The Prussian forces were annihilated at Jena and Auer-stadt (Oct. 14, 1800), the Russian Marshal Ben-ningsen was beaten at Eylau (Feb. 8, 1807) and Friedland (June 14), and Kamenski was defeat-ed at Pultusk. The Russian armies reentered their own country, and the king of Prussia was left in possession of only the city of Memel, on the Russian frontier. At the same time, however, the Russian arms were more successful in the war with the Turks. The Serbs rose against the Porte, and Admiral Seniavin beat the Turkish fleet in the Archipelago. Prussia being annihilated, and Napoleon at the threshold of Russia, Alexander was forced to negotiate. In June, 1807, the two emperors met on a raft on the river Niemen, the frontier between Prussia and Russia. In the course of their now almost daily intercourse, Napoleon not only bewitched Alexander by his genius and his manners, but did not disdain to flatter the foibles of the czar, whose former resentment gave way to the most enthusiastic friendship and admiration.

By the treaty of Tilsit, Alexander got from the Prussian spoils the district of Bialystok in Lithuania. He entered warmly into all the Napoleonic schemes, and accepted the continental system, though it was pernicious at the start to the agricultural interests and the exporting trade of Russia. Gus-tavus IV. having rejected every plan of accommodation with France, and refused the invitation of Russia to exclude English vessels from Swedish harbors, Alexander declared war against Sweden, invaded Finland, and conquered the long-coveted duchy. The war was not yet ended when the interview of Erfurt took place, beginning Sept. 27, 1808. Here culminated the friendship of the two emperors, who, representing the west and the east, decided the destinies of Europe. The resistance of the Spaniards to Joseph Bonaparte, and English subsidies, encouraged the court of Vienna to appeal to arms for the third time in 1809. Alexander, as the ally of Napoleon, occupied Galicia, and at the peace got a slice of it. In Turkey, the fortresses of Rustchuk, Giurgevo, and Silistria were taken, and the bulk of the Turkish army on the left side of the Danube laid down their arms before Kutu-zoff. The war with Persia was also successful. In the interior Alexander continued the work of reform.

The exclusion of English manufactures gave activity to domestic industry. In 1810 he reorganized the council of the empire, and formed eight separate departments or ministries. He regulated the value of the currency, introduced a new organization into Finland, and in 1811 inaugurated the church of the Holy Virgin of Kazan, one of the great monuments of St. Petersburg. About this epoch a revolution took place in his feelings toward Napoleon, and he inclined to the ancient party of his nobles, who were enemies of France and of domestic reforms, and partisans of England. Under this influence he exiled some of his former favorites, who for years had labored with him in the task of reform. Napoleon now occupied the duchy of Oldenburg, and Alexander refused him his sister in marriage. The immense majority of the Russian nobility were hostile to the French alliance. Animosity increased, and the war of 1812 broke out. England and Sweden alone stood by Russia - at that time helpless and negative allies; but the treaty of Bucharest, concluded in that year by the mediation of England, on terms wholly advantageous to Russia, disengaged the Russian armies operating on the Pruth and the Danul e.

Napoleon rapidly crossed the Niemen and invaded Russia, directing one part of his forces north toward St. Petersburg, while he himself pressed with the mass upon the centre of the empire toward Moscow. Alexander was taken almost unawares. He adopted the plan of Gen. Barclay de Tolly, retiring slowly step by step, to draw the enemy into the interior, destroying everything in the retreat, and thus facilitating the union of the central army with that coming from Turkey. He made an appeal to the religious and national feelings of the Russians, and organized levies en masse. The people were even more excited than their ruler. After the battle of Smolensk (Aug. 17) ho transferred the command of the retreating but not dispirited army to Kutuzoff, yielding to the desire of the nation to be commanded by a native Russian. It is not ascertained whether he ordered the burning of Moscow, but at any rate he approved the act. He refused all accommodation with Napoleon, answering that he had only begun the campaign, and would not treat while a foot of his dominions was occupied by the enemy. The retreat of the French, the terrible crossing of the Beresina, and the final annihilation of the invaders, are well known.

The Russian forces now overran the duchy of Warsaw, which had been created by the treaty of Tilsit, and whose free institutions had caused much uneasiness in Russia; and soon afterward it was definitively incorporated with the empire. The advisers of Alexander - Kutuzoff, Volkonski, Araktcheyeff, Bala-shoff - insisted on arresting there the further pursuit of the French, and leaving the rest of Europe to its fate. But England urged the continuation of the war, Prussia asked for help, and Alexander, in his manifestoes from Warsaw, Feb. 22, and Kalisz, March 25, 1813, appealed to the European nations as the redeemer of the continent. In Kalisz an offensive treaty against Napoleon was concluded between Russia, Prussia, and England, at the same time that the czar, animated with new impulses of religion, founded a Bible society, to spread the gospel among all nations. He took part personally in various battles in Germany and France, where he arrived as the leader of the crusade against Napoleon. On Oct. 12, 1813, the treaty of Gulistan put an end to the war with Persia, and Russia acquired thereby a part of the Caucasus and of Armenia. In Paris, Alexander defended the integrity of France against others of the allies.

In June, of Prussia, born April 29, 1818. From the cradle he was the object of the most tender love of both his parents. His education was exceedingly careful. His father directed it, and gave almost daily attention to its progress. Gen. Frederics, and afterward Gen. Kavelin, were his immediate tutors. Contrary to the previous usage with Russian imperial princes, his uncle Alexander I. and his father were educated by foreigners. Alexander II. received instruction mainly from native Russians, among whom Zhukovsky, one of the greatest Russian poets, filled the chief place. Without transcendent abilities, Alexander learned well everything taught him. His judgment and perception were clear, and he seldom showed those outbreaks of violent passion which had always been prominent characteristics of the Romanoffs. This gentleness of character he inherited from his mother. Early in youth he showed a love of justice and forbearance, often trying to assuage the feelings which had been wounded by the asperity of his father.