in
fractions) made fight, or skirmish, against a Russian attacking party:
Swedes, rather victorious on their hill-top, rushed down; and totally
lost their bit of victory, their Wilmanstrand, their Wyborg, and even
the War itself;--for this was, in literal truth, the only fighting done
by them in the entire course of it, which lasted near two years more.
The rest of it was retreat, capitulation, loss on loss without stroke
struck; till they had lost all Finland, and were like to lose Sweden
itself,--Dalecarlian mutiny bursting out ('Ye traitors, misgovernors,
worthy of death!'), with invasive Danes to rear of it;--and had to call
in the very Russians to save them from worse. Czarina Elizabeth at the
time of her accession, six months after Wilmanstrand, had made truce,
was eager to make peace: 'By no means!' answered Sweden, taking arms
again, or rather taking legs again; and rushing ruin-ward, at the old
rate, still without stroke.

"JUNE 28th, 1743. They did halt; made Peace of Abo (Truce and
Preliminaries signed there, that day: Peace itself, August 17th);
Czarina magnanimously restoring most of their Finland (thinking to
herself, 'Not done enough for me yet; cook it a little yet!');--and
settling who their next King was to be, among other friendly things. And
in November following, Keith, in his Russian galleys, with some 10,000
Russians on board, arrived in Stockholm; protective against Danes
and mutinous Dalecarles: stayed there till June of next year, 1744."
[Adelung, ii. 445. Mannstein, pp. 297 (Wilmanstrand Affair, himself
present), 365 (Peace), 373 (Keith's RETURN with his galleys). Comte de
Hordt (present also, on the Swedish side, and subsequently a Soldier
of Friedrich's) _Memoires_ (Berlin, 1789), i. 18-88. The murder of
Sinclair (done by "four Russian subalterns, two miles from Naumberg
in Silesia, 17th June, 1739, about 7 P.M.") is amply detailed from
Documents, in a late Book: Weber, _Aus Vier Jahrhunderten_ (Leipzig,
1858), i. 274-279.] Is not this a War!

On the Russian side, General Keith, under Field-marshal Lacy as chief in
command (the same Keith whom we saw at Oczakow under Munnich, some time
ago), had a great deal of the work and management; which was of a highly
miscellaneous kind, commanding fleets of gunboats, and much else; and
readers of MANNSTEIN can still judge,--much more could King Friedrich,
earnestly watching the affair itself as it went on,--whether Keith did
not do it in a solid and