere, only rye, oats, barley, and some tobacco are raised, and this to so small an amount that nearly 1,000,000 quarters of grain have to be imported every year. Neither gardening nor the raising of cattle is very flourishing ; in 1877 there were only 212,000 horses, 364,000 cattle, and 253,000 sheep. A number of petty trades are successfully carried on in the villages, all kinds of wooden wares being made and exported ; the preparation of timber, pitch, tar, and charcoal is general, and shipbuilding is widely diffused in several districts. The fisheries on the great lakes are valued at 170,000 roubles annually, and, owing to the proximity of the capital, hunting is still profitable. But the greater number of the inhabitants are dependent on the river-boat traffic ; and nearly one- fourth of the able-bodied male population are driven in search of work to other parts of Russia. The Novgorod carpenters and masons still maintain their old-established renown. The industrial estab lishments are few ; in 1879 they numbered 245 (steam flour-mills, distilleries, paper-mills, glass-works, and saw-mills), employing about 4500 hands, and turned out an aggregate production worth 6,313,000 roubles. Trade, which is animated in several towns and at several points of the river-system, is chiefly in grain and timber, and in manufactures and grocery wares from St Petersburg. The fairs are numerous, and several of them (Kirilovsk monastery, Staraya Russa, and Tcherepovets) show considerable returns. The inhabitants are almost exclusively Great Russians, but they are distinguished by some historians from the Great Russians of the basin of the Oka, as showing some remote affinities with the Little Russians. They be long mostly to the Greek Church, but there are many Noncon formists. Lutherans and Catholics number respectively 4000 and 2000. Novgorod, apart from the usual schools and gymnasiums, is better provided with educational institutions than many other governments of Russia, and, through the successful efforts of its zcmstvo, primary education is more widely diffused in the villages. The government is but thinly inhabited, the population (1,011,500 in 1870) being only 1,090,000 in 1884. The chief towns of the eleven districts are : Novgorod, Borovichi (10,000 inhabitants), Byelozersk (6000), Tcherepovets (3600), Demiansk (1500), Kiriloff (3200), Krestsy (3200), Staraya Russa (6000), Ustyuzhna (7000), and Valdai (3800). NOVGOROD, capital of the above government, is situ ated 119 miles to the south of St Petersburg, on the low flat banks of the Volkhoff, some two miles below the point where it leaves Lake Ilmen. The present town is but a poor survival of the wealthy city of mediaeval times. It consists of a kremlin (old fortress) and of the city, which stands on both banks of the river, here connected by a hand some bridge. The kremlin was much enlarged in 1044, and again in 1116. Its stone walls, originally palisades, were begun in 1302, and much extended and embellished in 1490. It is very spacious, and formerly a great number of churches and shops with wide squares stood within the enclosure. Its valuable historical monuments include the cathedral of St Sophia, begun in 1045 by an architect from Constantinople to take the place of the original wooden structure (989), destroyed by fire in that year. Some changes were made in the walls in 1688 and 1692, and the windows were enlarged, but otherwise (notwithstanding several fires) the building remains unaltered. It contains many highly -prized relics. Another ancient building in the kremlin is Yaroslaff s Tower, in the square where the Novgorod vyetche (common council) met, and which still bears the name of &quot; the court of Yaroslaff&quot;; the tower was the gridnitsa or chancellery of the secretaries of the vyetche. Several other remarkable monuments of Russian architect ure still exist at Novgorod, such as the church of St Nicholas, erected in 1135, and churches of the 14th and 15th centuries. Within the town itself there are four monasteries and convents; and the large number in the immediate neighbourhood shows the great extension the city formerly had. A monument to commemorate the thousandth anniversary of the foundation of the Russian state (the calling in of the Varangians by Novgorod in 862) was erected in 1864. It consists of a large globe on a massive pedestal, surrounded by numerous statues com memorating the leading events of Russian history. Another monument commemorates the campaign of 1812. On the whole, apart from its old churches and some portions of its walls, Novgorod has nothing to recall the leading part it has played in the history of Russia. Since the diversion from it of the great commercial highways of north-western Russia its commercial influence has been very limited. Its merchants still send timber, grain, and hay to St Peters burg; but the total production of its manufacturing estab lishments paper-mills, flour-mills, saw-mills, glass-works, brick- works, match-works, and distilleries does not reach 1,000,000 roubles. A trunk railway, 45 miles long, con nects the city with Tchudovo on the Moscow and St Petersburg Railway. The population is 17,500. The date at which the Slavonians on their northward advance first erected forts on the Volkhoff (where it leaves Lake Ilmen and where it flows into Lake Ladoga) is unknown. That situated on a low terrace close by Lake Ilmen was soon abandoned, and Novgorod or &quot;New-town &quot; arose on another which extended a mile lower on both banks of the river. The older fort (Gorodische) still existed in the 13th century. It is certain that, even in the 9th century, the new city on the Volkhoff, whilst maintaining close relations with Kieff, already exercised a kind of supremacy over the other towns of the lake region, when its inhabitants in 862 invited the Varan gians to the defence of the Russian towns of the north. Down to the end of the 10th century Novgorod was in some sort dependent on Kieff ; yet it must have maintained its internal autonomy, for in 997 its inhabitants obtained from their own Prince Yaroslaff a charter which granted them self-government, a jurisdiction of their own, and the rule of their proper vyetche. For five centuries this charter continued to be regarded as the chief written testimony of the independence of Novgorod, and was ever resorted to in the struggles with the princes. From the end of the 10th century the princes of Novgorod, chosen either from the sons of the great princes of Kieff (until 1 136) or from some other branch of the family of Rurik, were always elected by the vyetche, and swore to maintain the free institutions of the town ; but they were only its military defenders. Their delegates were merely assessors in the courts which levied the fixed taxes meant to defray the maintenance of the military force raised by the prince. The vyetche expelled the princes as soon as they provoked discontent. Their election was often a subject of dispute between the wealthier merchants and landowners and the poorer classes ; and Novgorod, which was dependent for its corn supply upon the land of Suzdal, was sometimes compelled to accept a prince from the Suzdal branch instead of from that of Kieff, which was more popular among the poorer classes. After 1270 the city often refused to have princes at all, and the elected mayor (posadnik) was the representative of the executive in its limited attributes. Novgorod in its transactions with other cities took the name of &quot;Sovereign Great Novgorod&quot; (Gospodin Velikii Novgorod}. The supreme power and the supreme jurisdiction were in the hands of the vyetche, whose resolutions were carefully inscribed by its secre taries (diaki). The city, which had a population of more than 80,000, was divided into sections (kontsy), radiating from its centre, and corresponding to some extent to the prevailing occupations of the inhabitants ; each constituted a distinct commune which enjoyed a large share of independence. The kontsy were subdivided into streets (ulitsy), which also corresponded to the prevailing occupa tions of their inhabitants (artisans or merchants), and each of which was quite independent with regard to its own affairs, such as the election of priests, the maintenance of order, jurisdiction in inferior matters, trade, food supply, &c. Trade was carried on by corporations which embodied, not only the merchants proper or gosti, but also the poorer classes ; in fact, it was the chief source of income, and, owing to the existence of numerous trading corporations, everybody was enabled to participate in it more or less. Novgorod, owing to its very advantageous posi tion, made great advances in trade. By the Volkhoff and the Neva it had direct communication with the Hanseatic and Scandinavian cities. The Dnieper brought it into connexion with the Bosphorus,