Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 17.djvu/517

* SAINT PETEKSBURG. 467 SAINT PETER'S CHURCH. population of lOO.ii.'io in 1900. Some peculiar features of the population are the large propor- tion of persons born outside of the city (about tvo-t)iirils of the total), the excess of the male sex (1II.5 per cent, in 1897), and, the predomi- nance of the peasant class, which constituted over one-half of the total in 1897. The Russians form about 90 per cent, of the population. Tln' death rate was 27 per thousand in 1880-95 and 24 in 1897. The percentage of illegitimate births is very great (27.7 per cent.). Hi.srouy. In 1300 the Swedes founded at the moutli of the Neva the settlement of Landskrona, which was destroyed by Novgorod (q.v.) in the following year. During the fourteenth cen- tury a number Of settlements were founded along the river by Novgorod. The territory remained in the possession of that city and later of Mos- cow until the seventeenth century, whin the Swedes siicceeded in recovering the region around the mouth of the Neva, and founded the town of Nyon, at the junction of the Okhta with that river, and the fortress of Nyiinschanz on the op- posite shore. In 1703 the fortress was taken by Peter the Great, who in the same year laid the foundations of the fortress of Saints Peter and Paul, the nucleus of the future capital. The foundation of Saint Petersburg marked a revolu- tion in the history of Russia, as it signalized the definite assumption by that Empire of a place among the Baltic Powers, and its entrance upon the stage of Western politics. With his usual di- rectness and energy Peter I. divided the supervi- sion of the work of building the city between him- self and his lieutenants, and by 1712 sufficient ad- vance had been made to permit the transfer of the royal family from iloscow. Thousands of peasants were ordered from the rural districts to the new capital, and a special tax was imposed to meet the expenses. A scarcity of masons was met by an order forbidding the erection of stone build- ings throughout the rest of the Empire, and all proprietors of over 500 serfs were compelled to build residences in the new capital and spend the winter season there. During the reigns of Catharine I. and Peter II. the Russian popula- tion of the capital decreased considerably. Anna Ivanovna revived many of the measures of Peter I., and Elizabeth Petrovna, following the policy of her predecessor, greatly increased the popu- lation of the capital and added much to its archi- tectural beauty. Catharine II. also took great interest in the" growth of Saint Petersburg, and enriched it by many beautiful palaces, some of them intended for her favorites. Consult: Hafferberg, Petersbiirri in seiner Ver- gangeiiheit vnd Gegenwart (Saint Petersburg, 1800) : Elarolf, Saint-Petersbourg et ses env-irons (ib., 1892). SAINT PETERSBURG, Declae.tion of. An agreement between the C4reat Powers by which harsh conditions of war were to be miti- gated. In December, 1808, a conference of dele- gates representing Austria-Hungary, Bavaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Greece. Italy, the Netherlands, Persia, Portugal, the North Gernlan Confederation. Russia. Swe- den, Norway. Switzerland, Turkey, and Wiirttem- berg was held at Saint Petersburg, upon the in- vitation of the Russian Government, for the pur- pose of considering the existing rules of war with the view of ameliorating the hardships of warfare. A declaration was agreed upon and signed by the delegates present alliniiiiig that the oiil,v legitimate object of war should be to weak- en the military force of the enemy, which could be sulliciently accomplished by disaliliiig the greatest possible luiniber of men, which oliject is exceeded by the eniplovment of arms that use- lessly aggravate the sullVrings of disabled men or render their death inevitable. Tbe employ- ment of such arms was declared to be contrary to the laws of humanity in view, and conse- quently the signatory Powers agreed to renounce in case of war among themselves the use of any explosive projectile of less weight than 400 grams (14 ounces avoirdujiois) or one charged with fulminating or inflammable substances. The United States took no part in this convention, and has never acceded to it. SAINT PETERSBURG, Univebsity of. An institution which had its incejition in the teach- ers' institute established under Catharine II., although Peter the Great previously jilanncd the establishment of a university in his new capital. In 1803 the budget for a contemplated university was cimfirmed by Imperial edict. The teachers' institute was known as the •Pedagogical Institute' from 1804 to 1810, when it was re- organized as the 'Higher Pedagogical Institute,' with 27 teachers, divided into the sections of philosophy- jurisprudence, physics, mathematics, and history-literature. At the same time it re- ceived the" right to confer degrees, thus jdacing it practically on a university basis. In 1819 an Imperial edict transformed the institution into a university. In 1902 the university consisted of the folIo"wing faculties: (1) History-philology, (2) phvsics-mathematics, (3) law, and (4) Ori- ental. "The attendance was 3775. The library contained 144,574 volumes, 300.727 pamphlets, and a collection of 9349 manuscripts, including a large number on Chinese literature. The univer- sity includes, among other institutes, the ^Museum of Fine Arts and Antiquities, a large collection of coins, astronomical and meteorological observa- tories, and a botanical garden. SAINT PETER'S CHURCH (at Rome). The largest Christian place of worship. It is closely connected with the I'alace of the Vatican and in this capacity it has always been used, especially for the great festivities of the Church. The present church succeeded the Basilica of San Pietro in Vaticano, one of the original basilicas of Rome and the largest of all. This is still the official title of the church, and distinguishes it from the other churches in Rome which arc dedi- cated to Saint Peter. The plan and general char- acter of the old basilica are preserved in the drawings engraved for the folio volume pre- pared to illustrate Bunsen's Die liasilikcn des christlichcii Rom (1843). It was a five- aisled basilica, with a large forecourt or atrium, and a baptistery and some other minor struc- tures attached "to the building. During the ' long residence of the popes at Avignon (13091370) the basilica was much defaced and partly ruined, and it appears to have been about 1450 that Pope Nicholas V. undertook the re- building in the taste of the time. A design was made by Bernardo Gambarelli. more commonly called Rossellino, but of this design very little was ever put into execution.