Read "The Greatest Story in the World, Period 3" by Horace G. Hutchinson online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The position in Europe at this time, that is to say, about 1790, was / singular and interesting. That continent, always since the / establishment of the power of Rome the stage on which the principal / world drama was played, was in the enjoyment of a peace which was / unexpected. A time of extreme tension, during which war on a great / scale had seemed most probable, had just been safely passed -- war / provoked by the ambition of Russia still further to extend her vast / territories, and especially to acquire the port of Constantinople.
But first it seemed good to her to proceed to a second partition of / Poland, and Poland lay at her mercy, unless some foreign power / intervened. Annexation perhaps would be a better word than / partition, for she had little thought of letting in another to share / with her.