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The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe: conquer them in one campaign; and had the Czar (who is now a
growing prince) fallen this way, instead of attacking the warlike
Swedes, and equally improved himself in the art of war, as they say
he has done; and if none of the powers of Europe had envied or
interrupted him, he might by this time have been Emperor of China,
instead of being beaten by the King of Sweden at Narva, when the
latter was not one to six in number.
As their strength and their grandeur, so their navigation,
commerce, and husbandry are very imperfect, compared to the same
things in Europe; also, in their knowledge, their learning, and in
their skill in the sciences, they are either very awkward or
Robinson Crusoe |
